I'm a heretic without humor...

[AnotherCat]

Originally Posted by tompe

That is one of the jokes I missed. I still do not get it. Googling indicates it has something to do with half a dent. So what is the pun?

All I can see in it is the play on the word "late".

In the first mention "late" meaning along the lines of being late e.g. as in being late for an appointment, meeting or whatever.

And in the second case meaning along the lines of "the late" meaning deceased.

Maybe there is something else in it that I don't see, but if not the pun has been used so often elsewhere before that it is no longer funny; it is like hearing the same joke over and over, it gets past being funny.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tompe

That is one of the jokes I missed. I still do not get it. Googling indicates it has something to do with half a dent. So what is the pun?

Slartibartfast: Come. Come now or you will be late.

Arthur: Late? What for?

Slartibartfast: What is your name, human?

Arthur: Dent. Arthur Dent.

Slartibartfast: Late as in the late Dentarthurdent. It's a sort of threat, you see. I've never been terribly good at them myself but I'm told they can be terribly effective.

No complex or obscure wordplay. Just an alien's take on language. Funny to read, like when Ford described the unpleasant feeling of being drunk. But discussing it is like dissecting a frog.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by AnotherCat

All I can see in it is the play on the word "late".

In the first mention "late" meaning along the lines of being late e.g. as in being late for an appointment, meeting or whatever.

And in the second case meaning along the lines of "the late" meaning deceased.

Maybe there is something else in it that I don't see, but if not the pun has been used so often elsewhere before that it is no longer funny; it is like hearing the same joke over and over, it gets past being funny.

That's the joke - it's used to refer to Arthur as soon to be dead - since the Earth is scheduled for demolition. Arthur hears it as "being late" --

Like I said - you either laugh out loud at this kind of wordplay or shake your head and say "so?" --

[rkomar]

There's also the "Dentarthurdent" joke in there, too. The two jokes can help prop each other up.

[DiapDealer]

Funny is at least as subjective as "good." Probably more so.

[AnotherCat]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

That's the joke - it's used to refer to Arthur as soon to be dead - since the Earth is scheduled for demolition. Arthur hears it as "being late" --

Like I said - you either laugh out loud at this kind of wordplay or shake your head and say "so?" --

I do find puns funny but when one has seen the same word play on the word "late" elsewhere many times before it is just hackneyed. First few times is funny, then no longer funny and just tiresome.

[danskmacabre]

I read the books many years ago and loved them.
A few years ago I re-read them and did enjoy them, but a fair bit less.

It IS quite dated now, technology-wise and to a degree politically.

Still, I appreciated the humor and perhaps it's a taste thing, as I liked Monty Python too.
But that is seriously dated now too, especially the live recorded shows (as opposed to the movies).
Also the HHGTTG and Monty Python have been used, copied, mangled etc by other artists and on the internet countless times that it's just passe now and at times irritating because of the sheer repetitiveness of it being used.

[gmw]

danskmacabre, I think that's a good point. By the time people, now, come to HHGTTG or Monty Python, much of the humour seems old and stale - and much of the context that made it funny no longer exists. Those of us that remember it when it was fresh and unusual, still laugh (possibly remembering how funny it was rather than necessarily how funny it is).

I have found it interesting to see the comparisons with Mr Bean. I rarely find Mr Bean all that funny, but loved much of HHGTTG and Monty Python. It's as though there is something almost mutually exclusive going on there.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by gmw

I have found it interesting to see the comparisons with Mr Bean. I rarely find Mr Bean all that funny, but loved much of HHGTTG and Monty Python. It's as though there is something almost mutually exclusive going on there.

We may need to correlate this with operating system preferences.

[icallaci]

Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was the only person on the planet who does not think HHGG is funny. I have tried many times to read it, but I am just bored by it. I think I can leave it alone now.

[danskmacabre]

Originally Posted by gmw

danskmacabre, I think that's a good point. By the time people, now, come to HHGTTG or Monty Python, much of the humour seems old and stale - and much of the context that made it funny no longer exists. Those of us that remember it when it was fresh and unusual, still laugh (possibly remembering how funny it was rather than necessarily how funny it is).

Yes, essentially they've been done to death now.
But it's a testament to their skill at writing that it lasted so long and was used so widely.
I don't hear Monty Python references so much these days, except when discussing with people who were there the first time around with fond memories.

Originally Posted by gmw

I have found it interesting to see the comparisons with Mr Bean. I rarely find Mr Bean all that funny, but loved much of HHGTTG and Monty Python. It's as though there is something almost mutually exclusive going on there.

I kind of enjoyed Mr Bean, my kids loved it. It's very much a sort of understated slapstick comedy.
It feels like what Benny Hill (for those who know who Benny hill actually WAS) would have been like if times had been more politically correct in those days when he was around.
So meaning Benny Hill type humor with the sexual/sexist/Racist Innuendo removed.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by danskmacabre

So meaning Benny Hill type humor with the sexual/sexist/Racist Innuendo removed.

I'm not certain there'd be anything left.

[danskmacabre]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm not certain there'd be anything left.

Heh yeah. I guess I'm referring to the general mood and slapstick humor rather than the actual content itself.

[GoSharks]

Originally Posted by ApK

We may need to correlate this with operating system preferences.

Perhaps it's more a difference of which format you read them in...epub or mobi?!

On the more serious side, those that do not enjoy HHGTU or Monty Python is it more the word play or the absurd situations that leave you dry. For instance, do you favor the word play of authors like Jasper FForde and Terry Pratchett or are you more inclined toward the absurd situations found in books such as Heller's 'Catch-22'?
Personally, I eventually get tired of excessive word play but am always amused by the absurd situation type comedy.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

ApK mentioned Monthy Python. (I think Blackadder falls in the same kind of category.) I don't like those either, especially Monthy Python. Why do they seem to think the strident and screeching voices are 'fun'? Of all the Monthy Python movies, I actually only like "The Search for the Holy Grail." (It also seems to be the one referenced the most by far, in other movies, series, computer games, and books.)

For some reason, I can watch and rewatch Mr. Bean a gazillion times and still laugh. Don't ask me why.

That would have been my question: do you like Monty Python? Because the type of humour is the same. I love Monty Python (even saw their last show earlier this month, during a live broadcast to our local theatre) and I love this series.

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I have the same with Dutch comedians. They're just not funny; mostly, they're just offensive, except maybe Xavier Guzman. He is often genuinely funny. Pity George Carlin is dead. With him, I can laugh my @$$ off

I wouldn't really know about any recent Dutch comedians, but I'm more into cabaret. And especially Herman Finkers (for those non-Dutch amongst us: he's famous for his wordplays).

Originally Posted by tompe

Interesting. I find Mr Bean boring and love Hitchhiker. You have to like word based humor I would guess to like Hitchhiker.

Yes, that's what I'm thinking as well. Wordplays are important both in the Guide and in Monty Python (and we all know how many words Bean says...). I also think it's a book you most certainly must read in English or not read at all, as I doubt it can be decently translated...

----

About the OT question: Discworld. Everybody seems to like it, I never got past the second chapter of the first book...