I don’t think Hitchens was right. But paradoxically I don’t think he was entirely wrong. And I follow A LOT of extremely funny women on Twitter. Also, in fairness, he made an exception for 1) Jewish women and 2) fat women.
But never mind that. In the USSR a guy is walking home a bit before curfew. He passes a checkpoint, and the guard picks up a rifle and shoots him. A bystander exclaims, good heavens, why did you do that? The guard replies, “I know where that guy lives -- he would never have made it.”
(Wait, Mari -- did you tell that one the other day?)
OK so Brezhnev is with his mistress and says to her, “what would you like, my little turtle dove? I’ll do anything for you.” and she says, “oh Leonidichka, I want you to open the borders.” and Brezhnev smiles lasciviously and says, “Ah, you want to be alone with me!”
Those are terrific jokes! And I agree that Hitchens is partly right--there are probably more funny men out there than women. I wonder whether it is now more socially acceptable for women to be funny, and so all the funny women are able to be funny in public?
I think it’s also a matter of motivation versus ability. I don’t think that women are intrinsically less funny. but on the other hand, I think the thing of men using humor to attract women is also true.
I read a line once that stuck with me, and that I’ve always wished I could re-find: “life in the business world is arid and exhausting.” so do I think women make worse CEOs than men? no I don’t. but why would you want to do that?
I definitely agree that men use humor to attract women. It’s common to hear a man saying one reason he loves his wife is “she laughs at all my jokes,” and a woman saying one reason she life’s her husband is “he makes me laugh.” But the reverse is much less common.
Someone told me once that puns were particular to English speakers, although I later heard (and believe) that it's even more so in Chinese (where there is even more opportunity for near-homonyms.) Do you know if German speakers have puns?
AFAIK German speakers do not pun--it would be pretty difficult to find homonyms among all those giant compound words! And Lewis’s joke is yikes but also great!
A lovely post - thank you. Watching Maria Bamford has helped me massively over the years with having more of a sense of humour about having OCD (and definitely inspired me to do stand-up about having the condition in my 20s). I prefer her stand-up to Lady Dynamite personally, but my favourite thing she's ever done is The Maria Bamford show:
I laughed through this post...esp. the Stalin joke.
Gesundheit got me, haha
Me too
Our family is never without a good Stalin joke--they’re perfect for any occasion!
"They've run out of bullets" might be the most Russian punchline I've ever heard lol. Great post
It really is! So dark!
I don’t think Hitchens was right. But paradoxically I don’t think he was entirely wrong. And I follow A LOT of extremely funny women on Twitter. Also, in fairness, he made an exception for 1) Jewish women and 2) fat women.
But never mind that. In the USSR a guy is walking home a bit before curfew. He passes a checkpoint, and the guard picks up a rifle and shoots him. A bystander exclaims, good heavens, why did you do that? The guard replies, “I know where that guy lives -- he would never have made it.”
(Wait, Mari -- did you tell that one the other day?)
OK so Brezhnev is with his mistress and says to her, “what would you like, my little turtle dove? I’ll do anything for you.” and she says, “oh Leonidichka, I want you to open the borders.” and Brezhnev smiles lasciviously and says, “Ah, you want to be alone with me!”
Those are terrific jokes! And I agree that Hitchens is partly right--there are probably more funny men out there than women. I wonder whether it is now more socially acceptable for women to be funny, and so all the funny women are able to be funny in public?
I think it’s also a matter of motivation versus ability. I don’t think that women are intrinsically less funny. but on the other hand, I think the thing of men using humor to attract women is also true.
I read a line once that stuck with me, and that I’ve always wished I could re-find: “life in the business world is arid and exhausting.” so do I think women make worse CEOs than men? no I don’t. but why would you want to do that?
I’m just speculating, of course.
I definitely agree that men use humor to attract women. It’s common to hear a man saying one reason he loves his wife is “she laughs at all my jokes,” and a woman saying one reason she life’s her husband is “he makes me laugh.” But the reverse is much less common.
So basically we know we don’t know. 😜
“Let’s make sure he’s dead!”
A true classic!
I love that people around the world find this joke funny!
Sullivans Travels is one of my favorite films. And I loved these jokes (the hunter one made me laugh out loud). Great stuff!
I love Preston Sturges so much! Glad you liked the jokes!
Someone told me once that puns were particular to English speakers, although I later heard (and believe) that it's even more so in Chinese (where there is even more opportunity for near-homonyms.) Do you know if German speakers have puns?
Here's a joke Lewis invented:
Helen Keller walks into a bar.
AFAIK German speakers do not pun--it would be pretty difficult to find homonyms among all those giant compound words! And Lewis’s joke is yikes but also great!
A lovely post - thank you. Watching Maria Bamford has helped me massively over the years with having more of a sense of humour about having OCD (and definitely inspired me to do stand-up about having the condition in my 20s). I prefer her stand-up to Lady Dynamite personally, but my favourite thing she's ever done is The Maria Bamford show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07G42sYYZxU
Thanks for the link! I have never seen her show, but she was a guest on Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out, and she was so funny!
I'm very glad she exists!