Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture by Ken Jennings

Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture Reviews

• 
  Mehrsa

  I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. The history of comedy is interesting, but what I was most struck by was his diagnoses of what the proliferation and invasion of comedy into every aspect of life has wrought and could happen in the future. Though sometimes he sounds like a grumpy old man talking about kids these days, I think his concerns are serious. What can we take seriously any more? What has the speed and intensification of our processing of news and turning it into comedy done to our culture? Really interesting insights and questions
• 
  Maia

  This is a conversational, light, easy to read nonfiction that traces the way comedy and humor have spread their roots into almost every aspect of American life. Advertisements are now expected to be funny, as are politicians, the news, the modern art world and some types of avant-garde fashion and food. Also, social media, particularly twitter, which (even in its crumbling perhaps final days) is a near constant stream of jokes and jibes at every current happening, large or small, including very horrific tragedies that probably shouldn't be made light of. And things that were already funny, like sitcoms, have nearly doubled their joke density in the past 50 years. The author explores the historical development of comedy in these different fields, and also wonders what it is doing to our brains to be fed such a constant stream of jokes. I missed a lot of the references by virtue of having seen almost none of the TV shows or comedy specials the author was referring to, yet still found this a quick and lively read.
• 
  B Schrodinger

  Ken could tell me about the 1970's parachute silk weaving process and I'd find it interesting.
  
  But he talks about comedy, something we are all interested in. In an age when comedy is so widespread, so easily available and we are inundated with it constantly, what is it's value? Why do we laugh and when should we laugh?
  
  While he is no expert, Ken can research the hell out of anything and tell you about it in an amusing and informative way. If you are a fan of the workings of comedy, take a look at this book.
• 
  Bandit

  I remember reading Ken Jennings’ charming Brainiac and thinking this guy should write more books. And right after that Planet Funny showed up on Netgalley. What perfect timing. That’s actually one of the things discussed in this book. So anyway, this rainy day was spent in company of Ken Jennings, the nerd superhero of Jeopardy fame, and his musings on the nature of funny. While mainly known for being a trivia buff extraordinaire, following his legendary time on Jeopardy the man has become something of a social commentator, via books, podcasts and Twitter among other things. It is the latter that has given him and many, many others a readymade platform for telling jokes and as such is much discussed in this book. But then there are so many other aspects of being funny outside of punning perfect 180 characters into the ether. And just as many ramifications. And so Jennings ponders comedy…the evolution of, the past examples, the future in the face of the ever increasing political correctness and so on. Ironically enough (and there is a terrific chapter on irony here including where it originates and many examples, so I sincerely hope this is the correct usage) Kennings’ book on funny is his most serious up to date work. In contemplating the sociological, educational, cultural, political, psychological, emotional, anthropological even aspects of comedy and defining its place in the world he presents some really interesting thoughts and compelling arguments about correlation between funny and good, although that’s quite a reductive explanation. One of the main questions of this book is whether our increasingly funny society is being improved by all this increasing funniness or whether it creates a certain glib callousness and cynicism that may be contributing to this ugly times we’re living in. The chapter on US current politics and recent election alone is terrific, so astute and loaded with insight. There are also thoughts on comedy and racism, sexism, all sorts of isms, something for everyone. But the main draw for me is Jennings as the narrator. I just really enjoy this guy, he’s certainly matured since his Jeopardy days, became something of a pop culture pundit, but essentially just a smart opinionated erudite funny nerd in the best possible way. He’s also self aware with the right amount of self effacement thrown in, so that he can address his Twitter experience (of which there’s much in this book) with a wry sort of wink wink nudge nudge everyone’s in on it and everyone’s doing it and here’s why sort of tactic. Personally I find Twitter along with most social media not only absolutely resistible (as in the opposite of irresistible) and even morally reprehensible, but it is an effective platform and Jennings gives some great examples of how well it can work out. He jokingly (or is it) admits to doing it out of a need for self validation, but that’s just a typical example of his personality, a sort of jocular confidence mixed with a sort of personal introspection, particularly evident as he ponders sarcasm in self and others. Just as the life unexamined may not be worth living, a joke examined may not be worth a laugh. Seems like that would be an inherent problem with a book about funniness, but Jennings’ spans such a broad net of themes, it really never becomes an awkward dissection of an awesome thing. And it isn’t loaded with jokes either (although his trivia books have tons of trivia). Because as mentioned before this is a serious book. This one contemplates a downfall of society. Yeah, that serious. Funny is, of course, such a subjective matter. I enjoy comedy tremendously, but find that genuinely funny movies are more and more difficult to come by. Stand up is good, sometimes great. Some tv shows are hilarious. Some funny things are universal, probably genuine comedy is universal and the rest is contingent upon time and place and audience. This book talks a lot about what is considered funny and why and when. Fascinating material, really. And presented with Jennings own variety of funny, which I enjoy, not enough to start following him on Twitter, nothing crazy like that, but in book form very much so. Coming across as funny in print is challenging, he manages, but not always, discussing some of his Twitter misfires candidly. Personally I don’t even try in my reviews. Deadpan seems to come across in print about as ably as an olfactory mirage. Verbosity is another matter though and this is now officially my longest review ever, so time to wrap it up by enthusiastically recommending this author and this book. Thanks Netgalley.
• 
  britt_brooke

  Ken Jennings, of Jeopardy fame, explores the history of humor and how comedy has evolved, permeating into all aspects of modern life. Super interesting! Jennings delivers a perfectly inflected, and humorous, narration. Don’t let the silly cover and title deter you. It’s a fun, witty, and educational listen!
• 
  Howard

  4 Stars for Planet Funny (audiobook) by Ken Jennings read by the author. I thought the premise of this book sounded interesting but I mostly wanted to learn more about the author. I read Maphead last year and loved it. I think Ken’s take on the world is interesting and I’m really glad that they picked him to guest host Jeopardy instead of a comedian.
• 
  Anurag Sahay

  This was good for what it was: a way for me to get back into non-fiction audiobooks narrated by the author.
  
  It is my experience that non-fiction audiobooks narrated by authors who are, in their day job, some sort of performers are usually fun even when the writing itself is bad -- around 80% of my non-fiction reading in the past few years has been comedian autobiographies. Ken Jennings is very much a performer, even if one isn't used to thinking of him as such.
  
  Most of the book is a bunch of essays by Jennings, which he peppers with historical facts that came up in his research, comments with big name writers and comedians he interviewed for the book, and anecdotes from his life. He spends a lot of time dissecting the various facets of humour (the biological/psychological basis, the history of stand-up, the use of comedy in politics and advertising), and he usually has something interesting to say. Most of his takes are well within what I would call the woke Overton window (especially on topics like how freedom of speech interact with comedy and its impact on real world discrimination), but his voice (both literary and literally) is good enough that he makes these points well.
  
  I wouldn't recommend this to everybody. If you're a fan of Ken Jennings' internet persona (e.g., his Twitter or his podcasts) then you will probably enjoy this. If you're a fan of comedy and want to learn at least some of its historical development, then this is probably a good place to start. If you're neither, uhhh, you could try this maybe?! There are better books to spend your time on, in that case.
• 
  Peter Fuller

  4.5/5 stars. As a direct result of reading this book, I didn’t put any jokes into a group text invitation to a Christmas Party. My wife was convinced that I’d had an aneurysm.
  
  How does the book work without violating the “Dissecting humor is stilted and boring” rule of thumb? Jennings just doesn’t try to be funny while he’s dissecting humor (don’t worry, his humor still leaks through all over. I laughed out loud plenty of times). I came into this book expecting a ton of witty one-liners from my favorite Twitter follow. Instead, I got a thoughtfully put-together look at why we all are trying so hard to be funny.
  
  This book reads like an alcoholic’s own take on alcoholism — it’s obvious that Jennings is feeling introspective about his own addiction to jokes, laughing, comedy, one-liners et al, and it lends a nice personal touch to the writing.
  
  My only complaint is that the middle half of the book feels disconnected from a main thesis. It reads a bit more like a history of comedy. But the beginning and end tie in well together.
  
  I’m a total Ken Jennings stan, so take this effusively-positive review with a grain of salt.
• 
  Liz Overberg

  As usual, Ken Jennings offers a witty and extremely well researched take on an interesting topic. This time he explores the history of comedy in culture and examines how and why humor was integrated into politics, sports, the workplace, the news, etc. etc. etc.
  
  This was a bit of a slog to get through, and probably could have used a few more jokes, anecdotes, and case studies to keep me turning the pages, but nevertheless it's a fairly engaging (but not laugh-out-loud funny) analysis of the evolution of humor.
• 
  Margaret Sankey

  Jennings examines the evolution of humor, including some medieval jokes I did not already have, but things really take off when he gets into how language and cultural limits keep superstar comedic actors to their home countries, how humor got into 1950s advertising, the "Between Two Ferns" Obamacare bump, misguided corporate jollying of employees, the decline of duo humor as the straight man character fell by the wayside, meta-humor, the cycles of sitcoms, Weird Al, how comedians lose touch and become assholes (Hey, Dennis Miller!), and the structures that formed late night talk shows.
• 
  Art

  This book captures the comic mood of the moment, writes Ken Jennings, the smart game-show contestant who now writes for a living. As part of our current moment, most millennials say that their sense of humor defines them, not music as for earlier generations. Everyone’s a comic now, which devalues it. Not so long ago, few people could make others laugh.
  
  A surprisingly thoughtful and engaging book about humor and comedy. Fun, funny and smart about the smarty pants and smart-alecks we all know who make us laugh.
  
  Eleven chapters dissect our comic moment and history, with intelligent discussions about sarcasm, politics, the professionals, the velocity of comedy as well as the politics of comedy and today’s counterpoint, the comedy of politics.
  
  Laughter comes from a sudden discovery of nonsense, silliness or other unexpected outcome. Researchers in recent years mapped how humor lights up the brain. Puns light up one way, while concept jokes light up another pattern.
  
  A fascinating two-page neural bubble history map of comedy includes a couple hundred antecedents, such as commedia del’arte and Gilbert & Sullivan, that preceded vaudeville then the Simpsons and The Office, leading to Arrested Development, for example, with paths and arrow leading in fun directions, making the connections.
  
  Up through vaudeville, comics could recycle their jokes in every city. Then film, radio and recordings came along, preserving and circulating the acts for replay. Every generation’s newer competition became funnier than its predecessor. David Letterman and Mad Magazine became funnier than what came before.
  
  American jokes kicked into high gear almost a hundred years ago when The New Yorker began publishing single-panel cartoons drawn as simply as possible to convey the joke. The weekly brought humor into the twentieth century, then radio and television sped it along, creating shorter attention spans. Laugh-In and Monty Python contributed to this but The Simpsons accelerated the process because animation allowed for a greater velocity of jokes while the drawn characters and scenes can do things impossible out here in the real world.
  
  But with so much good comedy now, do we enjoy it as much, asks Jennings. Paradoxically, professional funny people notice that the audience that knows the most about comedy enjoys it the least because they know the set up and techniques.
  
  In the early twentieth century, a rural voice dominated American humor as slow takers spun folksy yarns. Urbane humor evolved in the twenties when Robert Benchley pioneered observation comedy. He cofounded the Algonquin Roundtable of wisecrackers, which included Dorothy Parker. A generation later, a new comic type appeared as the hapless neurotic, the nebbish, which led to Woody Allen, Charlie Brown and Liz Lemon.
  
  Late-night television began in the early fifties when Steve Allen colonized a new frontier and molded it, which became the form we know today.
  
  Satire became the dominant voice of our culture in the middle of the twentieth century. The tragic novels of World War I gave way to black comedy satires of World War II, including
  Catch-22 and “Dr Strangelove.”
  
  Comedy fans now expect new laughs every day, not just a special every year or so. As a result, many comics today record their own podcasts to meet the demand.
  
  Now we live in an era of the gifted amateur. April first used to serve as the day everyone became a comedian. Stand-ups used to spend decades in clubs. But the explosion of amateur comedy online can short-circuit that path.
  
  Twitter turned us into a culture of comedy writers. It gives a new generation of jokesters an outlet, a community that sparks cross-pollinating and quick validation. Twitter provides a forum to enjoy comedy from other people while developing a unique voice, style and rhythm. Twitter works well as a comedy lab, writes Jennings. A couple of funny tweeters went directly from posting to writing for the Academy Awards and for Seth Myers.
  
  Meanwhile, we created a culture where everyone expects politics to entertain all the time. And when the system did that two years ago, a showman with the funniest campaign won. Now fewer people feel like laughing, adds Jennings, who also discusses Obama, Bush and Clinton.
  
  Trump’s presidential ambition came from a comedy routine seven years ago. Obama, at the White House Correspondents dinner, began his after-dinner speech with four minutes of “birther” jokes. Then he told jokes about Celebrity Apprentice for two more minutes. Instead of a good-natured cheerfulness that other public figures would express, Trump sat in rage while laugh after laugh struck him, Jennings writes. Did those six minutes of comedy upset him enough to become the hate-filled destroyer of the Obama legacy? Then on the campaign trail, Trump appeared as a cartoon of a pro wrestler, punching his vitriol as a stand-up without a sense of humor. But the culture’s wish for an amusing world without end came true beginning on Election Night.
  
  Humor appreciation differs and can reveal your place on the political spectrum. Conservatives, for example, prefer a punchline that makes sense. Liberals, meanwhile, like nonsense, jokes with unresolved absurdity.
  
  Almost half of young voters get their information from comedy shows, including Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show. Older and more conservative voters draw from humorless talk radio and cable news, which also present news as entertainment.
  
  And, in conclusion, folks, comedy transformed from a rare thing in the world to our new expectation that funny needs to dominate modern discourse. Our sense of humor evolved or mutated to become the dominant voice in our culture. No, seriously.
  
  A thirty-five page appendix includes notes and a good three-column index.
  
  Did We Reach Peak Funny?
  https://www.npr.org/sections/monkeyse...
• 
  Abtin

  A sobering look at how comedy has taken over every aspect of our society. Not to say this is a dry or humorless book. Jennings is like many of us a "comedy-nerd" and has a great sense of humor that shows in his writing. He does a nice job of praising the significant role comedy has played in our development as a species and our social lives, while also lamenting how we may be suffering from too much of a good thing.
  
  We are inundated with "funny" to the point that nothing is funny. Comedy has become the default approach to get people to pay attention, and has made its way into places where it need not exist. This point is beautifully illustrated in the section on airline safety videos becoming absurdist in-jokes. Watching some of these pre-flight videos could confuse a first-time flyer more than prepare them to survive a crash.
  
  Ultimately, if everything is a joke, then it reduces the stakes. Religion is no longer the opiate of the masses; comedy is a much more effective drug. We smirk at injustice and move on to the next joke.
  
• 
  Rebecca

  Excellent review of the political and sociological implications of comedy- used as weapon, to divide, to bring together- an ever evolving sensibility. Comedy mutates to suit the culture- novelty, speed, absurdidty and immediate reactions are required in this non stop feedback culture. Increase irony- so much comedy in our culture that everyone has internalized the tropes and tones - Presidential
  Debates anyone. Enlightening.
• 
  Liesl

  An academic yet entertaining examination of comedy in today's culture. The first two chapters are a little rough, especially the 2+ pages where Jennings lists things he thinks are funny off the top of his head, but after that the book takes off and gets into a nice groove. I was astounded to discover how much the ratio of jokes per minute on a standard sitcom has changed through time, that potential TV writers can be discovered via tweets on Twitter, and the manner in which comedy can help explain the election of Donald Trump. As usual, the writing is witty and well-researched while covering a multitude of areas associated with the main topic, complete with footnotes. Although a little denser than expected at times, well worth the read.
• 
  Vince Snow

  I finished the book on Saturday and on Sunday evening I watched on netflix the Social Dilemma. I thought they paired quite nicely. Both discuss the idea of too much of a good thing.
  
  Lots of the book was devoted to the history of humor, which was interesting to me, but I don't listen to a whole ton of stand up. I found it much more interesting when he compared the number of jokes told in older sitcoms to The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
  
  He does not make a point that comedy is bad and should be done away with, although he does mention that movements have been predicting the end of sarcasm for 50 years. A bigger message that I got across was that some things, and he doesn't specify which things, should be serious. We should think before we insert humor into every situation. I found that idea fascinating and compelling.
  
  This is definitely one I will want to physically reread, instead of the audiobook, and take notes on.
• 
  Rebecca

  Witty and thought-provoking. Would recommend to others.
• 
  Abbey

  Equal parts LOL and thought-provoking.
• 
  Avneet

  I feel like I've been reading books in tandem with other media that perfectly matches up - in this case I read most of the first half of this while catching up on S3 of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and listening to Gilmore Guys. Reading the philosophical definitions of humour & the history of comedy paired with shows depicting and dissecting the same early eras of stand-up helped me connect a lot of ideas that popped up in the first half of this book. But the book really shines in the latter half, looking at how comedy has forever altered (maybe for the worst!) how we interact with the world around us and how we expect it to interact with us. Saying that, some of those ideas would be more interesting, I think, to read from a non-white, non-dude perspective (i.e. folks who are impacted the most by it all). Also! Still in shock/in denial that Ken Jennings is a big Mormon...I need a moment for that.
• 
  Kirk Hanley

  This book is a bit different than I thought it would be, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Ken Jennings is obviously a bonafide comedy nerd and hearing him discuss various comedy bits, TV shows, movies, and more is great. But this book goes a lot deeper than that, examining whether we are amusing ourselves to death. His premise is that we may have reached "peak funny" where literally everything - our politics, conversation, social media - has become one big joke and is, perhaps, unsustainable at its current levels. It's a terrific book that will make you think - and, of course, make you laugh.
• 
  Morgan

  The best book about comedy I've ever read.
• 
  urmom

  ken jennings = the goat
• 
  Jenny

  "Three is funny only because it’s the shortest list that can set up a pattern and then break it with a surprising final item. A set of two is just a pair; there’s no rhythm. A set of four works in theory, but it feels cluttered, because the audience can sense that it’s one more example than you actually needed."
  
  For a book about comedy, this wasn't as funny as I expected (and not as funny as I remember
  Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks being. However, Jennings raises a lot of good points, and there were a few takeaways that I wanted to note:
  
  1) "...getting better as an improv partner isn't too different from getting better at being a person; open to new ideas and change, not judgemental of others' contributions, willing to take risks, valuing listening above all."
  
  2) In a 2008 experiment, one group of students watched a Colbert clip (knowing it was satire) and another watched a clip with the same content by Bill O'Reilly. The first group actually said they felt less confidence in their ability to understand the issues. "The extra level of distancing in Colbert's satire had been more confusing, perhaps, than intended."
  
  3) This leads to Jennings claiming that Trump's "goofy showmanship" led to him winning - people saying "Can you believe this guy?" prevented him from being taken seriously.
  
  4) We laugh more with others. There was an experiment with kids listening to funny audio clips on headphones and they laughed more when they were tested in groups "Being amused by something can be a result of laughter, rather than the other way around." Jennings talks about being excited to watch MASH without the laugh track and when he did, he said it wasn't as funny- the "show felt cold and mirthless, with awkward silences peppering the repartee."
  
  5) Jennings talks about the Mystery Science Theatre 300 revival and how it appealed to young people. The show's creator Joel Hodgson said he's not surprised that kids like the show even if they can't understand it: "They don't have a problem with references they don't understand, because their life is like that. They're constantly being confronted with things they don't understand, but they start to find meaning in the words and the tone in which they're delivered. The way we move into the world is the same way. You kind of learn things by proxy." Which explains why I loved Disney movies so much even though I didn't understand so much of them - I watch them now with my toddler and there are SO MANY THINGS I'm realizing went right over my head.
  
  At some points, I had trouble remembering what each chapter was about because there was a lot of overlap or the point seemed to get lost. There was a chapter about how humor has changed (he spend time tracking laughs per minute in TV shows and how it's noticeably increased - have we reached "peak humor"?) There was a chapter about podcasting and how comedians are more accessible in this medium and have found it helpful to try out new routines/formats. I liked this even though I haven't listened to the podcasts he lists.
  
  There was a chapter about music and how rock isn't funny, though country is (which is funny since I just listened to a Malcolm Gladwell podcast about how country music is better at causing us to tear up than rock music).
  
  There was a chapter about Twitter and how it's become a place for everyone to be a comedian. I particularly liked Jennings giving examples of his tweets and the trends he has seen over time (like the yo mama example). I liked that chapter, too; even though I barely ever go on Twitter and never post, I have heard many a Reply All podcast about the cleverness of specific posts over the past few years.
  
  I also really liked the list Jennings had in the beginning of the book of all the things that he finds funny- the list goes on for pages. A few of them: putting a pencil behind your ear, acronyms that were clearly reverse-engineered to make words, at Christmas when the Wise Men are three different races. dogs wearing bandannas, swim diapers, Crispix, bow ties.
• 
  Evan Crane

  'we're learning to laugh at problems instead of solving them'
  
  The Greek philosopher Theophrastus related the strange story of Tiryntha, the Peloponnesian city where Hercules once lived. The Tirynthians were addicted to laughter. They were amused by everything, and it was ruining their lives and endangering the city. They sent to the oracle at Delphi to see what could be done, and were instructed to sacrifice a bull to Poseidon and throw it into the sea without laughing. The Tirythians, determined to follow the oracle's pronouncement to the letter, barred children from the ritual to ensure that no one cracked up. But one boy stole into the crowd to watch the sacrifice, and when he piped up to ask what was going on, he made an accidental pun that sent the whole crowd into gales of laughter.
  
  'The fact that gallows humor is all that survives in the face of dehumanizing catastrophe isn't an argument for gallows humor. It's an argument against dehumanizing catastrophe.'
• 
  McKenna

  3.5 stars
  
  I thought this was quite funny and interesting. Ken Jennings explores our joke-obsessed culture, the history of comedy, and how it all has good/bad effects. I’m not a comedy nerd, so a lot of the references went over my head, but I thought it was entertaining and well-researched. It made me want to check out his other books. (Heads up, he does share anecdotes from a sex ed class and stuff like that.)
• 
  Charlotte

  Ken Jennings (yes the Jeopardy guy) even talks about his own history with comedy. From watching Mystery Science 3000 to how social media (Twitter) has changed the way people "get" their comedy. Planet Funny was much more cerebral than I thought it would be. And as interesting as it was, it was a little dry in some places. But that didn't stop us from listening to the whole thing. Ken Jennings and I are close enough in age, that we share a lot of the same nostalgia. And that made it really fun.
  
  
  https://charlotteswebofbooks.blogspot...
  
• 
  Holly

  This was okay and I recognized faaaaar too many tweets but it was too long! I love you KJ, please take over Jeopardy when Alex retires
• 
  Lauren Alexander

  listened to the audiobook, as I tend to do when the author is in entertainment and narrating their own work. It's a book of observations on comedy. If you like the history of comedy AND you are an older millennial or younger gen-X then there's a good chance you too will greatly enjoy this book.
• 
  Mike

  Funny and interesting, but he gets a bit too preachy for me in later chapters.