How funny can you be

Im currently working on a book that has a lot of humor in it but its not a comedy book. I was just wondering how funny you can make a book without having your reader falling out of the mindset you want them in for the serious, moving scenes. I want to make my readers laugh hard and cry hard. How can you accomplish both?

Shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just be funny in the scenes where you want to get your readers to laugh while being emotional, poignant, whatever when you want them to feel sad. A lot of movies and TV shows can pull that off, so books should be able to do the same, I would think.

What kind of humor are you going to have anyway? Might be easier for people to help if you are specific. Is it slapstick, toilet humor, sarcastic, satirical, cute, hostile, puns and play-on-word type things, morbid humor, absurd or any other kind? I think maybe some kinds might be easier to pull off with emotional other parts than others. Not really sure.

Romantic comedy is a perfect example. There are laugh-out moments, funny until you cry moments, and also poignant, heart-felt moments. You just need to set it up right so that your readers are not laughing when they're supposed to be sentimental, etc.

One way, used a lot, is to have a particular character be funny. Too often this is ruined by giving the character no other part save that of buffoon. If used this character should be essential to the plot and not be a buffoon. If this character is accompanied by a couple of thrill seekers they might be the only level headed one in the crowd.

The situation might be hilarious, even though dark. If so write the scene straight and let the reader react to it or not according to their nature.

Timing is important. Are your humorous moments completely separate from your serious moments? Or do they follow each other back to back providing a quick reversal of emotions? Possibly even interrupt each other?

I know I've read and watched things that are both funny and moving. But I can't recall reading or watching something that managed to be as funny as a comedy oriented piece and as moving as a serious dramatic piece at the same time. Im trying to get the best of both worlds. I was telling someone about the story and they thought this might be a problem.

Vanessa,
Are you funny in real life? If so, that will lend itself to your writing. Don't restrain your talent.

A book, story, or character can be humourous w/o the entire work being classified comedy.

Characters and readers thrive on a range of emotion. Use all you can.

American audiences and European audiences are different. Jerry Lewis was more popular in Europe than the U.S.

One of the problems audiences had with his movies, after he went solo from Dean Martin, was that he would have a scene in his movies that was tender, sad, full of pathos. Then he would go back to slapstick for the rest of the movie.

A lot of American people did not like his showing the clown, the buffoon, as a feeling human being who suffered emotionally when rejected, or otherwise abused. They want their comedy straight on the rocks with barely a hint of the tragedy underneath. The same is true of other genres. The American audience will accept some humor, some comedy relief, but does not want enough to compete with the genre itself.

I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm not saying it won't be done: A lot of changes in American culture have come and gone since Jerry Lewis's "Disorderly Orderly" where I first became aware of this. I stood outside the theater and listened to the people complain about the serious parts.

What I am saying is be prepared for the possibility of a negative reaction if your humorous parts and your serious parts balance out too closely.

My most recent novel, The Vicarious Liver, is funny (darkly so) but also has some very serious moments that deal with death, forensics, etc. Balancing the two has been (and will continue to be as I progress in the series) a challenge. But I think dark and/or serious moments lend themselves well to a bit of tension-breaking humor. There is a scene in the movie Steel Magnolias where Sally Fields' character is having an emotional meltdown at the cemetery in front of her women friends and just when the tension seems unbearable, one of the women does something outrageous and funny. It relieves the tension and helps to get the story back on track.

It helps if you are innately funny yourself (have people told you you are funny? Were you the class clown? Do you make people laugh a lot?) but you also need to have a sense for the timing and appropriateness of humor. Give any funny stuff you write a test run with several readers. My own sense of humor tends to be a bit offbeat and I find that the occasional thing that cracks me up isn't the least bit funny to others.

Beth

Vanessa -

You might want to check out the novel "Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner. The book is laugh out loud funny, but there is some really serious, moving parts to it, and she handles both the transitions and the balance really well.

Vanessa, I know this topic is a bit dead, but I thought of something that may help.

Have you ever seen the show 'Scrubs'? It's comedy based, but I have yet to see an episode that doesn't deliver some kind of dramatic conflict, heartfelt lesson, etc. Since you mentioned you're writing a drama, this would be the opposite working. However, if there's anyway you could find a copy of the episode "My Screw Up," I think you could find a lot of parallels in it to what you're doing. I can't guarantee it's your kind of humor (ridiculous, quirky) but this one episode is an extraordinary example of how to "genre jump."