Funny & Sexy

[dr_mabeuse]

Can erotica be funny? I mean, can a story be both humorous and arousing?

I maintain that it can't. I maintain that humor deflates sexual tension and reminds us how basically ludicrous the act of physical love is.

You can have humorous sex, but it just can't be made arousing.


---dr.M.

 

[Octavian]

Yes I think so, but not at the same time.
One can insert a fair amount of subtle humour between the sexual encounters of an otherwise serious story. It has to be subtle rather than slapstick and it has to be separate from the sex.
The problem and I write from experience in this matter, is getting people to notice it.

Octavian

 

[Pookie]

I think it can. There are a few erotic stories that I find humorous and sexy. It just takes talent to make both work at the same time. I agree with Octavian that it has to be subtle though.


Pookie

 

[Guest]

sex is funny

dr_ m,

I regretfully disagree with you. I think the finest erotica has an edge of humor to it. The humor grounds it in reality.

But perhaps that is what you don't appreciate about it.

b

 

[gauchecritic]

Completely disagree.

I will admit that a funny story won't be as intensely erotic as a 'straight' story but when I read a funny story and it includes sex scenes however amusing, it is still a sex scene. People have their clothes off and are doing it.

There is a fine example of humourous and erotic work based I think on Pygmalion, the one with professor Higgins etc, the sex scenes are very light and very funny but in my head there are naked people, it's arousing.

Gauche

 

[English Lady]

hmmm i think you can have humerous moments in an arousing erotic story but i don't think you can combine funny and sexy in the same scene,it's either one or the other.

A bit of humour in a story can add texture and depth i think,but too much takes away from the story's erotic nature

 

[Quasimodem]

That is a question to which I should have the answer, because in more or less obvious ways, I am always attempting to couple erotica with humour.

Of course, some of it requires a rather twisted sense of humour, but none the less, humour is one of the items which I am trying to get into the mix.

Perhaps that also explains my lamentable lack of feedback.

It is definitely the reason why so little of my amateur writing winds up here.

I read my story over and realize that the erotica was simply injected to qualify the yarn for Literotica. So, usually, I edit out the implanted sex, and the story works so much better that it winds up elsewhere. <Sniff! >

 

[Svenskaflicka]

One word: Amanuensis.

That's a funny writer!

"Say my name, bitch!
"For fuck's sake, I don't even remember MY name anymore! Ooooh, yes, like that...

 

[hiddenself]

Examples please?

Yes or no, could you give examples of stories that you think illustrate your perspective?

SF, Amanuensis has no stories listed in Lit. And I don't know if Gauche's example refers to a Lit story or not -- couldn't locate one.

 

[Guest]

Pop goes the cherry

He has a story about a woman named Donna (in the title) and another about a young bloke being seduced by his cousin. The hilarity and real wit is in the creative lewdness of Pop's language and the gritty and virtual lewdness of the characters and their environs; plus: the sex scenes arouse at least one femme reader.

I think it's this particular mix (the characters as drawn by Pops, his language and 'pervy' voice, and the seemingly natural dialog) that lets a reader relax enough (via the humor and RL-likeness) to also become aroused.

IMHO, this is erotica (vs. porn; I'd read Pops before Henry Miller).

Perdita

edit: for those not quite in-the-know, he's pop_54 on Lit.

 

[jfinn]

I suppose it depends on your definition of erotica. If it includes an emotional as well as a physical connection to the story, then I think it can be quite erotic.

Like Bikini, I think humor is a part of sex. I mean let's face it, isn't that the reason most of us don't have mirrors on our bedroom ceilings? Injecting humor into a love or sex scene can sometimes be exactly oomph you need to elevate it from 'here we go again...' to 'wow, this is great...'.

But it's not easy to do well and I do believe that at some point you have to slide into the passion and take it seriously or you'll end up with farce and not porn. In Amy's Smile the whole story is told from a comic pov and I know when I finally got to the love scenes, the humor was something I worried about. Could I make the characters continue in the same style and yet make the scene work for Lit? It was an interesting dilema and I'm still not sure I pulled it off.

There are some writers who do it very well though. Sub Joe has written some wonderful stories Sub Joe's Stories including Mayfair Lady which I think is the story Gauche is referring to about Pygmalian and HedbangerSA has some great sly humor in his series, Putting Friendship to the Test. HedbangerSA's Stories Mlke Hunt is pretty much so famous for the cluster of funny sex stories he did a few years ago. I don't think he posted to Lit but you can find his work on some of the newsgroups. And there are plenty more good funny stories, but I don't want to make this any longer than it already is.

Jayne

 

[Svenskaflicka]

No, hiddenself, Amanuensis isn't a Lit author. The story I'm referring to is "The Worst Happiest Day of His Life", and it's a... *cough* HP slash fic...

It's at restrictedsection.org.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I wasn't saying that an arousing story couldn't be funny or have funny moments, I was really asking if a sex scene could be funny and arousing at the same time.

It can in movies. Why can't it be in writing?

---dr.M.

 

[jfinn]

I wasn't saying that an arousing story couldn't be funny or have funny moments, I was really asking if a sex scene could be funny and arousing at the same time.

It can in movies. Why can't it be in writing?

---dr.M.

I misspoke myself when I said it always has to turn serious. I think the people I talked about above have managed to be mutually funny and arousing; I just can't do it myself.

Jayne

 

[Guest]

I was really asking if a sex scene could be funny and arousing at the same time.

Yes, see Pop_54 stories mentioned above.

 

[gauchecritic]

There are some writers who do it very well though. Sub Joe has written some wonderful stories Sub Joe's Stories including Mayfair Lady which I think is the story Gauche is referring to about Pygmalian

Thankyou Jayne You may note also that this story has a green 'E'

Gauche.

 

[hiddenself]

Reasearch report

My own view is that there should be a way to write up a sex scene to be both erotic and funny, although I couldn't recall having read one. Hence the request for suggested reading material.

Now, we can agree or disagree on whether the suggested stories are good, bad, or ugly. The question is do they have scenes that are both arousing and funny?

Sub Joe's "Mayfair Lady" may be funny but is it erotic? And anyway, what scene can we point to specifically? I can't.

Same comment for Pop_54's "Donna." The point is not whether a reader (eg, Perdita) finds the language delightfully lewd or even the sex scenes arousing. Yes, the language may be uniquely colorful (folksy?) and the story may be a fun read, but I can't identify any scenes that are both funny and sexual.

HedbangerSA's "Putting Friendship to the Test" series does occasionally come closer to what I had in mind. For example, the quote below is from a sex scene in Ch.02 (as the teen protag is getting a blowjob from his friend's mom):

At first the combined effect felt pretty fucking great, but before long my whole lower body was being lifted off the bed and my legs were flailing around like crazy. I was pretty sure that the hand around my cock was supporting most of my weight and it was starting to hurt. Janice was making these weird-moaning noises like she was possessed by a semen-sucking alien monster or something.

“Ahggh! Ahggh! Ahhgggh!” I was yelling, and struggling to hang onto the sides of the mattress with my hands. “Hey Janice, easy on the dick!”

My conclusion: it can be done but it's much more difficult and rare than some think.

Anyway, thanks all who had me reading for a few hours last night.