{1} A bootleg recording of a Bill Hicks gig performed in Chicago in 1989 (you can…
Saddam’s Last Gag
Another onlooker, despite pleas from another for witnesses to observe the proprieties, yells: “Go to hell!”…
The Importance of Being Embedded
Jokes have worlds. Even something as superficially simple as — “What did the big chimney say…
Wittgenstein’s tree, and other terrifying jokes
“In philosophy it is significant that such-and-such a sentence makes no sense; but also that it…
Hadrian! HADRIAN! — the anatomy of a two-word punchline
In February 2018, the comedian Emo Philips tweeted a two word joke in response to a…
Emo Philips, Queen of Crime
Here’s a joke told by Emo Philips about his childhood: When I was ten, my family…
Ruses de guerre: the joke as a campaign of disinformation
The comic Anthony Jeselnik tells this joke about his girlfriend and her love of chocolate: My…
Getting the bigger picture 2: “what an important joke”
Anthony Jeselnik tells this joke in his 2010 special Shakespeare: I had to break up with…
Getting the bigger picture: the joke as a revelation of reality
In a 2014 interview, the comic Emo Philips looks back at his early career, and remarks…
Victoria Wood’s first joke
Here’s the story of how one of Britain’s greatest comics wrote her first joke, as recounted…