With Continual Reference to Justin Kahn.

Friday, May 05, 2006

The Lives of Great Humorists

I love reading humor. But I also like reading about the goof balls who write and perform the stuff. It is not only to alleviate my own loneliness that I like to imagine such ideal friends, but b/c I like to imagine what it would be like to go through life with their funny rose colored glasses. Every situation a sketch, every insult a line, every setback a punchline. Wouldn't it be grand to glide through life in their shoes? For your edification and encouragement I will share with you the results of my careful studies.



Mikhail ZoschenkoHe wrote imortant short comedies and was something of a public figure. Than in the 1920's and 30's the Stalinist Government turned on him. Financial and social burdens resulted. He frequently contemplated suicide. Watches his popularity go down the crapper. Dies.




James Thurber. Major American Humorist Published Regularly in the New Yorker. Loses an eye. Has bad eyesight in the other. Drinks heavily, causing much trouble. Several Marriages Collapses. Alienates himself from a variety of Colleagues. Depression and anxiety increase (possibly b/c of a stroke.) Dies.





Saturday Night Live Cast They made america laugh. But not long enough. For soon, they died due to (from left to right) : Overdose; Spontaneous Combustion; Suicide;Just a Stage Hand; Suicide; Never Funny in the First Place and so Not a Humorist; Overdose, Still Living; Suicide;Overdose; Overdose;Suicide;Overdose; Heart Attack (from overdose); Overdose; Suicide (Or possibly just a heart attack).


Have a great weekend!

Epilogue: In the bio for the SNL crew one person was referred to as still living. That member has recently imploded from a lack of love and is no longer with us.

25 comments:

Jenn said...

Is that supposed to be painfully funny?

Ouch. I laugh and ache simultaneously.

Congratulations.

Justin said...

I thought gentle, honest Iago stole you away for good.

Anyway, I usually don't like commenting on my own work, just let it speak for itself, but yes it is supposed to be a mixture of pain and humor.


J.

Jenn said...

In other words...oxymoronic.

Like the pleasurable pain of losing your virginity.

WIP said...

lol

nice

sufferwords said...

I agree to agree

Sufferwords

Chris said...

Yeah, the SNL cast has always been cursed. I think that might be why they're so funny. They know that they're short on time, so they leave it all out there.

Chris (My Blog)

Anonymous said...

Great blog! The last line of your profile cracks me up.

Great work
Geoff P

jovialiste said...

Interesting! But that...is not all...! Also about humour read the book Ecology of the mind by Gregory Batenson
About "quelques" certains humour wrighters and actors read
jovialistelandia.blogspot.com
There is on the blog an altavista translater spanish english for all the blog
Enjoy!

Feed Watcher said...

Sometimes perusing the "Recently Updated" section of Blogger pays off.

You are quite the wit yourself.

I tried to follow along with the SNL list, but am too confused today to match the causes of death with the pictures.

Phil Hartman was murdered. A pity and a great loss, indeed.

And Dana Carvey had open heart surgery in 2000 and the surgeon erroneously operated on the wrong artery. Oops. Big lawsuit there. Dana reportedly missed appearing on Hollywood Squares because of this incident.

Live From New York is a great, dishy read about the mayhem that is/was SNL.

Anonymous said...

You're getting more and more cutsey-pie by the day.

Anonymous said...

My blog crashed, Justin. I wrote a post asking people who were linked to remind me. I'm in the process of remodelling it and getting it back up to snuff.

WIP said...

cutsie pie ?

lol sorry that makes me smile
-wip

Justin said...

wipster:

I use the word suicide like 7 times in this post and 'die'12 times and people are saying cutsy-pie? I don't get it, myself.

But wait to 'anonymous' reads my Vietnam Posts. They'll think I'm so adorable.

Anonymous said...

You're not cutsey, Justin, you're a weiner.

Anonymous said...

reese, is weiner referring to his name or something else?

Anonymous said...

I presume he has one, yes.

WIP said...

o my word
lololol

see i thought you ment like oscar meier weiners ....

dirty little anonymous person, read the vietnam posts, don't they make him adorable ???

Justin said...

Thanks nice comment people.

J.

Justin said...

reese: Thanks for the clarification.

I guess you are trying to delete my self esteem.

Justin.
P.S. Get it? Delete?

Justin said...

L1:

I've seen that book and want to read it. But knowing about stuff that I am writing about tends to make it harder.

It is a good thing that you didn't try to coordinate the causes with the people. It was only with a song in my heart and a vague awareness of some deaths that I began writing away.
J1

Anonymous said...

Justin, I guess I was just trying to EXCHANGE some witty banter.

Get it - EXCHANGE?? It's kind of a 69 thing. As in, you know, mutual. Get it?

(how come the only link you have on your site is to some gay science journal? Hmmm? Get some sexy links up there)

knibilnats said...

perhaps i don't know my left from my right, but which one is the "not funny" one? al frankin? it better not be al frankin! he's funny... every now and again.

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