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In Review

21 November 2008 23:25 BST

Is This Supposed to be Funny? by Dagsson

Published by Michael Joseph, out October 4th, hardback, £9.99.

In a nutshell...

Blacker than black comic cartoons.

What's it all about?

This is full of individual comic sketches that have no relation to each other except to say that they are all comic in a way that the writers of TV shows like Monkey Dust can only dream of.

Is this supposed to be funny? Or is it, in fact, innocent? Some sketches border on complete innocence while others could not possibly be any further from this.

The book offers a bleak view on everyday life, as well as a blend of the utterly surreal. But it is all there to be laughed at.

Who's it by?

Dagsson, or Thorarinn Hugleikur Dagsson to give him his full name, is something of a star in his native Iceland, having enjoyed success following the publication of numerous books and plays as well as various slots on the radio, among other things.

But here he is less well known. Is this supposed to be funny? is the second book of his to be published in English, following the release in 2006 of Should You Be Laughing At This?

Nonetheless he has still caused something of a stir, with his cartoons dividing the great and the good from those with a sense of humour almost instantly.

As an example…

The book is as much about the images as the words, and with sketches covering everything from suicide and incest to shopping and the church, there is something here for everyone (to be offended by).

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

While it does not really lend itself to being made into a blockbuster, developing these sketches into a cartoon comedy sketch show might just work. And with Dagsson's experience with musicals under his belt, the author has the experience to make these into something a bit longer.

What the others say

"Ban this sick book" - The Irish Sun

So is it any good?

There are dark sketches and there are innocent sketches and there are those that fall somewhere in between. But all have one common uniting feature: their excellence.

Sometimes dark humour can be too dark; it goes beyond a joke. But Dagsson gets it right in this book. The blend of sketches that are only allowed because they are just sketches, not real life, combined with those that play on real events and real worries is incredibly well balanced in this book, never allowing the comedy to go too far.

Sure enough some people are going to be offended by these sketches. Some people won't find this funny at all, but for anyone whose sense of humour is stronger than their sense of conscience (which is more of us than anyone would admit), this book will only ever be one thing: very funny.

8/10

Neil Waterman

"Ugly, stupid and pointless." - K Fine