Signed Collectible Comedy on AbeBooks: A man walks into a bar. The bartender says "Hey, why the long face?" The man replies "Because I am Tonight Show host Jay Leno."
...nothing? Is this thing on?
Okay, it's hard to be funny. Most of us probably shouldn't even try. But there are those blessed, beloved gems among us who have such a knack for timing, language and humor that they can live off it. From the quirky and observational Jerry Seinfeld and the caustic and cynical George Carlin, all the way to the ridiculous neuroses of Woody Allen and the uniquely brilliant Gilda Radner, every comedian is different, and that uniqueness, the ability to stand out and be memorable is a big part of what they strive for.
1 comment:
Not to mention written funny vs. spoken funny. Groucho or, say, Don Rickles could probably get laughs if they delivered the given "joke" as spoken material, but it remains dead on the page even if those two wrote it. Whereas stuff that is funny as written on the page (P.J. O'Rourke's stuff comes to mind) will usually remain funny when spoken by most anyone.
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