Hello all, I am back after nearly a month away. My apologies on the hiatus. My goal is to post at least once every two weeks, but two graduations, end of semester work, and just a hectic month made it all I could do to get enough sleep, and I failed at that. I was going to make part two of the interview behind the paywall, but that felt wrong for a couple of reasons. First I haven’t posted anything in a while and second it felt like a hack sort of tactic to “draw” in more people. So here you go. Part two of my interview with author Andy Weir. I will have a reflection on it for next week.
Humor researchers think that cognitive mechanisms of humor and scientific discovery are the same. So funny “ha-ha” and funny “strange” are the same mental activities. It’s putting together discrepancies. Do you think that Dr. Grace’s humor was part of what made him a good scientist?
I hadn’t thought of that. I figured he was funny as a defense mechanism. He’s a very scared person in general, so he has developed coping strategies.
Have you ever gone too far with humor in your writing/characters? How do you maintain a happy medium between humor and the non-humorous in your writing?
I usually err on the side of going too far. I’d rather have a few jokes fall flat or mildly piss a few people off than have a book full of bland, boring jokes.
What are the sorts of jokes, comedians, or humor that you personally find hilarious? Who are some of your favorite comics or sorts of jokes? Do you like puns?
I’m a bit odd. I like dark humor and offensive humor. And yeah I have to admit I like puns. Also, I recently became a father, so I’m making sure I’m up to speed on all the dad jokes.
Any writers you admire for their use of humor in writing.
Terry Pratchett is the gold standard for humor writing while maintaining good stories.
Do you find humor important for your personal life?
Yes, it’s a core part of my personality. I kind of irritate my wife with all my joking around.
Do you use humor in professional settings? If so, how? Do you have a good story to share with us?
Sure, all the time. I’ve found that presenting a friendly, jovial side of myself to people in the entertainment industry has been beneficial. They’re used to dealing with big egos and they never know what they’re going to get into when they first meet someone they’re going to have to work with. To have someone who jokes around and does a lot of self-deprecating humor is a relief. It’s a signal that this person doesn’t take himself too seriously and doesn’t have an ego that’s going to be a problem.
Is there something about humor or about your writing that you think people should know, especially given we’ve been talking about humor?
I don’t know. If I’m being honest, humor is such a core aspect of my personality I don’t really think about it much. It’s just… there. So I haven’t done a lot of introspection about it.
That wraps up the interview content. I am sure I could have asked more questions and talked his ear off, but he was gracious enough to respond to what I did ask. So thanks to you Mr. Weir. And to my readers, have a wonderful day filled with a few laughs and smiles.