by Ken Jennings
ironist, 172
Marvel Comics, 17–18
Marx, Groucho, 76, 81, 180
Mary Poppins, 202
Mary Tyler Moore Show, The, 88
M*A*S*H, 77, 129
Master of None, 135
McCarthy, Melissa, 47
McGraw, Peter, 34–35, 64, 146
McKay, Adam, 198–99
McLuhan, Marshall, 210
McSweeney’s, 48
Meader, Vaughn, 208
Mencken, H. L., 177
Merchant, Stephen, 263
Meredith, George, 45
metacomedy, 81–82
Meyer, George, 35, 44, 79, 122, 261, 264
Meyers, Seth, 155, 229, 231, 267
Michaels, Lorne, 124, 180
millennials, 4
Miller, Dennis, 72
Million Dollar Extreme, 174–75
Milosevic, Slobodan, 255–56
minstrel shows, 236
Mirkin, David, 44
misogyny, 174–75, 240–45
Mitchell, David, 37
Mitford, Diana, 223
“Miz, The,” 90
mockumentary, 69–70
Modern Family, 70, 78
“Modest Proposal, A,” 182, 184–85
molecular gastronomy, 18–20
Mom, 235
Monty Python, 7, 45, 48, 78, 85, 131
Monty Python’s Life of Brian, 59, 85
Mormons, funnier than you think, 201–2
Moore, Charles, 15
Moore, Marianne, 44
Moore, Mary Tyler, 88
Morreall, John, 133–34
Morris, Garrett, 48
Mountain People, The (Trumbull), 265
Mr. Show, 133, 150, 219
Muhammad, 187
Mulaney, John, 29
Murphy, Eddie, 22, 122, 246
Murray, Bill, 44–45
Mustafa, Isaiah, 94–95
Must See TV, 106
My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend (Birbiglia), 68–69, 85
My Name Is Earl, 84
Mysterious Stranger, The (Twain), 259
Mystery Science Theater 3000, 138–41, 158–61
Naked Gun, The, 5, 76
Nast, Thomas, 254–55
National Lampoon, 83
Nationwide ads, 97–98
Nazis
vs. Bugs Bunny, 5
vs. comedy, 256
vs. Jews, 265
upsetting modern resurgence of, 174–75, 240
Nelson, Michael J., 159–60
Nerdist, The, 114
Nesbit, Wilbur, 74
Nesteroff, Kliph, 119, 136, 266
New Girl, 77
Newhart, Bob, 156, 237
news vs. comedy news, 8–10, 21–22, 25, 213–14, 223–27, 229
New Yorker, 43, 74–75, 102–3
New York Times, 21–22
Nichols and May, 237
Nicomachean Ethics (Aristotle), 36
Niebuhr, Reinhold, 256
Night (Wiesel), 265
Nike, 89–90
Nixon, Richard, 209–10
nonsense verse, 45
non sequitur jokes, 41, 44–45, 47, 49–52, 58–59
Norton, Jim, 37
Notaro, Tig, 58, 120
novelty songs, 92, 192–95, 197
Obama, Barack, 6, 213–18, 221–22, 226
O’Brien, Conan, 109, 136, 202, 228
Odenkirk, Bob, 52, 84, 219
O’Donoghue, Michael, 44, 195, 243
Oedipus the King (Sophocles), 167
Office, The (U.K.), 85, 133
Office, The (U.S.), 54, 77, 152
Ogilvy, David, 91, 95, 99
Old Spice, 94–96, 110–11
Oliver, John, 8, 70, 234–35, 254
One Mississippi, 120
Onion, 52–53, 72, 180–81
Only Joking (Carr and Greeves), 264
opera, comic, 195
O’Reilly, Bill, 223
Origen of Alexandria, 189
Oswalt, Patton, 73, 84, 117, 127, 160, 175
Paar, Jack, 210
Palin, Michael, 7
Parks and Recreation, 79, 155, 164
Parnell, Chris, 105
parody, 41, 92–94, 182, 192–94
Pascal, Amy, 6
Paul, Saint, 187
Peanuts, 43, 103
Peele, Jordan, 235
Perelman, S. J., 75, 102
Peretti, Chelsea, 86
Perret, Gene, 51, 156
Persa (Plautus), 81
Petronius, 192
Philips, Emo, 119
“Physiology of Laughter, The” (Spencer), 37
Pickwick Papers, The, 149
Plato, 36, 40, 186
Plautus, 66, 81
Pliny the Elder, 47
podcasts, 4, 112–14, 117–19, 122–27
Poehler, Amy, 156
poetry, 10–11, 196–97
Poland
jokes in, 183
jokes about immigrants from, 237–38
“political correctness,” 243–53
politics, 205–230, 254–59
Poniewozik, James, 106–7
pop art, 15
Pope, Alexander, 196, 206
popes, funny and not, 200, 203
Popovic, Srdja, 255
Portlandia, 89
Postman, Neil, 25
postmodernism, 14–15, 18–20, 81–82, 170–74
Powell, Enoch, 66
“Praise of Folly, The” (Erasmus), 130
Pride and Prejudice (Austen), 271
Provine, Robert, 127–28
Pryor, Richard, 117, 121–22
Punch, 75
puns, 37, 63, 67, 151, 201
Putin, Vladimir, 255
Quaid, Randy, 90
Rabelais, François, 192
racism, 16, 174–75, 230, 235–40, 246–50
Randazzo, Joe, 21
rap, 101–2, 195
rape jokes, 243–45, 251
Raskin, Victor, 151–52
Ray, Jonah, 161
reality TV, 25, 106
Reagan, Ronald, 211
reference humor, 56–57, 71–73, 140
Regan, Brian, 191
Reiner, Carl, 124–25
relief theory, 37–38, 40
religion
antipathy to comedy of, 186–90, 257
embracing comedy, 200–4
humor replacing, 59
jokes about, 115
Renoir, Jean, 246
Rick and Morty, 50–52
RiffTrax, 159–61
Riggle, Rob, 90
Rivers, Joan, 242
roasts, 125–26, 250
Rock, Chris, 247
rock music, unfunniness of, 194–95, 197
Roderick, John, 118
Rogen, Seth, 5–7, 47
Rogers, Will, 142, 208, 224, 233–34, 236
Roiland, Justin, 50–51
Roseanne, 68, 84
Ross, Harold, 74–75
Rourke, Constance, 236
Rubio, Marco, 225
rule of three, 76
Russia, activism in, 255
Saget, Bob, 126
Sahl, Mort, 208
“Saint Nobody,” 190
Salley, John, 16
Samberg, Andy, 105, 126
Sanborn, Kate, 242
Sandburg, Carl, 206
Sanders, Colonel, 90–91
Sanders, Deion, 16
Sandler, Adam, 47
Sanford and Son, 41, 272
sarcasm, 166–67, 184, 247, 269–70
satire
advantages of, 182, 198–99, 254
advocacy and, 182, 184–85, 231–35, 254–59
history of, 165–66, 196, 207–11
and real news, 8–10
Trump-era, 223–29, 231–32, 267
Saturday Night Live, 172
author’s childhood watching, 22
9/11, reaction to, 180, 266
performers on, 48, 72–73, 85, 105,
124
political satire on, 209, 226, 229
writers on, 26, 48, 68, 195, 243
Scalzi, John, 270
Schaal, Kristen, 58
Scharpling, Tom, 173
Schlatter, George, 78
Schopenhauer, Arthur, 40
Schulz, Charles, 43, 103
Schumer, Amy, 8, 37, 120
Scott, Adam, 58
Scrubs, 79
Searle, John, 147
Sebelius, Kathleen, 218
Seeger, Pete, 9
Segel, Jason, 67–68
Seinfeld, Jerry
on advertising, 110
author, 8
insect-themed film oeuvre of, 163
interviewer, 214
observational comedy of, 102–3
on stand-up comedy, 144, 191, 237
Seinfeld, 73, 77, 103, 164, 179
SeinLanguage (Seinfeld), 7
Seldes, Gilbert, 67
Selman, Matt, 78–79, 80
September 11 attacks, 180–81, 266–67
Serbia, activism in, 255
Sesame Street, 107
Sex (West), 190
sex ed 1–3
Shakespeare, William
comedies vs. tragedies of, 75, 198
dramatic irony, use of, 167
unlikely comic plots of, 101, 196
unfunny today, 54, 55–56
Shearer, Harry, 24
Shtromas, Alexander, 257–58
Silverman, Sarah, 84, 117, 247
Silverstein, Shel, 195
Simic, Charles, 196
Simon, Sam, 85
Simpsons, The, 5, 53–54, 72, 78–79, 82, 85
sitcoms, 67–68, 72, 77–78, 105–7
See also specific series
Sixteen Candles, 249
Smirnoff, Yakov, 150
Smothers Brothers, 9, 209
snark, 158, 177–81, 184–85, 269–79
Sniglets, 149
social media. See Twitter
Socrates, 125, 166
Solidarity, 183
Sony Pictures hack, 6
Sophocles, 167
Sorkin, Aaron, 228
South Park, 79
Spaceballs, 81
Space Ghost Coast to Coast, 173
Speakes, Larry, 252
spelling, eccentric, 46
Spencer, Herbert, 37
Spider-Man, 17–18
Spinal Tap, 69 (nice)
sports, 5, 20
Spy, 15, 176–78, 185
stand-up comedy, 52, 126
albums of, 236–37
1980s boom in, 83, 85, 144–45, 266
origins of, 46
and stage personas, 118–120
See also specific comedians
Stalin, Joseph, 256
Stanton, Edwin, 205
Starr Report, The, 229
Statsky, Jen, 155
Steen, Jan, 14
Stefon, 72–73
Steinem, Gloria, 8
Steptoe and Son, 41
stereotypes, 56–57, 235–40, 248
Stewart, Jon, 8–10, 226, 229, 234–35, 258
Stichus (Plautus), 66
“stoner” comedy, 47–48, 112–14
Studio C, 201–2
Super Bowl ads, 7, 96–98
superheroes, 17–18
superiority theory, 36–37, 40
Superstore, 235
surrealism, 15
Swift, Jonathan, 41, 182, 184–85
Sykes, Wanda 28
Syria, activism in, 255
Taco Bell, 95
tall tales, 101–2
Tarkington, Booth, 54, 57
Tartikoff, Brandon, 106
Tati, Jacques, 53
Thatcher, Margaret, 210–11
That Was the Week That Was, 208–9
Theophrastus, 266
30 Rock, 79, 85, 88, 103
This Is Spinal Tap, 69
“This Is SportsCenter,” 94
Thomason, Harry, 211–12
Thorpe, Jim, 16
Thurber, James, 48, 75, 102
tickling, 128, 153
Timberlake, Justin, 8
Tim & Eric, 173, 175, 199
Tiryntha (Tiryns), 266, 268
Tompkins, Paul F., 123
Tonight Show, The, 104
Carson moves to Burbank, 142
late-night wars, 136
politician guests on, 210–13, 226
Tosh, Daniel, 243–45
translation of jokes, 54–56
Transparent, 235
Tristram Shandy (Sterne), 46
trolls, Internet, 174–75, 244–45
Trumbull, Colin, 265
Trump, Donald
as candidate, 26, 219–29
as president, 229, 231–32, 235, 256
as punch line, 125, 176
Twain, Mark
lectures of, 115, 236, 241
novels of, 66, 74, 233, 241, 259–60
old age of, 48
Tweed, “Boss,” 254–55
Twitter, 99–101
brain-ruining power of, 158
CIA account on, 228
comedians on, 123, 143
joke avalanche of, 4, 103–4, 143–50
path to comedy career, 154–55
shamed users of, 7, 250–51
2 Dope Queens, 124
“2,000-Year-Old Man,” 124–25
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, 77, 79–80, 84
Understanding Media (McLuhan), 210
Upright Citizens Brigade, 143, 156
vaudeville, 66–67, 236
“violet trick,” 188
Vonnegut, Kurt, 188
Wagner, “Gorgeous George,” 15
Waiting for 2042 (Kondabolu), 230–31
Walken, Christopher, 96–97
Ward, Artemus, 46, 205
Warner, Charles Dudley, 178
Watts, Reggie, 58
Waugh, Evelyn, 198
Weight Watchers ads, 98
Wellerisms, 149
West, Lindy, 243–45, 253–54
West, Mae, 190
White, E. B., 33, 53
White House Correspondents’ Dinner, 213, 221, 228
white supremacy, 174–75
“Who Jackie?”, 84
“Who’s on First,” 66–67
Wieden + Kennedy, 89–91, 94–96, 98–99, 108, 111
Wiesel, Elie, 265
Wilde, Oscar, 45, 115
Wilder, Billy, 88
Williams, Evan, 99
Williams, Robin, 22, 76
Willis, Sara, 242
Wilmore, Larry, 8
Winters, Jonathan, 78
wit, 45, 115, 166, 187
Wolf, Michelle, 155
wrestling, 15–16, 90, 101–2
Wright, Steven, 47–48, 54–55, 76
WTF with Marc Maron, 24, 114, 214
Yankovic, “Weird Al,” 192–95, 203
Yes, Prime Minister, 210–11
YouTube, 104–5, 107, 137
Ziggler, Dolph, 90
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