It's difficult to differentiate between a story that's humorous and clever and one that actually makes people laugh out loud.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It seems that two of the most basic forms of comedy are jokes and stories. And, of course, they are not mutually exclusive.
Comedy is unique in the sense that laughter is a palpable noise that everyone makes.
We have a curious relationship with 'funny' in the U.K. We love to laugh, but we also think that making people laugh is just a little bit second-tier, especially in a literary context.
Everyone has at least one story, and each of us is funny if we admit it. You have to admit you're the funniest person you've ever heard of.
You can't be funny unless you're tragic, and you can't be tragic unless you're funny.
Comedy is surprises, so if you're intending to make somebody laugh and they don't laugh, that's funny.
I just think that the people who say: 'That's not true' when someone tells a story at dinner are the people who didn't get any laughs when they told their story.
I don't really find things funny unless they're deeply tragic at the same time. I think if you're funny just for the sake of being funny, it's just frivolous nonsense. To me, all the best comic plays have been written about really serious and rather bleak things.
I always believe that funny is serious and serious is funny. You don't really need a distinction between them.
You just tell a good story where you're funny and it makes people laugh.