Compare This!
Humor is our most enjoyable form of truth.
CRAFT
Let’s agree that comparisons are indeed a basic literary device, but that’s exactly why they are so often overlooked.
Humorist have, or certainly should develop, a knack for comparing things to… Well, damn near anything. And that’s the point. The average fiction writer strives for comparisons that are novel, emotionally evocative, or impressive to literary critics. (Although frankly, if a literary critic is nitpicking individual similes, he\she needs their dosage adjusted.)
The sunset used a palette that left mortal artists found wanting.
Comparisons for a humorist have no such limitations. Or, any limitations.
LSD invented: 1938. The Wizard of Oz flying monkeys: 1939.
To Compare or Not to Compare
It’s true, comparisons can be considered trite, and there are some fairly good arguments supporting that belief. However, comparisons can also be very effective, which is why they have survived as a literary device, and as jokes. If a comparison is trite, it’s not the fault of the device, but the writer.
Ooh, that hurts!
The problem with comparisons is that, although they offer a fabulous opportunity to stretch one’s imagination, many humorists—particularly beginners—bypass the opportunity or settle for the patently obvious. On the other hand, stretching one’s imagination—really pushing the envelope—when using a comparison offers your audience exactly what they’re looking for: a great laugh.
Ah yes, divorce, from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man’s genitals through his wallet. – Robin Williams
Simile Smiles
The simile is in its simplest, purest, and totally unadulterated form: this is like that.
She welcomed me like E. coli in the mayonnaise.
Or, one of my personal favorites from Judy Rose’s post, The 25 Funniest Analogies (Collected by High School English Teachers):
Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
A true artiste that one!
The lowly simile is probably the first comparison that most us learned in grade school English class. Used well, it is also the most effective. With no exaggeration, millions of jokes are based on similes. The funniest, by far, are those where the writer refused to settle for his first idea and kept pushing until he had a great gag tickling hell out of his audience.
TOP SECRET Humor Formula #7826: Pushing your imagination is not time consuming after a modest bit of practice. It quite easily becomes second nature, and the speed with which you will be able to formulate a great gag regularly increases.
Metaphor, My Love
A metaphor is a hidden comparison not using like or as. However, it’s the same soup, just a different flavor.
All the world’s a stage and men and women merely players.
– William Shakespeare
Olde Will could certainly turn a phrase, and he was screaming funny at times, even in his tragedies. Of course, there’s still plenty of humor fodder in more modern views:
Obstetricians aren’t real doctors; not once did mine say, ‘This won’t hurt a bit.’
Oh, So Familiar Analogy
An analogy explains something unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar, which is particularly useful in topical humor when something esoteric makes headlines.
Scientist have discovered that electrons are spherical. If an electron was the size of the solar system, any imperfection would be less than the width of a human hair or the dust that your mother-in-law can see on your countertop.
Allegory
Welcome to George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Allegory uses symbols and symbolism to compare people, things or even all of society to abstract ideas or events. As allegories are generally longer works, I’ll skip posting an example, but you can find a list of popular allegorical books at Goodreads. Note, longer forms are not immune to humor. The theme, entire plots, and bits and pieces of any book can be both humorous and allegorical.
Conclusion
Comparative literary devices are practically straight-lines for humorists. And for those humorists with lots of imagination and no fear, one final comparison: Use them like you know what you’re doing.
Parting Funny: The best way to get most husbands to do something is to suggest that perhaps they’re too old to do it. –
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