Humor makes point easier to take

Local columnist

link Wendel Sloan

My December book-of-the-month summary is “The Comedy Thesaurus” by Judy Brown, purchased for a quarter at this year’s Portales Public Library sale.

The 480-page book’s 3,241 quips and quotations illustrate how humor makes subversive points more palatable.

Here is a sampling:

• “The KKK adopted a highway. The joke is on them. It’s black.”—Jon Stewart

• “Alcoholism is the only disease you get yelled at for having.” — Mitch Hedberg

• “America’s one of the finest countries anyone ever stole.” — Bobcat Goldthwait

• “I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give the wrong answers.” —Frye and Laurie

• “White criminals commit the biggest crimes. A brother robbing a bank might get 10 to 15 years because he had a gun. The white guy will get a congressional hearing because he had a job and a nice suit.” — Wanda Sykes

• “Guns don’t kill people; it’s those bullets ripping through the body.” — Eddie Izzard

• “I asked my mother if I was adopted. She said, ‘Not yet, but we placed an ad.’” — Dana Snow

• “Labor Day is when we honor hard-working people in America. So let’s take a moment to thank all those people by saying, ‘Gracias, amigos!’”—Jay Leno

• “I’m against gay marriage. I think marriage is a sacred union between a man and a pregnant woman.” — Craig Kilborn

• “If you are a bigot and want to drive a Unitarian out of town, burn a question mark on his lawn.” — Mort Sahl

• “An investigation has been launched into pre-war Iraq: We’re going to find out why they had our oil under their sand.” — Craig Kilborn

• “My mother is a typical Jewish mother. They sent her home from jury duty. She insisted she was guilty.” — Cathy Ladman

• “I wanted to be a feminist in high school, but my boyfriend wouldn’t let me.” — Denise Munro Robb

I recommend the book to social media users who have not learned the fine art of humor in making abrasiveness go down a bit easier.

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