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When not to pretend you're a stand up comic?

When you aren't one, obviously.

First, a joke from local stand-up comic Scott Bruce: A blond walks into a library and says "I"d like a burger, fries and a shake." The librarian hushes her and says "Ma'am, this is a library!" The blond says "Sorry!" and then whispers "I'd like a burger, fries and a shake."

Bruce, whom I interviewed years ago when he lived in my native West Hazleton, told the joke during a visit to a new "Laugh Club" formed in our area. TL videographer Jackie Lukas did a short clip on it for us:

 

Compare this to the disastrous attempt by Chicago teacher's union president Karen Lewis during a keynote address at the Northwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference. The whole schtick is lame and generally offensive if you ask me, but it reached its nadir about 1:25 into the clip posted on edweek.org, when Lewis mocks a lisp by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and says "You know he went to private school because if he had gone to public school he would have had that lisp fixed."

You should be able to read blogger Liana Hetin's observations on this clip, and view the clip, here. (I'm never sure because I subscribe to edweek and don't know what content is free and what requires a subscription).

Lewis tries to compensate with a lot of self-deprecating remarks, but for me none of it works. More importantly, this effort by a prominent union president to launch a stand-up career provided napalm for union-hating conservatives eager to carpet bomb teachers at a moment's notice.

Any point Lewis hoped to make was lost when she unleashed her inner comic-wannabe. In poking Duncan, she skewered herself.

 

As hard as it might be to believe if you know me personally for a long time, you can now follow me on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish

About this Blog

My column is neither beat or subject specific, and has ranged from whimsical to hard news. Since I'm primarily an education reporter and a native of the Hazleton area, those often draw my focus.

About the Author

A West Hazleton native, I worked as a service technician repairing electronic mailing and shipping systems, a bike shop owner and an Emergency Medical Technician (among other jobs) before landing a reporter job at the Times Leader Hazleton Bureau in 1995. I started by covering primarily politics in Hazleton City and outlying municipalities, eventually became "social issues" team leader in the Wilkes-Barre office with the accent on education, and headed the Hazleton Bureau for a spell before returning to full-time reporting, my preferred position. I'm an avid cyclist and rode across the country in 1990, a trip of more than 5,000 miles from New Jersey to Seattle and down the coast to San Francisco. Years in the Boy Scouts made me a life long backpacker and camper, and I've yet to find a better way to enjoy the quiet lure of winter snow than cross country skiing.

Mark also writes a regular blog for timesleader.com.

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