Comedy Spinoffs of Your Epic

[LordFalco]

The premise: Your most unconventional story person finds his way to modern earth, where you unleash him on today's issues. When returning to his own world, he brings back things, ideas, even another person.

How it works: Suppose you have a dizzy character who sets up as a comedy host, based on some power that gives him an edge. Factor in his take on political correctness alone an you have unlimited material.

The big questions: Do epic questers like to chill now and then with a little silliness? Can fantasy satire work?

 

[Tom]

Fantasy satire is something I've been experimenting with lately.

I have one purely silly parody à la Diana Wynne Jones' Tough Guide to Fantasyland, two other parodies that delve into the more troubling aspects of some clichés, and a series of flash-fics where Tom, my epic fantasy protagonist, and I lampoon bad literature while sitting at the kitchen table eating week-old Chinese takeout.

I enjoy doing parodies and satires because I can let off steam and explore character development in a way that's fun to write. Much of Tom's now-trademark snarkiness actually stems from the fact that I made him sarcastic in an early satire, which was out of character for him then. I liked it a lot and thought it made his character more accessible and interesting to read about, so I inserted the trait into my 'serious' work.

 

[LordFalco]

It's good to know that the genre has legs. I find the big advantage is the fun of doing satire, as you mention. The writing is so free and fast that a 200-page book only takes two months.

 

[Penpilot]

You should check out the Myth series byt Robert Asprin. The first book is called Another fine Myth and involves a young magician and his mentor, a Pervian from the realm of Perv, but people don't call him a Pervian. They call him a pervert.

Also you should check out A. Lee Martinez. He writes off the wall wacky urban fantasy that plays off fantasy tropes.

 

[LordFalco]

Capital! I'll hire a carriage to Amazon and see what offerings they have for those. I've also started a member art portfolio.

 

[Mythopoet]

Can fantasy satire work?

Yes, it's called Discworld. If you're not familiar with the Discworld books, I highly recommend checking them out.

 

[LordFalco]

Superlative. Mine tends toward slapstick, though. The medieval queen of the dead wanders into a men's room and encounters the wall-mounted units, for example.

 

[Jabrosky]

I am not sure how I would rate my own comedic skills. I can make people laugh, often without even trying. Sometimes, when giving a PowerPoint presentation, I find that choosing certain images can provoke laughter (e.g. a photo of a gorilla that looks like it's giving you the middle finger). Other times it can be tougher. And then there are those awkward moments when you tell a joke that inadvertently offends people, like this one time when I joked that the Jews must have wiped out the dinosaurs by poisoning all their waterholes (come to think of it, someone out there must believe that for real).

In that last case, I will concede that I'm the sort of weirdo who loves provoking reactions from people in general, or what 4channers might call "lulz". Don't know if you would call that a style of humor though...

 

[LordFalco]

That's a great point, Jabrosky. Because comedy material is overwhelmingly on the left, you have to be careful not to alienate potential buyers. When my horror hostess wiped out a crowd of rioters, I made no mention of the town, the reason, or the rioters' appearance. Similarly, I avoid words like democrat or any direct reference to the various agendas. Thus, a reader can laugh at a scene and then go "wait a minute. . ."

 

[Mythopoet]

And then there are those awkward moments when you tell a joke that inadvertently offends people, like this one time when I joked that the Jews must have wiped out the dinosaurs by poisoning all their waterholes (come to think of it, someone out there must believe that for real).

I honestly have a hard time understanding how anyone in their right mind could tell a joke like that and think it wouldn't offend most people. Seriously. That's just really bad taste.

In that last case, I will concede that I'm the sort of weirdo who loves provoking reactions from people in general, or what 4channers might call "lulz". Don't know if you would call that a style of humor though...

I'm pretty sure this is precisely what we call "being a troll". And no, I wouldn't call it a style of humor.

 

[Jabrosky]

I honestly have a hard time understanding how anyone in their right mind could tell a joke like that and think it wouldn't offend most people. Seriously. That's just really bad taste.

In my defense, it was supposed to be ironic mockery of how the Jews get blamed for almost everything bad in history.

 

[LordFalco]

Nah. I should have clarified that better. The rioters are just the horror element, which is why they're so vague. They're anything from occupy protesters to a flash mob to an out-of-control sports crowd. The satire is putting a warped code of justice in a superhero outfit, with predictable results.

 

[SeverinR]

I've done spinoffs, esp. for writing exercises, but never made one comical.

hmmm.

 

[LordFalco]

Take your wackiest character, put him somewhere he can do the most damage, and turn him loose. Talk about fun writing.