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October 12, 2008 10:56:46 PM CDT

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Stories related to: humor

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  • October 2008

    • Now Fey's an Author, Too

      New York Observer  |  Oct 4, 08 12:33 PM CDT

      Now Fey's an Author, Too

      (Newser) - Tina Fey just got a little busier. She's finalized a deal to write a collection of humorous essays for Little, Brown and Company, the New York Observer reports. Fey—currently in the spotlight for her spot-on impersonations of VP wannabe Sarah Palin—reportedly worked out a deal to fund the building of six new libraries in poor NYC neighborhoods. Her writing credits include TV's 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live , and the movie Mean Girls . More »

      Tags

      book  • Saturday Night Live  • humor  • Tina Fey

  • September 2008
  • August 2008

    • Study: Tell Bad Jokes at Your Own Risk

      Associated Press  |  Aug 22, 08 4:02 PM CDT

      Study: Tell Bad Jokes at Your Own Risk

      (Newser) - What did the researcher say to the reporter? Bad jokes are a good way to lose friends. A Washington State University linguist found lame humor tends to trigger serious hostility, the AP reports. The researcher had her students slip a bad joke into 207 conversations with friends, and 44% of the responses were considered, ahem, “impolite.” More »

      Tags

      humor

    • Why Have They Lost Their Sense of Humor?

      New York  |  Aug 10, 08 5:33 AM CDT

      Why Have They Lost Their Sense of Humor?

      (Newser) - Barack Obama and John McCain can both crack a joke, so why can't they take one this election season? From Obama offending McCain with digs about the race card to McCain's laughable anti-Obama ads, serious matters are being laughed off and bad jokes are being taken seriously, Kurt Andersen writes in New York . "Humor is proving to be the election’s consistently problematic X-factor," Andersen notes. More »

      Tags

      Barack Obama  • John McCain  • Election 2008  • race  • political advertising  • humor

    • A Shark-Hater Fesses Up

      Los Angeles Times  |  Aug 8, 08 12:34 PM CDT

      A Shark-Hater Fesses Up

      (Newser) - Sharks were once eminently despicable creatures. Remember  Jaws ? Now, though, perceptions have shifted—they’re seen as endangered, misunderstood animals who chomp humans only when they mistake them for seals. (That's why they take one bite and "sheepishly" move on.) It's a source of great disappointment to Joe Queenan, who laments in the Los Angeles Times that he just can't find an acceptable replacement for his hatred. More »

      Tags

      animal  • humor  • animal attack  • shark

    • Dirty Jokes of the Ancients Unearthed

      Daily Telegraph (UK)  |  Aug 1, 08 8:57 AM CDT

      Dirty Jokes of the Ancients Unearthed

      (Newser) - Academics studying ancient texts have discovered bawdy jokes that wouldn't be out of place in a Farrelly brothers movie, the Daily Telegraph reports. "What hangs at a man’s thigh and wants to poke the hole that it’s often poked before?" asks a thousand-year-old Anglo-Saxon manuscript.  "Answer: A key.” More »

      Tags

      history  • humor  • ancient Egypt  • ancient customs  • joke

  • July 2008

    • Muppets Spring Back to Life on YouTube

      France24  |  Jul 23, 08 6:40 PM CDT

      Muppets Spring Back to Life on YouTube

      (Newser) - The Muppets, largely in retirement since 1981, have been pussyfooting their way back into the spotlight via YouTube, France24 notes. In the past month, Sam the Eagle, the Swedish Chef, Beaker and others have set up accounts, uploading clips on a regular basis and sharing comments like "Meep meep meep-meep meep Meeeeeep?" No word, yet, on whether the comeback is an official one. More »

      Tags

      YouTube  • entertainment  • humor  • children's show  • videos  • Muppets  • Jim Henson

    • McCain Puts the 'Pol' in 'Politically Incorrect'

      Politico  |  Jul 18, 08 2:23 PM CDT

      McCain Puts the 'Pol' in 'Politically Incorrect'

      (Newser) - This week's flap over a rape joke John McCain reportedly made 22 years ago inspired Politico to recall the candidate's checkered history of telling jokes. Some examples: A quip about why then-18-year-old Chelsea Clinton was "so ugly.” Calling a young man who asked about his age “you little jerk" and adding, "You’re drafted!” More »

      Tags

      John McCain  • Iran  • France  • rape  • humor  • Chelsea Clinton  • draft  • Janet Reno

    • McCain: Skip the Bombs, Send Smokes to Iran

      Reuters  |  Jul 9, 08 4:12 AM CDT

      McCain: Skip the Bombs, Send Smokes to Iran

      (Newser) - Told that cigarette exports to Iran rose tenfold under President Bush’s reign, McCain pondered aloud:“Maybe that's a way of killing 'em." When his wife nudged him, he quickly clarified to Reuters: "I meant that as a joke—as a person who hasn't had a cigarette in 29 years.” Known for his acerbic humor, McCain once sang "Ba-ba-ba, ba-bomb Iran" to the Beach Boys' tune Barbara Anne . More »

      Tags

      John McCain  • Iran  • presidential campaign  • humor  • presidential candidates  • joke

  • June 2008

    • Deepak Chopra: 'Catch God With His Pants Down'

      Newsweek  |  Jun 18, 08 2:24 PM CDT

      Deepak Chopra: 'Catch God With His Pants Down'

      (Newser) - Real-life new-age guru Deepak Chopra is a big fan of Mike Myers' movie, The Love Guru, and writes that laughing at God is exactly what we need right about now. "More comedies should cross the line between vulgar lampoon and reckless disrespect. Let's catch God with his pants down—or more especially those who peddle faith in God so self-righteously," Chopra writes. More »

      Tags

      religion  • comedy  • humor  • Deepak Chopra  • The Love Guru

    • 'Realish' Sedaris Book Skirts Memoir Scrutiny

      New York Times  |  Jun 8, 08 10:45 AM CDT

      'Realish' Sedaris Book Skirts Memoir Scrutiny

      (Newser) - With his new book of nonfiction essays, Engulfed in Flames , David Sedaris finds himself engulfed in questions of truth and accuracy. In America, the recent explosion of memoirs has been followed with one scandal after another, prompting more scrutiny of the humorist’s work. “I do think Sedaris exaggerates too much for a writer using a nonfiction label," a New Republic writer argued last year. More »

      Tags

      book  • literature  • memoir  • humor  • writer  • nonfiction books  • fake memoirs

    • How to Win the Caption Contest

      Slate  |  Jun 5, 08 6:35 PM CDT

      How to Win the Caption Contest

      (Newser) - Want to win the New Yorker 's cartoon caption contest? The first rule: Don't be too funny. So says recent winner Patrick House, who lays out his can't-miss strategy in Slate. Keep in mind that reading the New Yorker is an introspective pursuit, one of "lonesome withdrawal." Which means that someone on the train probably doesn't want to guffaw out loud. Aim instead for a "a mild chuckle." More »

      Tags

      humor  • magazine  • New Yorker magazine  • jokes

  • May 2008

    • SNL Launches Political Satire Site

      Broadcasting & Cable  |  May 9, 08 8:09 PM CDT

      SNL Launches Political Satire Site

      (Newser) - Saturday Night Live has unveiled a new website to showcase the program’s political humor, Broadcasting and Cable reports. Visitors can check out clips of the show’s political sketches and candidate appearances at http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/politics, or vote for their favorite president/candidate impersonator—dating back from Dana Carvey's elder Bush to Phil Hartman's Reagan.  More »

      Tags

      television  • politics  • Saturday Night Live  • humor  • satire

  • April 2008

    • 'A Bitter Man Who Clings to His Guns?'

      Boston Globe  |  Apr 17, 08 11:46 AM CDT

      'A Bitter Man Who Clings to His Guns?'

      (Newser) - While the Democratic candidates were grinding away at each other last night, some other normally stiff shirts were loosening up at the Radio and Television Correspondents annual dinner in DC. The high points: Dressed in hunting hat and shades (no naked lady), Dick Cheney spoofed Barack Obama’s blue-collar gaffe (“Obviously you’re not the kind to look down on a bitter man who clings to his guns”) and Hillary Clinton’s whiskey shot (“Looked like she replaced Mark Penn with Johnnie Walker.’) More »

      Tags

      Barack Obama  •