Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture

Jeopardy champion and author Jennings (Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs) applies his trivia knowledge to the comedy realm. He explains how comedy has evolved over the years by demonstrating that past pauses before laughs at stand-up shows have grown into measuring laughs per minute in today's popular sitcoms. Jennings intermixes personal stories, such as attending a sex-ed class with his son, going to Super Bowl parties, and the dilemma of picking out a funny birthday card with footnotes, facts, and in-depth explanations about stand-up, late-night comedy news shows, TV advertisements, and even presidential tweets. There are not many comparable books to this one, as its intention seems more to inform than to be humorous. The expression "if you have to explain the joke, it's no longer funny" is mentioned fairly early on, but the book continues to do just that—it explains jokes. Fans loyal to Jennings's other works, or those who appreciate pop culture case studies may enjoy this volume.