Is It Ironic?

About Paul London

I'm a British writer with a deep love for language, wit, and storytelling. I live on England's south coast, where the sea air and the locals provide a steady supply of inspiration - and plenty of examples of what is (and isn't) ironic.

I founded IsItIronic.com in 2006 after a series of workplace conversations about irony that nobody could quite win. It started with a leaflet promising a "professional" service (it wasn't), spiralled through Alanis Morissette arguments, and eventually became this: a community of thousands of people debating whether things are actually ironic. Twenty years later, the answer is usually no.

My books

The Dawlish Trilogy

A comedy series set in the Devon seaside town of Dawlish, for readers who enjoy Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and Red Dwarf. Magic, mayhem, and a distinctly British sense of the absurd.

Given Time

An emotionally charged story of love, loss, and redemption. A departure from comedy - this is a deep dive into some human stories.

Available on Amazon

The story behind this site

Prior to this clearly world-smashing occasion, "irony" was a weirdly common topic around me. Naturally the vast majority of the time the conversation sways instantly towards Alanis Morissette and her song "Ironic". But there was more than joy and happiness here - once the laughter stopped it was clear that actually the whole definition of irony was massively misunderstood and no one really had a particularly good grasp of what was or was not ironic. And I get it, even having defined it (and in many different ways) there's no question that irony is at least a little bit "in the eye of the beholder". Even if the beholder is a twit - in your humble opinion.

So, for all these reasons, I built a site about it. Because that's what you do when you can't win an argument - you build a website and make everyone else vote.

Find me elsewhere