# Conservatives: Where's the funny? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 6, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526 "2011-06-06T18:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/121 "2011-06-08T06:40:50Z")
I should probably add that “Femi-Nazi” was a term he used to describe the type of feminist who hated men, thought all sex was rape and so forth. Andrea Dworkin was a name he brought up frequently in this regard. He used to say there were probably only a dozen of them in the entire country, thereby serving to marginalize and trivialize them and their way of thinking. With regard to both that term and saying “liberal” as though it were a disgusting word, yeah, he would do that. Maybe still does. But no one has said that he was all comedy, all the time. Comedy does however play a large role in his program and it’s a large part of what makes him entertaining to his audience. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/122 "2011-06-08T11:07:05Z")
One element of humor that many people find appealing is self-deprecation - putting oneself down. An example is Milton Berle’s comment that, “Jews don’t drink much, because it interfers with our suffering”. Or when Groucho said he would never belong to a club that would have him as a member. A big meme in the modern conservative movement is the strength and righteousness of conservatives over liberals, and it’s hard to mix that with putting yourself down. P.J. O’Rourke is probably the best at doing this with actual conservative humor. Drew Carey makes fun of himself brilliantly. But as someone upthread mentioned, even though he personally is conservative, his humor doesn’t focus much on politics. I can’t imagine Groucho being very funny if his jokes were all putdowns of stupid, inferior gentiles, which is basically what Limbaugh and Coulter do with liberals. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/123 "2011-06-08T11:46:41Z")
Who can forget Rush Limbaugh’s clever skewering of the “Oooh, I have Parkinson’s disease” trope with his insightful mockery of the so-called “involuntary” motor spasms associated with the disorder. Pure comedy genius - surely just misunderstood by stupid liberals. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/124 "2011-06-08T13:24:24Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I should probably add that “Femi-Nazi” was a term he used to describe the type of feminist who hated men, thought all sex was rape and so forth. Andrea Dworkin was a name he brought up frequently in this regard. He used to say there were probably only a dozen of them in the entire country, thereby serving to marginalize and trivialize them and their way of thinking. I’m pretty sure he meant to marginalize and trivialize all feminists with the term. His idea of a good feminist is probably a woman who gives free blowjobs with her oxycondin pills. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/125 "2011-06-08T13:26:31Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Who can forget Rush Limbaugh’s clever skewering of the “Oooh, I have Parkinson’s disease” trope with his insightful mockery of the so-called “involuntary” motor spasms associated with the disorder. > > Pure comedy genius - surely just misunderstood by stupid liberals. And his brilliant mockery of Chelsea Clinton’s looks when she was a high school student. A gentleman and a scholar, for sure! ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/126 "2011-06-08T13:52:24Z")
I agree with the general sentiment. I found William F Buckley funny in his day. He was drier than the Gobi desert and it was the “crocodile invites the prey to cross the river” kind of humor, but he was funny. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/127 "2011-06-08T15:10:31Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Christopher Titus is about the closest I’ve come to seeing actual conservative values in funny form, and even then he tempers them with left-leaning sentiment. . Titus recently promised to assassinate Sarah Palin if she ever becomes president. He wasn’t joking. Haven’t got the linky easily available, but I’ll try to find it when I get some time. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/128 "2011-06-08T15:57:05Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Titus recently promised to assassinate Sarah Palin if she ever becomes president. He wasn’t joking. Haven’t got the linky easily available, but I’ll try to find it when I get some time. I found the [audio](http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/07/comic-chris-titus-hints-at-assassinating-palin-if-she-gets-elected-president/) and listened to it. He was joking. It was in seriously poor taste, but he was. But you know, that actually helps, because it’s an instance where I can get that he’s joking, even if I don’t necessarily approve of it, but where someone who likes Palin wouldn’t see it that way. That actually may be the most analogous example to compare against Limbaugh I’ve seen yet. Of course, one part of me just wants to say: well, duh. Titus may be more conservative than most, but he’s not _stupid_. Palin is _bad_ for you guys and for the country, and supporting her just because she attacks liberals is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/129 "2011-06-09T15:18:40Z")
I’m starting to wonder if conservatives here are afraid to admit what makes them laugh. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/130 "2011-06-09T16:02:20Z")
Sure, if the Humane Society found out, they couldn’t get any more puppies. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/131 "2011-06-09T16:38:39Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Some Dennis Miller lines: So those are _old_ Dennis Miller? So it turns out he was _never_ funny! Maybe it’s in the delivery? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/132 "2011-06-09T17:02:59Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Sure, if the Humane Society found out, they couldn’t get any more puppies. I started this thread a few days ago because I couldn’t think of any comedians that tell conservative jokes, which is not really surprising because I’m not their market. But so far no one with conservative sympathies has cited conservative jokes even _they_ find funny. It took me less than a minute to link to George Carlin’s pro-life rant and I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/133 "2011-06-09T17:19:35Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I started this thread a few days ago because I couldn’t think of any comedians that tell conservative jokes, which is not really surprising because I’m not their market. > > But so far no one with conservative sympathies has cited conservative jokes even _they_ find funny. > > It took me less than a minute to link to George Carlin’s pro-life rant and I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for. Hrm… that Carlin bit isn’t really funny either. Conservatives certainly won’t find it funny since the jokes make presumptions that conservatives disagree with. And tbh I don’t think most libs–even those who are laughing–really find most of the remarks _funny_ per se. They describe things that seem funny to them, but that’s not the same as the remarks _themselves_ being funny. Anyway I’d think the point is to find comedians that are clearly funny to people from a wide variety of political perspectives. It would seem that there are plenty of liberal comedians that fit that bill, even when they are making political jokes. Conservative comedians able to pull off the same trick? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/134 "2011-06-09T17:49:11Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Hrm… that Carlin bit isn’t really funny either. > > Conservatives certainly won’t find it funny since the jokes make presumptions that conservatives disagree with. > > And tbh I don’t think most libs–even those who are laughing–really find most of the remarks _funny_ per se. They describe things that seem funny to them, but that’s not the same as the remarks _themselves_ being funny. > > Anyway I’d think the point is to find comedians that are clearly funny to people from a wide variety of political perspectives. It would seem that there are plenty of liberal comedians that fit that bill, even when they are making political jokes. Conservative comedians able to pull off the same trick? Not so much. What are you babbling about? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/135 "2011-06-09T17:51:36Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > What are you babbling about? ?? Have I missed a punchline somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/136 "2011-06-09T17:55:54Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Hrm… that Carlin bit isn’t really funny either. > > Conservatives certainly won’t find it funny since the jokes make presumptions that conservatives disagree with. I know, I’m looking for the conservative equivalent. The rest of your post is a confused stream of consciousness. Have you read any of the thread or even the OP yet? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/137 "2011-06-09T18:00:54Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I know, I’m looking for the conservative equivalent. > > The rest of your post is a confused stream of consciousness. > > Have you read any of the thread or even the OP yet? WTF I’ve read the entire thread. Most people in the thread, it turns out, aren’t talking about what you’re talking about. You’re looking for conservatives who tell conservative jokes? Dennis Miller. There’s your answer. Asked and answerd. How is this even a GD? Isn’t it just GQ? Meanwhile, to make a debate in a GD thread, most of the thread has been about whether particular comedians and types of jokes are funny or not, and whether certain political viewpoints might be less conducive to humor than others. I was addressing the first of those two questions. Confused? No, I’m making a clear point. To point at something that is funny is not, in and of itself, a funny act. And much of what Carlin does is pointing at things that his audience will find funny. That, in and of itself, is not a funny thing to do. It is entertaining in some cases, but it is not, in and of itself, funny. The bizarre and unprovoked hostility on your part I could do with less of. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/138 "2011-06-09T18:08:51Z")
I’m looking for examples of conservative funny from posters who say that there are good conservative comics out there. You can say that Limbaugh or Miller or whoever gives good conservative funny but, if after _numerous_ requests, you can’t link to just one example that _you_ find humorous, then you’ve got nothing. Whether _I_ think it’s funny is of no consequence whatsoever. Show me the conservative funny. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/139 "2011-06-09T18:28:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m looking for examples of conservative funny from posters who say that there are good conservative comics out there. You can say that Limbaugh or Miller or whoever gives good conservative funny but, if after _numerous_ requests, you can’t link to just one example that _you_ find humorous, then you’ve got nothing. Whether _I_ think it’s funny is of no consequence whatsoever. Show me the conservative funny. I’m not a Conservative, but didn’t Sam Stone offer some in post 103? You even commented on 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/140 "2011-06-09T18:30:24Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > WTF I’ve read the entire thread. > > Most people in the thread, it turns out, aren’t talking about what you’re talking about. > > You’re looking for conservatives who tell conservative jokes? Dennis Miller. There’s your answer. Asked and answerd. How is this even a GD? Isn’t it just GQ? Dennis Miller is a comedian, a conservative, and he tells jokes. I’m still searching for his bits that cut up only Conservatives at the expense of Liberals. > [@Frylock](#): > > Meanwhile, to make a debate in a GD thread, most of the thread has been about whether particular comedians and types of jokes are funny or not, and whether certain political viewpoints might be less conducive to humor than others. I was addressing the first of those two questions. This is in GD because it involves politics. I’m not interested in if comedians are funny or why, I’d just like to find comedians with this particular characteristic, and possibly to expound on why it appears to be rare. But I apologize for the unnecessary hostility, it’s hot over here but that’s no excuse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526.md?page=8)