It's Funny Until Someone Loses an Eye

by Kurt Luchs

Fiction. This collection of stories by Kurt Luchs pursues its comedic quarry with the ruthlessness of a pussycat trying to get out of a cardboard box. Luchs, who has written for august literary organs such as The Onion, The New Yorker , and McSweeney's Internet Tendency , and even been published by some of them, is an inspired comic writer in the tradition of P.J. Wodehouse, S.J. Perelman, and Woody Allen, for whom not only the world but language itself is a source of constant delight. Even the hilarity he generates is not an end in itself; the convulsing diaphragms of his laughing readers are in his hands a remotely operated musical instrument bridging the woodwind and percussion sections.

Genres: Humor, Short Stories

210 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2017

Reviews

[Ariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted on: The Quirky Book Nerd

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

This book is a collection of standalone outrageous and comical essays and stories. I love reading, watching, and listening to anything humorous. Comedy is important these days—we all need to be able to laugh with all the insanity going on around us! And I have an extremely random, sarcastic, and silly sense of humor. However, this collection actually ended up being a bit too random and bizarre even for me, which was a huge surprise. Don’t get me wrong, there were a number of funny stories in this compilation, but there were also plenty that I just didn’t find much humor in. Even the stories that did crack me up were not “laugh-out-loud” funny—they were just okay.

Unfortunately, I ended up feeling rather unsatisfied overall with this collection. I was eager to read it, and maybe I went in with higher expectations than I should have—this was my first experience with Luchs’ writing. Though it did get some laughs out of me, none of the stories really stood out to me, and even now, I can’t remember much of them. There were some parts that did connect with me and my cynical and silly style of humor, but I wish it had been a little bit more consistent all the way through. In the end, it was a bit slow to get through and not as memorable as I had hoped, but it still provided me with a bit of comedy.

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humour is a fickle tickler. One man’s Stan Laurel is another man’s Dudley Moore, as the saying has never went. This here is an offering of skits and stories from a lifelong devotee to the written laugh and serves up more consistent chuckles, snorts, lip rasps, amused smirks, appreciative nods, and stony-faced respect than Woody Allen’s most recent efforts. Luchs aims his chortle-cannon at modern life, mocking the legal accoutrements binding us to life on this unfunny planet, and serves up a salver of erudite pieces that twist the unknowable past into various absurd shapes, and make us feel at least 4% happier, like all the best humorists. Packaged with magnificently appealing endpapers and with rave quotes from the dead (Wilde, Parker, Zeppo!), this is the only humour collection your miserable relatives require this Xmas.

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional Word Play

The blurbers for this book have invoked, as comparable writers, such diverse talents as P.G. Wodehouse, Woody Allen, and S,J. Perelman. O.K., I'll play along. To me this feels a good deal like Woody Allen, especially if Woody had written more for The Onion.

Like good stand up this type of humor writing requires the printed version of "timing". The set up is followed by a brief throwaway, or an extra beat, or an aside, or a surprise parenthetical that suddenly twists the sentence and sends it somewhere unexpected. And the timing here is exceptional.

So, these pieces aren't "jokes", and they aren't shaggy dog stories. It's not really observational humor, and you don't have to read pages of dry cuteness just to get to the punch line. They are bits, but written with care and real regard for how words and sentences work. To paraphrase Chesterton, it's easy to be heavy but hard to be light. Luchs can do light right - and that's a real treat.

Of course, some premises work better than others. But even the "usual", (like a letter of recommendation for a terrible employee), is remarkably fresh and very tightly constructed. And, since every piece runs only about 2 to 4 pages this is like a humor sampler, or a bag of very funny mental potato chips.

That was all fine by me, and I enjoyed and admired this collection. A nice find.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[Jenny Houle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for an unbiased review.

While I recognize comedy is rather subjective, I found this collection of short writings to be laugh out loud-able. Would I buy it as a gift in my social circle? Absolutely. It's sarcastic and biting. Would I be shocked if you told me that many don't find it nearly as funny as me? Not at all. I think my favorite piece was "Mangler Mall", though "Your Falling Stars" and "UFO's: The Secret Air Force Files" were both close seconds.

[Dan Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars.

[David McClendon, Sr · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book starts out hilariously. Letter of Recommendation is perhaps one of the funniest things one will ever read.

However, it goes downhill from there. Many of the jokes are just not all that funny. When the author attempts to make a joke with horoscopes, it just gets sick. What is funny about cancer?

There are a few articles that are mildly amusing. Most of the humor just kind of lays there. If Luchs were to perform this humor in front of a sober or even semi-sober audience, he would hear the sound of crickets he talks about.

We give It's Funny Until Someone Loses an Eye (Then It's Really Funny) by Kurt Luchs one star. Even to give it the one star might be a stretch. On the plus side, Mr. Luchs manages to stay away from filthy jokes and most bad language, although he does use The Lord’s Name in vain one time in the book.

For the most part, the jokes are clean, just not all that funny.



We were sent a complimentary copy of this book. We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sagging Meniscus Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of It's Funny Until Someone Loses and Eye (Then it's Really Funny). I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

The only way I can describe It's Funny Until Someone Loses an Eye (Then it's Really Funny) is that it is not unlike Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. Both are completely random, but somehow the stories seem to fit together. I found the book to be entertaining, but it is not something that I would point to as being totally memorable. At the end of the day, I might retain a couple of laughs, but the book will be quickly replaced in my memory with something else. It's Funny Until Someone Loses an Eye is successful in that its quirky humor has the power to make even the most stoic person break down and laugh in places. I am not sure I would recommend it, but I did get a few chuckles from reading it.

[Chrys · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really bizarre collection of short stories that was a touch too American for me to "get", although there were a couple of really funny bits.
Was very much like reading the musings of a stand up comedian.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF Review - Similar to some other DNFs, I requested this when I was on memoir kick and quickly realized I didn't care much for them unless I already adored the author/subject. This honestly wasn't funny to me and I didn't feel like continuing.