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Printed from https://shop.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/5594-The-Truth-can-be-Funny.html
Comedy: April 03, 2013 Issue [#5594]

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Comedy


 This week: The Truth can be Funny!
  Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI Library Class! Author IconMail Icon
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  Open in new Window.

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

It didn't need to be said. But it was. And that gave a whole new twist to the situation.


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Letter from the editor

I was playing hide and seek with Laya. She hid in the corner of a room, in plain sight. I couldn't help finding her.

She cried. I explained the un-hidden nature of her hiding place. She cried harder "If you hadn't looked for me where I was hiding you wouldn't have found me!" I was enlightened.


Dear Readers,
Given above is a friend's Facebook status, about a game of hide and seek with his little daughter. I wonder if you chuckled when you read it.

I certainly did chuckle. Then the writer in me started to wonder - why? Why is it funny? It's the truth, isn't it? If you don't look for someone where they are hiding, you won't find them. That's something that doesn't need to be said.

Which is precisely what makes it funny.

It didn't need to be said, but it was.

So, your funny bone is tickled, at first, with surprise at what was said. And then, you pause a bit and start thinking of the possibilities. What if he could see his daughter hiding there, but he didn't look there. You start to picture the scene. Giggle. Chuckle. Snort.

Take the line from one of Gerald Durrell's Corfu Chronicles, Gerald's mother talking to his brother: "Larry dear, you can't invite people you don't know to stay." Darn right, you can't. But now that it's been stated that way ... it gets you thinking ... what if you did? Imagination. Giggle, chuckle, snort.

Instead of leaving it unsaid, you're saying it, and that's what is unleashing the reader's imagination. When it wasn't said, nobody questioned it, nobody thought of the opposite scenario. It was just taken for granted. When said, it brings up the what if possibilities - and those need be funny, simply because it's a well-established truth which is being dissed.

Here's an extract from 'The Macbeth Murder Mystery' by James Thurber (JT is James Thurber, AL is American Lady.)

AL: Macduff discovers Duncan's body. Then he comes running downstairs and shouts “Confusion has broke open the Lord’s anointed temple” and “Sacrilegious murder has made his masterpiece” and on and on like that. All that stuff was rehearsed. You wouldn’t say a lot of stuff like that offhand, would you – if you’d found a body?
(fixing JT with a glittering eye)

JT: I—

AL: You’re right! You wouldn’t! Unless you’d practiced it in advance. “My God, there’s a body in here!” is what an innocent man would say.


Ha ha ha ha ... you wouldn't say a lot of stuff like that if you'd found a body!

And here's a bit from The Moral Dimension
(FROM “YES MINISTER” BY JONATHAN LYNN AND ANTONY JAY)

“The journalists need it, minister, to justify their huge expenses for a futile non-event.”

I wasn’t sure that I liked my trade mission to Qumran being described as a futile non-event.

“I mean, a great triumph for you, Minister, which is why it is a futile non-event for the press.”

He’s right about that. Journalists hate reporting success.


Yup. They sure do hate reporting success ...

On that happy note,
Thanks for listening,
Sonali


Editor's Picks

 The Poet's Pain Open in new Window. [E]
An ode to the sufferings of a sonnet writer
by VikramAdith Author Icon


The Fellowship Of The Wing Open in new Window. [13+]
A short parody of the Lord of the Rings
by W.D.Wilcox Author Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor


WdC SuperPower Reviewers Group Open in new Window. [E]
Join the fun! We inspire reviewers through kindness and learning! Winner of eight Quills!
by Maryann Author Icon




Daily Flash Fiction Challenge Open in new Window. [13+]
Enter your story of 300 words or less.
by Arakun the twisted raccoon Author Icon


The Writer's Cramp Open in new Window. [13+]
Write the best poem or story in 24 hours or less and win 10K GPS!
by Sophurky Author Icon


The WDC Angel Army Open in new Window. [ASR]
Dedicated to promoting positivity, encouragement, and support to the WDC community.
by iKïyå§ama Author Icon

 
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Ask & Answer

My last Comedy NL was a while ago! "Comedy Newsletter (December 21, 2010)Open in new Window.

Thanks LJPC - the tortoise Author Icon for this feedback!
A Laughter Club! Who would have thought about that? It's funny how empathic people are. Laughter IS infectious as are tears, but laughter is certainly more pleasurable! Thanks for the fun newsletter, Sonali. *Bigsmile* -- Laura

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