If I am the first the come up with that idea, I freely grant full licensure to anyone who wishes to make such a shirt. If I am wrong about that, I am sorry–and saddened, as I gaze at my own rolled-up slacks. Actually, most of Eliot’s poetry is a bit more complicated that a Will Ferrell SNL sketch, but almost nobody cares, and nobody wears a t-shirt with “More Prufrock” on it. Alfred Prufrock.” That is a joke with its own layers (which is what humor scholars say when a joke is not as funny as they think it should be). I have found that “More Cowbell,” provides an ideal source for exploring the layers of humor in any given piece of material. It is what teachers do, with apologies to the damage inherently done to the sheer joy provided by humor itself.
In short, I ask them to dissect the humor. In the introductory days of a class I teach called American Popular Humor, I have always included contemporary sketch comedy as a way to get students to explore what makes humans laugh and also to break down that laughter into components. The sketch, written by Will Ferrell, is inscrutable and inexplicable, which makes it a perfect tool for teaching American humor. Here is a link to the sketch itself: More Cowbell Full Sketch I have a “More Cowbell” app on my phone to prove it. ” I don’t understand why Wikipedia wants a citation for this statement we don’t need any stinking citations for something that is so clearly and indisputably true. According to Wikipedia (yes, “More Cowbell”–the catch phrase–has its own page), “the sketch is often considered one of the greatest SNL sketches ever made, and in many ‘best of’ lists regarding SNL sketches, it is often placed at number one. I have a fever for exploring the curious life of one of the most bizarre and compelling comic sketches to work itself into the American grain, the collective unconsciousness, cultural zeitgeist, internet meme-life, and merchandising half-life: Saturday Night Live’s (SNL) “More Cowbell,” first shown on 08 April 2000. The tales they tell, sound just like lying,
Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart.”Īnd don’t forget Maya Angelou’s short-lived prank show– “I know why the caged bird laughs!” Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. “If you don’t laugh, you’ll die… Against the cruelties of life, one must laugh.” “I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands you need to be able to throw some things back.” “The main thing in one’s own private world is to try to laugh as much as you cry.” If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.” “When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘Good morning’ at total strangers.” If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. “I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.” “I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.” “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style” But here, I want to simply bring forward a few things Angelou said about the importance of humor and laughter that remind us of the importance of joy and laughter in the struggles against bigotry and the efforts to create a meaningful life for ourselves and those we love. I will leave it to other sources to remind us of and to celebrate her contribution to American letters and life. All Americans are–or should be–aware of the cultural importance of Maya Angelou in documenting our nation’s history and her own experience through poetry and prose.
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