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Sacred Art of Joking

by James Cary

Paperback

£7.56

Ebook

£3.74

BBC sitcom-writer James Cary offers a wry look at jokes, how they work and what happens when jokes go terribly wrong.

  • Interested in how humour works?

  • A light look at laughs, and what happen when a joke goes very wrong

  • James Cary offer a unique insight as a comedy script writer

  • Author

    James Cary

  • Book Format

    Paperback / softback

  • Publisher

    SPCK Publishing

  • Published

    January 2019

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Sacred Art of Joking

Today's Price £7.56

Frequently Bought Together

Sacred Art of Joking

by James Cary

Paperback

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The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer

by James Cary

Paperback

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Product Description

Every few weeks a politician, pundit or soap star causes a media storm by making a gaffe or tweeting a joke that some people do not find funny. Comedy is very hard to get right and yet we think it's important to have a sense of humour and not take yourself too seriously. On the other hand, a sense of humour failure can lead to losing your friends, your twitter account, your job, your career and, in some cases, your life.

James Cary knows about this. He is a sitcom writer who's written jokes about bomb disposal in Afghanistan (Bluestone 42), defended comments about Islam by Ben Elton on Newsnight, been on a panel with radical Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary, sits on the General Synod of the Church of England and somehow managed to co-write episodes of Miranda. An odd mix, but one that makes him very readable. This entertaining, breezy book, explains how comedy works (with jokes and quotes) and gives much-needed insights into the controversy surrounding humour.

Foreword by Milton Jones

Preface

Instructions

Part 1: A Good Sense of Humour

1. It's funny becuase it's true

2. An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman...

3. How jokes work (without killing a frog)

4. How jokes go wrong

5. Punched by a punchline

6. Where's the line?

7. Why jokes are no laughing matter

8. Rules of Engagement

9. Leaping from a car to car

10. Comedy at Ground Zero

Part Two: Comedy and the Church

11. Do Christians have a sense of humour?

12. The problems with jokes

13. The Philippians 4 manoeuvre

14. Holy crap!

15. No laughing messiah

16. The Supreme Being walks into a bar...

17. Was Jesus funny?

18. Why Christianity is an easy target

19. Why don't comedians make jokes about Islam?

20. Why you shouldn't start a sermon with a joke

21. Notes for readers

Part 3: Advanced Joking

22. Betrayed by laughter

23. Springtime for pug dogs

24. Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

25. Jerry and the lawmakers

26. Careful now

27. All-American prophet

28. What's so funny about Easter?

James Cary is a BBC sitcom-writer (Miranda, Bluestone 42, Another Case of Milton Jones) and theologian. He’s also a member of the General Synod for the Church of England, and has spent a lot of his life watching jokes (some of them his own) go horribly wrong.

He runs a touring theatre company and performs. He has just produced a 64-date tour of the UK of a show about Martin Luther and 95 Theses, called A Monk’s Tale, which ran for two weeks at the Edinburgh Fringe. There are very likely to be future, perhaps even bigger, tours in 2018-9.

James is married, with two children and lives in Somerset.

Specification

  • Author

    James Cary

  • Book Format

    Paperback / softback

  • Publisher

    SPCK Publishing

  • Published

    January 2019

  • Weight

    182g

  • Page Count

    160

  • Dimensions

    128 x 197 x 21 mm

  • ISBN

    9780281080922

  • ISBN-10

    0281080925

  • Eden Code

    4786024

More Information

  • Author/Creator: James Cary

  • ISBN: 9780281080922

  • Publisher: SPCK Publishing

  • Release Date: January 2019

  • Weight: 182g

  • Dimensions: 128 x 197 x 21 mm

  • Eden Code: 4786024

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