Seriously, the Joke Is Dead

New York Times: "IN case you missed its obituary, the joke died recently after a long illness, of, oh, 30 years. Its passing was barely noticed, drowned out, perhaps, by the din of ironic one-liners, snark and detached bons mots that pass for humor these days. The joke died a lonely death. There was no next of kin to notify, the comedy skit, the hand-buzzer and Bob Newhart's imaginary telephone monologues having passed on long before. But when people reminisce about it, they always say the same thing: the joke knew how to make an entrance. 'Two guys walked into a bar'; 'So this lady goes to the doctor'; 'Did you hear the one about the talking parrot?' The new humor sneaks by on little cat feet, all punch line and no setup, and if it bombs, you barely notice. The joke insisted on everyone's attention, and when it bombed - wow.'A joke is a way to say, 'I'm going to do something funny now,' ' said Penn Jillette, the talking half of the comedy and magic duo Penn & Teller and a producer of 'The Aristocrats,' a new documentary about an old dirty joke of the same name. 'If I don't get a laugh at the end, I'm a failure.'"