A review by kmg365
Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture by Ken Jennings

4.0

This book left me with the impression that Ken Jennings' favorite topic is Ken Jennings. I can't help but wonder if Will Rogers would have been included in the book at all if there hadn't been a dandy Jennings family anecdote about him. See also the long list of things that Ken finds vaguely amusing, which includes harpsichords.

When he actually turns his attention outward, it's an interesting and informative book. I still don't completely buy the premise. If he thinks viewing everything through the lens of humor can be damaging, he should study up on the swaths of destruction that the somber literal-minded have left in their wakes.

I think my favorite factoid from the book is that the ancient Greeks thought the seat of humor in the body was the diaphragm muscle (you know, because that's where the ha ha comes from), and that's why the nearby armpits are particularly ticklish. It's tough to argue with logic like that.

I awarded an extra star for his mention of Tom Lehrer in the last chapter, just when I'd given up hope.