Jonathan Shaw describes coining the term 'Slapstick Tragedy' in a New York Times interview and connects it to how 12-step meetings use humor to process horror. Laughter, he argues, is how we avoid taking ourselves too seriously and find healing.
One interviewer, I think it was the New York Times Book Review in Mexico City when my book got translated into Spanish. And he was asking, I speak Spanish as well as I speak English. And he was asking me, like, how would you define your genre as a writer? And I was like, I wouldn't. And then I thought for a second and I heard the words come out of my mouth and I said, but if I had to give you a genre, I guess I would name it Slapstick Tragedy.
And this is something you see in, know, 12 step meetings. You'll, you'll see people talking about the most horrendous, horrible things that they've done, and suddenly the whole room just bursts into laughter. You know, this is what heals, man. You know, when you take yourself too seriously, you're, you're, you're not, you're not going to get there. You.
