I've read other things by Jennings, and like other authors, I came into it wanting to like it. I find him a bit pretentious and can't enjoy the book's subject because of his tone.

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.

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.