Fantasy comedy (also calledcomic fantasy) is asubgenre offantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone. Typically set in imaginary worlds, fantasy comedy often involves puns on, and parodies of, other works of fantasy.
The subgenre rose in the nineteenth century. Elements of fantasy comedy can be found in such nineteenth century worksas some ofHans Christian Andersen's fairy tales,Charles Dickens' "Christmas Books", andLewis Carroll'sAlice books.[1] The first writer to specialize in the subgenre was "F. Anstey" in novels such asVice Versa (1882), where magic disrupts Victorian society with humorous results.[1] Anstey's work was popular enough to inspire several imitations, includingE. Nesbit's light-hearted children's fantasies,The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) andThe Story of the Amulet (1906).[1] The United States had several writers of fantasy comedy, includingJames Branch Cabell, whose satirical fantasyJurgen, A Comedy of Justice (1919) was the subject of an unsuccessful prosecution for obscenity.[2] Another American writer in a similar vein wasThorne Smith, whose works (such asTopper andThe Night Life of the Gods) were popular and influential, and often adapted for film and television.[3] Humorous fantasies narrated in a "gentleman's club" setting are common; they includeJohn Kendrick Bangs'A House-Boat on the Styx (1895),Lord Dunsany's "Jorkens" stories, andMaurice Richardson'sThe Exploits of Englebrecht (1950).[4]
According toLin Carter,T. H. White's works exemplify fantasy comedy,[5]L. Sprague de Camp andFletcher Pratt'sHarold Shea stories are early exemplars. The overwhelming bulk of de Camp's fantasy was comic.[6] Pratt and de Camp were among several contributors toUnknown Worlds, apulp magazine which emphasized fantasy with a comedic element. The work ofFritz Leiber also appeared inUnknown Worlds, including hisFafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, a jocose take on thesword and sorcery subgenre.[1]
In more modern times,Terry Pratchett'sDiscworld books,Piers Anthony'sXanth books,Robert Asprin'sMythAdventures of Skeeve and Aahz books, andTom Holt's books provide good examples,[1] as do many of the works byChristopher Moore. There are also comic-strips/graphic novels in the humorous fantasy genre, includingChuck Whelon's Pewfell series and the webcomics8-Bit Theater andThe Order of the Stick. Other authors of the genre in modern times includeC.K. McDonnell,Jasper Fforde,Neil Gaiman,Robert Rankin,John Brosnan,Craig Shaw Gardner,David Lee Stone andEsther Freisner, as well as countless independent authors.
The subgenre has also been represented intelevision, such as in the television seriesI Dream of Jeannie,Kröd Mändoon. Examples on radio are theBBC'sHordes of the Things andElvenQuest. Fantasy comedy films can either be parodies (Monty Python and the Holy Grail), comedies with fantastical elements (Being John Malkovich,Barbie) or animated (Shrek). It has also been used with fantasy as the primary genre and comedy as the secondary, as in the case ofJumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and its2019 sequel.
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