“A joke isn’t a joke if you need to explain it,” notes Leonard S. Marcus, on his upcoming new release, Funny Business [available October 2009 from Candlewick Press].
“Even so, the hidden clockwork of comedy… has long been considered one of the great riddles of life.” A hilarious documentation on the genius of comedy, Marcus’ work shares advice from thirteen wily writers on the inspiration needed to make a reader laugh out loud.
First Book President Kyle Zimmer was honored to talk with Marcus, the esteemed historian of children’s literature, about the pearls of wisdom he uncovered from literary giants the likes of Judy Blume, Daniel Pinkwater, and Carl Hiassen. From using humor as a device to navigate life challenges like bullying or divorce, or uncovering the secret of why girls giggle to read about boys, Marcus traces humor as part of the children’s genre from the earliest roots of American storytelling. “American humor had its start in tall tales, [like Paul Bunyan], where the hero wakes up and drinks a whole river for breakfast,” Marcus laughs.
For any aspiring writers seeking acclaim as a funny man (or woman!) for Funny Business, Vol. 2, Marcus has some advice as well: “…trust your own voice. Everybody has a voice. I think there’s a tendency to think that writers have voices and that you, the undiscovered writer, don’t. But you do, and the closer you come to finding that voice, the more you have to say. I think it’s a great way to know yourself.”
To hear more about Funny Business, including what book got Marcus hooked, check out the podcast recording:
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