Introduction to This is My Funniest

Science fiction writers like to laugh.

Maybe it’s because so much science fiction is dystopian—after all, by definition, no one can create more than one Utopia—but whatever the reason, the fact remains that no field of fiction has as long and rich a track record of publishing humorous stories as science fiction. I don’t think there’s ever been a magazine or anthology editor who would refuse to buy a good story simply because it was funny, and sooner or later just about every practitioner take a shot (or five, or thirty) at writing a humorous story.

We have a long and respected tradition of it. Back in the earlies, we had Stanton A. Coblentz, who at least thought he was funny, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, who was never subtle but often funny (usually on purpose). Move the calendar ahead and we had Fredric Brown, Henry Kuttner, Eric Frank Russell, and Fritz Leiber, none of them writing humor exclusively (or even predominantly), but each writing enough to make a reputation as a humorist (or, more accurately, as a humorist too.)

Then, starting at the halfway mark of the century, the humor and the humorists started coming fast and thick—Robert Sheckley, William Tenn, Harry Harrison, and their contemporaries. Then came John Sladek and George Alec Effinger and their contemporaries. Even Isaac Asimov got in on the act with his books of limericks and The Sensuous Dirty Old Man. These days we’ve got Connie Willis and Esther Friesner, and we’ve got some humorists like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett who live on the bestseller lists. The next generation has already made its appearance in the person of young Tom Gerencer.

The most frustrating part of editing this book was explaining to the dozen or so writers who asked for input that the title was This is My Funniest and not Mike Resnick Thinks This is My Funniest. More than once I had to forcibly restrain myself from asking for my favorite rather than their favorite. (I did break down once and tell the late Bob Sheckley which one I hoped he’d choose. To his credit, he stuck with the one he liked best.)

So here they are, a broad cross-section of our very finest writers, some whom are known for their humor, and some whose appearance here will surprise you (until you read their stories and then wonder why the hell they don’t do it more often.)

Enjoy. And maybe even giggle here and there.