The Funniest Man In The World Tells A Funny Story was the title of the first real story I had published. I say real because there was another flash fiction piece that had been published in a cheap little magazine but which I later realised was sub-conscious plagiarism of none other than Douglas Adams. Pretty embarrassing when I re-read Hitchiker's Guide and found a scene that was eerily close to my little story. So we won't talk about that one, okay?
But The Funniest Man was a nice little chunk of fiction that was shortlisted for a pretty prestigious competition and published in a very nice looking book. I've just checked my bookshelf and found that I don't appear to have a copy of the book. Thought I had it between Douglas Adams and Patrick White, but I can't find it anywhere. Bit of a bummer because it gave me a hell of a lot of happiness at the time. I used to open it and random points in the months after it was published and just read my name, my words, on real paper in a real book. I saw a copy of the book in a secondhand store once and foolishly didn't buy it.
Anyway, it just occurs to me that with the book out of print and probably only in existence on the shelves of the other shortlisted authors, The Funniest Man In The World Tells A Funny Story might never be read again. Not sure how I feel about that. Maybe if the impossible ever happens and someone wants to put out a collection of my published stories...
Until that highly unlikely time, I'm toying with the idea of posting it here. I saw it disc the other day and realised I had forgotten all about it. I read it once a few years after it came out (good God - was it 15 years ago?) and realised that although it's pretty funny (and probably owes something to my passing obsession with John Irving), it's also quite emotionally brutal. Guess you'd call it black comedy. Not sure I could write anything quite like it now. I'm not much of an emotional brute. I know when I read the story again, though, it will still make me laugh.
So. Hands up who would like to read a story called The Funniest Man In The World Tells A Funny Story?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Me! Me! I wanna read it! Me! Me! (I am, so you know, violently raising my hand in the air and jumping up out of my seat).
Ooh ooh ooh! pick me! pick me!
yes please Mr Grumpy...
(I'm the one next to Viki also jumping up & down in my seat... kind of like chair dancing... but not)
c'mon, you know you want to...
Kat :)
Shit yeah!
Sorry cob', I forgot I'm in The Dart now. I meant to say, "Oh lovely. Yes please."
I'm English, so I was going to say "Oh lovely. Yes please" anyway.
Visited via Little Red Boat
Okay, that's five for YES.
Post the damned story already.
Viki - makes me a little nervous that you want to read it. But it will be interesting to see what you think.
Hello Kat. You're one of the few people reading this blog that I've actually met. Been to any good doofs lately even though we're both a bit over partying because there's more to life?
That was a lovely shit yeah Damian.
Z - not sure if that's a yes or, but glad you dropped by. If you drop by again the story should be up. Anna is very funny, isn't she?
Right. I guess I should dust off that story. Wonder what I'm going to think of it now. Wonder if I should do it in installments or just one go (think it's about 3,000 words).
Oh - and I'm such an idiot. Some time ago I put the handful of magazines I've been published in together in their own section on one of the book shelves, and the book that Funniest Man appears in is there. I sometimes confuse me by being uncharacteristically organised.
Post a Comment