Mixing serious drama and humor

I think this stuff works more in 1st POV, simply because if it's a serious storyline, many people deal with such things using humor. So, as long as it's not overdone to the point of being ridiculous, it could be believable.

It is a delicate balance, but when it works, it's so brilliant. I haven'y had my coffee yet, so the first thing to pop into my mind as an example is the graveside scence from the film version of Steel Magnolias.

Sally Field is coming unglued at her daughter's graveside, railing against how hard it's been that she's healthy, but her daughter never was. It's tragic and, possessing ovaries, I am compelled by law to bawl my eyes out in this scene. M'Lynn cries that she, "Just wants to hit something. Hit it until it feels as bad as I do!" And Olympia Dukakis grabs Shirley Maclaine and pushes her front and center and tells her, "Here, go ahead..."

And you're laughing and you're crying. But that's life for the observant.

But really, you do have to practice a light touch. Especially if both your characters provide opportunities for comic relief. Good luck and godspeed!

Is humor something that can be deliberately inserted? Isn't it one of those things that's either there, or it isn't?

Avalon said:

Is humor something that can be deliberately inserted? Isn't it one of those things that's either there, or it isn't?

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Avalon is right, if you force humor, it would be bad. If you can put it there to where it seems like it should go, than that is good.

Absolutely, but if you have a handle on what would be heavily (and concivcingly) dramatic, then it's not a stretch to trust that you would recognize the opportunity for humor. It's in keeping with good story-telling and a no-square-peg-pounding zone.

So, yes, forcing it wuld be the worst thing you could do.

Joss Whedon has an uncanny knack for injecting humor into the most dramatic situations. Watch any episode of Buffy, Angel or Firefly and you'll see that talent at work.

If you don't like TV, test out a Buffy tie-in novel (anything by Christopher Golden or Nancy Holder). They manage to translate the drama-with-humor from television into prose.

Write about life. Life is dark and humorous at the same time. Just tell it like it is.

If you can balance the serious drama with humor, it makes for a more accessible read. Personally, I don't like dramas that are so depressing and heavy through and through. Lighten up a bit, will ya? Give me a few funny characters or laugh at death a little bit, will ya? I agree that it would work better in 1st person because the narrator could use humor to react to difficult situations. In 3rd person, you have to keep the tone consistent -- but certainly, there's no reason why you can't use witty and funny characters to balance the act.

Life is not one long drag of seriousness, even at the direst situations. Fiction should at least reflect that.

Almost all good stories--at least the best ones--employ elements of both humor and drama. Being able to make a reader laugh AND cry is one of the marks of a successful story, in my opinion. If your characters cannot do both, then I think it's going to be hard for a reader to truly care about them. Likewise, if you look at the best films, you will notice this same quality, which is an intelligent balance between pathos and humor.

Balance, pacing, and timing are the key. It has to be as unpredicatble as life itself in order to work. If it becomes obvious that you're employing some sort of "formula," such as inserting a humorous moment immediately after every dramatic scene, it becomes phoney and manipulative, sort of like those cheesy dramatic moments in "A Very Special Episode" of a sitcom whereby they will often insert an inappropriate comedic line in a feeble attempt to remind us that this is still supposed to be a comedy.

By balance, pacng and timing, what I mean is that you can't just jerk readers from one extreme of emotion to the other. Humor works as a wonderful tension-breaker when things are getting too mired down in heaviness, but it can't interrupt the dramatic moment in an inappropriate manner. As one person stated in this thread, first person POV, especially if you use multiple POV, can work well because different characters may have very different ways of seeing and handling things. One character may be very comedic, whereas another tends to take life much more seriously, and the switches in POV can help achieve the balance needed.
But I think it can be skillfully done with third person, as well. The real trick is being able to transition from moments of high drama to humor in such a way that it is not jarring to the reader.

David Sedaris writes humor about unhappy real-life situations and does it well. George Saunders puts characters in horrible situations and gets something humorous.

"Bad" and "funny" are mixed in real life. When my father was dying in a convalescent hospital, the nurse showed me to his bedside and said, in that patronizing nurse tone, "Do you know who this is?" He said "Hello, [my name]. You can't fool me with your disguises!"

I agree with Ray. I think that humor is almost a MUST in a heavy-drama. You need those moments of light to balance the dark, or else you'll drag the reader down into a pit and they won't want to keep reading. And life IS that balance of dark and light, funny and sad. Laughter at a wake is not, IMHO, a bad/disrespectful thing, but just how some people deal with things.

So, go for it. Try to offset some of that drama with some humor!


Susan G.

Count me in with those who say that any seriously heavy drama demands some humor to balance it out. I'm not sure I agree that it's easier to do in first person, but if it's done right, it won't matter what person it's in.

I remember an episode of LA Law from years ago that involved two trials. One was a teenage girl who had been involved in a car accident and had been forced to watch her younger brother die beside her after his chest was pierced by a fence picket. The other involved the rights to a vial of bull semen. The car accident trial was highly emotional, a real tear jerker. The bull semen trial was a hoot a minute, full of double entendres and ridiculous moments. The show kept jumping from one trial to the other and as a result, I'd be laughing one minute and crying the next. I was exhausted by the end of the show. But it's also the only episode of LA Law I remember in any detail.

In my opinion, comic relief, when done well, will only strengthen a dramatic work.

Beth

chaostitan said:

Joss Whedon has an uncanny knack for injecting humor into the most dramatic situations. Watch any episode of Buffy, Angel or Firefly and you'll see that talent at work.

If you don't like TV, test out a Buffy tie-in novel (anything by Christopher Golden or Nancy Holder). They manage to translate the drama-with-humor from television into prose.

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I was just going to suggest that!!! Joss' style is very similar to, "Make 'em laugh... make' em laugh... punch 'em in the gut." Gets me every time. I second the rec.