Why Is That So Funny?

by John Wright

(Book). This unique exploration of the principles and practice of physical comedy starts with a discussion of the various types of laughter that can be provoked by performance. It then presents graduated sequences of over a hundred games and exercises devised to demonstrate and investigate the whole range of comic possibilities open to a performer. The result is an intensely practical and thoroughly stimulating investigation of how comedy works in physical terms.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, Academic, Comedy

270 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. ^1

John Wright is the author of the River Cottage Handbooks Mushrooms, Edible Seashore, Hedgerow and Booze and also The Naming of the Shrew, a book which explores the infuriating but fascinating topic of how and why plants, animals and fungi earn their Latin names. As well as writing for national publications, he often appears on the River Cottage series for Channel 4. He gives lectures on natural history and every year he takes around fifty 'forays', many at River Cottage HQ, showing people how to collect food - plants from the hedgerow, seaweeds and shellfish from the shore and mushrooms from pasture and wood. Over a period of nearly twenty-five years he has taken around six hundred such forays. Fungi are his greatest passion and he has thirty-five years' experience in studying them.

John Wright is a member of the British Mycological Society and a Fellow of the Linnaean Society.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book on comedy -- especially physical comedy -- that I've ever read. Wright begins by describing 4 kinds of humor -- the surprise laugh, the bizarre laugh, the visceral laugh, and the recognized laugh -- and goes on to offer insight after insight into how theatrical comedy works. The book is filled with theatre games, useful for actors and business people alike who need to up their "presence." Highly recommended.

[Regret Husk · Rating 5 out of 5]

haha

[Nathan Sims · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book on physical comedy and how you can take those tools into rehearsals for not only comedies and but other genres as well. When I read the book, I could feel my entire body ramping up and on edge -- some of the techniques and exercises Wright utilizes scare the crap out of me, which tells me I need to try them. I did begin to explore some of these in a show I directed earlier this year. Some were incredibly successful. Others I feel I need more work to fully incorporate effectively in rehearsal.

One thing I did take away from the book and will continue to use is mindfulness in rehearsal of the idea of play. In other words keeping things light and exploratory rather than the mindset we so quickly fall into that we have to 'get it right'.

[Billy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great insight to understand playing, providing many games for the reader.

[Anne Libera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, deep dive into all of the elements of physical comedy. As a comedy scholar/practitioner myself but coming from a nearly opposite tradition of American improvisation, there were places where I found myself in vehement disagreement with his proposals but there is an incredible amount here to use and to dig into further.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been studying with John for the past few months. I found him through reading this book. Reading it, I thought, "Wow. This is brilliant! I bet it would be even more brilliant to study with this guy." And it is. But in lieu of actually being in the room with John, this book is your next best bet. He's so clear about stuff that always feels so muddy. It's not just a book about comedy by any stretch of the imagination. It's about how we make any kind of engaging theatre.
It's mostly exercises and such - but anyone looking for cool exercises should check this out. He's kind of a genius, I think.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very much a book by an actor, full of anecdotes about his personal experience. Especially his personal experience of a trip to Bali he once took.
Theatre of any kind is a difficult thing to teach, in a work shop, or in a book, and Wright does a very good job of explaining things. He has some very interesting ideas about theatre, and the book largely manages to stay on the right side of what might be called the negative stereotypes of actors.
All in all, an interesting read, but for a book on comedy it's written in a tremendously serious tone.

[Cathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous resource for theatre artists and educators. Includes exercises designed to teach (via experience) certain murky principles of ensemble devising, such as "awareness" and following impulses from the group.

[Wendy Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb manual for theatre practitioners

[thestorygirl]

Recommended by Sandi Carroll

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geared toward the actor and performer, with practical exercises.