Bringing the Unfunny

It is certainly true that late-period P.J. O’Rourke is painfully unfunny. But I think you have to remember that his prominence may result in some serious grading on the curve, in what one might call the “Half Hour News Hour Effect.” The one valuable thing about Andrew Breitbart’s Aesthetic Stalinism For Dummies is that it seems dedicated to finding people so unfunny they can almost make you understand why O’Rourke is a conservative’s idea of the new Lenny Bruce. First, we have Chris Muir, whose work for ASFD is just as unfunny but considerably more pretentious and incoherent than his usual strip. But that’s nothing: I bring you Ernie Mannix, who is not merely unfunny but is actually the anti-funny. (“Check his Blackberry’s GPS for Hillary’s location.” Stop it, you’re killing me!)

Given the competition, it’s hard to imagine O’Rourke being removed from his sinecures anytime soon…