The Future of Jokes Paperback by Robin Ince

Product Details

• Publisher: Melville House (2026-11-03)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 128 pages
• ISBN-13: 9781685892838
• Item Weight: 119.07 grams
• Dimensions: 17.81 x 11.07 x 1.17 cm

Multi-award-winning comedian and author Robin Ince imagines the potential for changes in humour over the next century – and beyond.

When did laughter become part of our universe? Were we the first planet to have a sense of humor? What was the first joke? Was it made by a chimpanzee or a crow? These are just a few of the questions erstwhile comedian Robin Ince considers in The Future of Jokes, bringing in elements from science, technology, politics, philosophy and culture to probe just why we need jokes. What can they teach us about ourselves and our future? Comedy means different things to different people: it can be an act of rebellion, and it can be an act of reinforcing the status quo. It can be expression and it can be repression. Joke-telling is about authenticity and connection Ince argues, and artistic creativity makes us human. We can choose to share love and connection via jokes or spread ugliness and outrage. Which future do we want?

About the Author

Robin Ince is an multi award-winning comedian, author, broadcaster, bibliomaniac and a popularizer of scientific ideas. He is perhaps best known as the former co-host and co-creator of the BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. He co-created the CosmicShambles Network, has received an Honorary Fellowship of UCL, an honorary doctorate from Roy - al Holloway College (University of London), and is a fellow of the British Science Association. His books, including Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive’s Tour of the Bookshops of Britain and Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodiversity. He lives is Herefordshire.