The Funnies

In his latest novel The Funnies, BAFTA-nominated creator of a number of hit BBC comedy series Paul A. Mendelson introduces us to the hero, Marius K.

It explores, but in a subtle and humorous way, some very interesting philosophical concepts.

Science is good, right? But what if it wasn't all that good, all the time?

A sense of humour is a good thing, right? But what if some clever scientists decided to use their knowledge of science to have the sense of humour removed from everyone at birth?

That is exactly what happened in the country where Marius K. was born and lived. Everyone had their sense of humour removed.

But what if some people, some people such as Marius K. had, somehow, not had their sense of humour removed?

What could they do? Where would they go? Could they survive?

Some of those people fled into the forest and they were driven, no, determined, to keep humour a real, and living force.

Marius K, age 12, flees into the forest, abandoning his family and his beloved pet dog in order to find the others who, like him, had managed to retain their sense of humour.

But did they exist? And could Marius K. discover them before the very un-fun Fun Police found Marius K? And have his illegal sense of humour removed?

But how do you try to make someone laugh when their own father had removed their sense of humour? 

And how can you foment a rebellion when all you had was your sense of humour and some really, really crazy ideas?

Within the novel there are also some telling asides that point out the foibles of our own society.

Will the humourless Deputy Minister of Humour prevail and finally snuff out all humour? Or will the Funnies finally succeed, against, all the odds and, laughingly, claim victory? And if so, how?

You really, really do need this book. It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99.

It's aimed at a young audience, but everyone of any and every age will love it.