While driving around town, don
’t be surprised if you come along a silver Hyundai with
California license plates that read “PUN MAN.” While most people
excuse themselves for using puns or flat out avoid them, Ted Brett
revels in shaking up the English language.
While driving around town, don’t be surprised if you come along a silver Hyundai with California license plates that read “PUN MAN.” While most people excuse themselves for using puns or flat out avoid them, Ted Brett revels in shaking up the English language.
“It’s a play on words, a twist on words,” Brett says. “They’re linguistic gymnastics. I find the whole idea of words, language and communication fascinating.”
Ten years ago, Brett wrote his first book of puns, and in November he put together his second book, called “Punning For Your Life.” The book was picked up by Xlibris, a division of Random House Publishing. Brett’s book is available, among other Web sites, at xlibris.com/bookstore and amazon.com and at BookSmart in Morgan Hill.
“It’s one of those books that doesn’t fit into any category (on the bookstore shelves),” said Brett, who has taught writing, literature and critical thinking at Gavilan Community College for 15 years and teaches at at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose. He is also a super substitute for Gilroy High School. And he is a columnist on The Times’ Opinion Page.
“Some people say it’s the lowest form of humor,” Brett said of puns. “They’re called ‘groaners,’ but people groan at them because they’re pretty jealous. People who come up with these things have to be pretty quick.”
Puns have a long and colorful history, Brett added.
“They go back to the time of Adam and Eve,” he said. “Eve asked tempted Adam with the apple and he said, ‘I’ll bite.’ ”
Insert those aforementioned groans here.
“I’m not sure how my mind works to do things like that,” Brett said. “That’s why I’m two steps from the looney bin.”
However, puns really do have a storied history. Poet William Shakespeare wrote more than 1,000 puns in his works, and puns have long been discussed by great writers like Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe.
“There’s different kinds of puns,” Brett said. “The one’s I like are the short stories. I write these convoluted stories and they have an equally convoluted pun at the end.”
One of Brett’s favorite stories, which is in his new book, was given to him at a Morgan Hill McDonalds by a man who had read his first book, “Don’t Book a Judge by His Cover.”
“He told me this story, and I remembered it,” Brett said.
The story talks about a young George Washington and his father’s collection of wooden Indians. Washington had a penchant for playing with his axe and proceeded to cut up a few of the Indians. When his father discovered the damage, Washington replied, “I cannot tell a lie, father. I cut down your Cherokees.”
Brett’s short stories have even caught the attention of one of the country’s masters of playing with the English language, Richard Lederer. After reading Brett’s first book, he called him “The King of the Setup.”
Then Lederer replied to Brett after receiving the second book.
“He called me “The Maestro of Puns,” Brett said. “That was a very high compliment.”
For a man who has long spent his free time twisting words, Brett has found happiness taking his short stories to the public.
“It’s another dimension of my creativity,” he said. “You can call attention to yourself in a very positive way by creating something with your mind. All I need is a punchline, and I can make a story for it.”
The drawings for “Punning for Your Life” came from Brett’s girlfriend, Jean Castillo, and his ideas for stories come from all over, from a slip of the tongue to hearing a joke to simply creating a new pun from a common saying.
“I’ve always been quick to joke,” he said. “My favorite word is irony. I like irony, I like twists.”
In the future, Brett hopes to combine his two pun books into one with a few new entries, adding up to more than 200 short stories.
“Then I would be the ‘Emperor of
puns,’ ” he laughed.
For more information or to purchase a copy of either of Brett’s two books of puns call 842-8459 or e-mail
te******@ao*.com
.
