What do Jon Stewart, Freddy Krueger, Patch Adams, and George W. Bush have in common? As Paul Lewis shows in Cracking Up , they are all among the ranks of joke tellers who aim to do much more than simply amuse. Exploring topics that range from the sadistic mockery of Abu Ghraib prison guards to New Age platitudes about the healing power of laughter, from jokes used to ridicule the possibility of global climate change to the heartwarming performances of hospital clowns, Lewis demonstrates that over the past thirty years American humor has become increasingly purposeful and embattled.  Navigating this contentious world of controversial, manipulative, and disturbing laughter, Cracking Up argues that the good news about American humor in our time—that it is delightful, relaxing, and distracting—is also the bad news. In a culture that both enjoys and quarrels about jokes, humor expresses our most nurturing and hurtful impulses, informs and misinforms us, and exposes as well as covers up the shortcomings of our leaders. Wondering what’s so funny about a culture determined to laugh at problems it prefers not to face, Lewis reveals connections between such seemingly unrelated jokers as Norman Cousins, Hannibal Lecter, Rush Limbaugh, Garry Trudeau, Jay Leno, Ronald Reagan, Beavis and Butt-Head, and Bill Clinton. The result is a surprising, alarming, and at times hilarious argument that will appeal to anyone interested in the ways humor is changing our cultural and political landscapes. "The recognition that humor can reflect horror or hope makes Cracking Up a worthy exploration of the consequences of a joke. Whether saving lives or humiliating the helpless, humor culture is human culture." -- Gary Alan Fine ― Common Review "Lewis develops his analysis and arguments with specific references and examples enough to empower the reader to move out of the passive consumption of this humor and at least begin to understand critically one of the most baffling and important elements in American mass culture." -- Dennis Hall ― Journal of American Culture "Lewis provides a guide for thinking about humor with the seriousness it deserves." ― Choice Paul Lewis  is professor of English at Boston College. He is also the author of Comic Effects: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Humor in Literature . CRACKING UP AMERICAN HUMOR IN A TIME OF CONFLICT By PAUL LEWIS THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Copyright © 2006 The University of Chicago All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-226-47699-5 Contents List of Illustrations.............................................................................xiIntroduction......................................................................................11
"One, Two, Freddy's Coming for You" KILLING JOKES OF THE 1980S AND 1990S.....................232
Red Noses at the Ready! THE POSITIVE HUMOR MOVEMENT..........................................633
Shut Up! No, You Shut Up! FIGHTING WITH AND ABOUT HUMOR......................................1094
Ridicule to Rule THE STRANGE CASE OF GEORGE W. BUSH..........................................155Conclusion........................................................................................201Acknowledgments...................................................................................207Notes.............................................................................................211Index.............................................................................................227 Chapter One "One, Two, Freddy's Coming for You" KILLING JOKES OF THE 1980S AND 1990S FIRST TEENAGE GIRL: Freddy, no question. SECOND TEENAGE GIRL: You're crazy. Jason just chops your head off and it's finished, but Freddy makes you suffer first. FIRST TEENAGE GIRL: I know. That's the whole point. If I have to be murdered, I'd rather be murdered by a guy with imagination. SECOND TEENAGE GIRL: You're crazy! Jason or that Halloween guy, they just kill you and you're dead .... Freddy makes you a nervous wreck and then kills you and then turns you into a face sticking out of his chest! FIRST TEENAGE GIRL: Yeah, but he's so funny . Conversation overheard in a video store, reported in the Youthanasia column of Premiere Magazine , August 1990 In the late summer and fall of 1991-as the story of Jeffrey Dahmer's cannibalistic serial murders ran its course and before much was known about his personality-jokes about Dahmer started to circulate. A typical and much-varied one about a dinner party attended by the killer's mother just prior to her son's arrest constructed Dahmer as a sadistic humorist. "I don't like your friends," his mother says during the meal, and he replies, "Try the vegetables." On June 18, 1994, following a televised chase on the Los Angeles freeway system, O. J. Simpson was arrested for the double murder of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Within hours the first O. J. jokes began to appear