When it comes to humor, there are different kinds of practicers. For example, a standup comedian makes you laugh out loud. If done right, you guffaw at a hugely inappropriate joke. A humorist, by contrast, makes you smile knowingly at a wry description of the human condition and no outright laughing is involved. My therapist says I’m a standup comedian wanna be with unfulfilled humorist ideations. I’m addressing this character defect by getting a new therapist. The late and adored comedian Norm MacDonald said the perfect joke is a short one that begins and ends on itself, for example, “Julia Roberts told reporters this week that her marriage to Lyle Lovett has been over for some time. The key moment, she said, was when she realized that she was Julia Roberts… and that she was married to Lyle Lovett”. I now reveal how I kept my GE job for nearly two decades.
© 2024 John Oliver
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