Like brewing your own beer, satire is tricky, time consuming, and not as rewarding as you might expect. Humor is a lousy weapon, and anyone who thinks different is in for a life of one humiliating loss after another. When people talk about humor as a weapon it always makes me think of Jamie Lee Curtis in the closet at the end of Halloween, unfolding a wire hanger to use as a spear. It's better than nothing, but just barely.
And it's so hard to get exactly right.
Take this current example of political satire from LibertyPost.org, where "spirited debate, varied opinions and points of view are the lifeblood of liberty":
GENERAL PUBLIC NOTICE:
"Please be advised I am sick to death of receiving questions about my dog who mauled 3 Muslims sitting on a rug next to my back wall, 6 illegals wearing Obama t-shirts, 4 wearing Pelosi t-shirts, 2 rappers, 5 phone operators who asked me to press #1 for English, 9 teenagers with their pants hanging down past their cracks, 8 customer service desk people speaking in broken English, 10 flag burners, and a Pakistani taxi driver.
FOR THE LAST TIME....... THE DOG IS NOT FOR SALE !!!"
It's hilarious, of course. And we can all agree that those folks were asking for it, by not being white. But it feels like a lot of work. "Sweaty," sitcom professionals would call it. A little sweaty.
And why is a live operator asking you to press a number for English? Shouldn't that be a recording? And how is the dog biting people over the phone? See, it all falls apart, and what good does that do for the lifeblood of liberty?
It also makes some of our Tea Party friends sound kind of racist, and we know that's not true.
Or take this caroon, from earlier this week, by Chuck Asay, who "sifts the events of the day through his biblical worldview."
Chuck Asay has been a semi-professional editorial cartoonist for over 150 years, but, as you can see, even he misses the nail every now and then. We can all agree with the premise of the cartoon -- punch gay people right in the face as hard as you can -- but the execution is off. Is the Marine on the left actually gay, or is the Marine in the center misunderstanding the pat on the ass? After the Marine in the center smashes the Marine on the left right in the face, knocking him to the ground, what do the other Marines in the cartoon think? It's impossible to tell from their expressions. Because Chuck Asay can't draw. I think they approve. (And why wouldn't they? Queer got what he had coming.) But I'm just guessing.
How many people have successfully created political satire, on a regular paying basis, in America, in our lifetime? Ten thousand? Cartoonists, comedians, columnists, playwrights, TV writers, screenwriters, gag men -- God help us, morning zoo DJs -- sketch writers, folk singers... all in, living and dead, Albee to Zappa -- how many?
Five thousand? Two thousand?
Which brings me to an event tonight that I'd give a lot to attend. The title's a little cutsie -- "An Evening with the National Lampoon to Make the Lions Roar with Laughter" - but the money goes to a good cause -- the New York Public Library -- and the people who will be there are from a pretty small group, and they don't get together very often.
Here are some of the high quality funny people who are going to be there:
John Weidman, Sean Kelly, Brian McConnachie, Christopher Cerf, Fred Graver, Michel Choquette, Larry "Ratso" Sloman, Joe Randazzo, Peter Reigert, Alice Playten, Paul Jacobs and Sarah Durkee.
It's been thirty years since some of them were in the same room.
Plus, as they say, special surprise guests.
They're together, for one night only, because of a new book by Rick Meyerowitz called Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Artists and Writers Who Made the National Lampoon Insanely Great. It's gotten rapturous reviews -- and why shouldn't it -- from the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. It's been excerpted in the National Enquirer, of all places, and, even though I wrote a tiny piece for it, I can recommend it without feeling the slightest guilt about conflict of interest, because I didn't even get a free copy. I had to steal one from the office.
The event starts in two hours. If you miss it, get the book. You'll like it.
If I was in New York, or if I were you, and you were in New York, I'd go.
Did I mention that they're going to spend the entire evening discussing Steve Martin's art collection? I don't know why. They just are.