Hi, I’m Ben Davis and I’m an author AND a postman.
I know, unusual combination, right? To save time, I like to refer to myself as a man of letters. ANYWAY, this post is about how I write comedy. So let’s get the ‘it’s all in the delivery’ joke out of the way early and proceed with the real business.
My latest book is called POSTMAN PLANET. It’s about a postman in space. Obviously, I was able to use my experience as a postman to write it, but was unable to secure an Arts Council grant to undertake my desired space research trip with Katy Perry. That means I had to use my imagination.
Luckily, I’m good at that. It’s why they pay me the mediocre bucks.
I had the time of my life writing Postman Planet. The most fun I’ve ever had in the biz. Tierney Holm, the book’s editor, allowed me free reign to be as weird and wacky and fourth-wall breaky as possible and I seized it with both my calloused, paper-cutty hands.
As a kids’ author, I visit lots of schools and get to meet my readers. They’re mostly alright, once you get past the coughing without covering their mouths thing. So I get to hear what makes them laugh and what doesn’t. I tried to fill Postman Planet with as many bits that would make them laugh as possible.
Sure, there’s a message in there about friendship and teamwork, but that’s secondary to the frequency and the ferocity of the laughs.
Shortly after publication, I embarked upon a school tour and was delighted to find that the bits I thought would make them laugh did. Here are the top five bits kids liked the most.
Top Five Bits Kids Liked the Most
- Disgusting unicorns.
I should preface this by saying not all kids like this. The line ‘unicorns are the most disgusting creatures in the universe’ is polarising to say the least. Half the room cheers, the other half is appalled. I’ll never forget the sight of a seven-year-old girl glaring at me, solemnly shaking her head. But the way I see it, those sparkly pointy-heads have had it easy far too long. My decision to have them act and talk exactly like obnoxious frat boys from an 80s college comedy was initially baffling, but eventually made perfect sense.
- Fart jokes.
Tale as old as time. Literally. There are probably cave paintings of mammoths boffing in the faces of bison and chuckling about it. There are a few fart jokes peppered throughout Postman Planet, but the sequel, the Big Stink, really takes flatulence gags to strange new places. Out in July!
- Fancy Kenneth.
Often, when people ask me how I came up with a certain idea, I can relay an anecdote from my life which inspired it. In the case of Fancy Kenneth, a man-eating pig in a bow-tie, top hat and waistcoat, I have no clue. Maybe it was that tin of tuna from 1989 I ate before I started writing. Who knows? All I know is evil pig in formal wear = funny.
- Flagrant silliness.
There’s so much of this in the book. Most of it comes from Postman Planet, but some of it is directly from me, the author. One of my favourite examples is when I’m explaining why the main man is terrified of dogs. ‘If you’re a dog person, I’m sorry. I am too. Some of my best friends are dogs. My dad’s a Yorkshire Terrier.’
- Subverting villain expectations.
Like every self-respecting bad guy, Kleg the Space Viking commander has a villain song. You know, like all the Disney ones have, where they succinctly describe why they’re evil in a manner both catchy and flamboyant? Problem is, he runs into technical difficulties. When asked why he’s so dastardly, Kleg turns to his smart speaker and asks it to play ‘villain song, backing track.’ The speaker is silent for a second, then replies. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know that one. Here’s Taylor Swift.’
Which leads me neatly to a general point.
So much of writing comedy is subverting expectations: providing an image then pulling the rug from beneath your readers’ feet, throwing in a bizarre image that still has a twisted logic to it. My favourite one from Postman Planet is this:
‘I was born on Earth just like you, all the way back in 1952. A real bonzo time! Queen Elizabeth was new to the throne, and all over the world, grandpas were being born.’
If I could offer one closing piece of advice, it is this: don’t be afraid to laugh at your own jokes. If you’re a dad like me, you likely do that anyway. If you don’t, there’ll be no laughter at all. But when you’re writing a funny story, don’t try to keep the laughs in because you don’t want to seem uncool. Let them out, Laugh long and proud. If it makes you laugh, chances are it will make someone else laugh. Maybe.
Comment to Win!
Kidlit HaHa Week is giving away one ebook copy of Postman Planet.
To enter, share your favorite funny line from a work in progress in the comments by April 7, 2026, 12pm ET.
Hi! I’m Ben and I write stuff.
Mostly I write stuff for kids. I’ve even won awards for it. I started my career with the teen series THE PRIVATE BLOG OF JOE COWLEY, before moving into upper middle grade with books like the THE SOUP MOVEMENT, WHAT’S THAT IN DOG YEARS and MY BRILLIANT PLAN TO FIX EVERYTHING, which was inspired by my day job as a postman. These days I’m having stupid amounts of fun in lower middle grade with the LENNY LEMMON series. I’ve worked with publishers like OUP, Nosy Crow and Scholastic.
Every now and then, I’ll dabble in a bit of journalism, and have written features for the Sunday Times, the Independent and BookTrust.
I live in Staffordshire with my wife, our two kids and couple of rats.
Dear Ben Davis:
As a grandmother born around the time all those grandfathers were being born and a lover of unicorns, pigs, and dogs, I must take umbrage! As a kindergarten Sunday school teacher I have heard my share of fart jokes and have had to explain that there is a time and place . . . Kids don’t need any encouragement! That being said, thank you for your post—and keep those kids laughing:) 🤣
Dear Ben:
Thank you for your lively and funny post! I am currently working on a story where a letter Y comes swaggering up to a word and bullies the Silent E at the very end. “Out of my way, Silent E. This word isn’t big enough for the two of us.” Although admittedly, one person’s funny is not another person’s funny. But I think it’s hilarious and giggle quietly to myself when reading it.
Best,
Elizabeth Meyer zu Heringdorf
Can’t say I have a favorite line that would make sense out of context, but word play is definitely a recurring theme for me. The trick is to balance it so it’s not overdone in certain stories, but max it out in the most hyperbolic cases.
Congrats, Ben! What a great premise; your books sounds hilarious! I’m afraid I don’t have a line to share that would be funny out of context either.
I figured I’d share a favorite funny line from someone else’s published work. The search became a terrific lesson, because I saw exactly what others are saying: Context is what makes a line hilarious. (“Subverting expectations,” in your words.)
Here’s the opening line from an old Dav Pilkey picture book, The HALLO-WIENER:
“There once was a dog named Oscar who was half-a-dog tall and one-and-a-half dogs long.”
What a fun read this morning. Your book sounds hilarious.
I love writing ‘stuff’ that cracks me up. The problem is people in my critique groups just stare at me. They don’t get me … wah!
I’m excited to read Postman Planet! I also have a book featuring a postman coming out next year. Based on the postman and the indie bookstore where I work. It is a picture book and humorous and sweet. One of my favorite lines is the opening, “It seems silly for a dog to own a bookshop, but Penny’s name was there on the door.”