Pubspeaks

The Punch Line Pubspeak

On Tuesday, August 22, WIW held its last Pubspeak of the summer featuring stand-up comedian, humor columnist, journalism teacher and WIW member Doug Hecox before an audience of 37 at The Front Page restaurant in Ballston, Va.

Hecox has performed stand-up comedy since 1989, and his written work has appeared in Reader's Digest and the Washington Monthly, and in newspapers throughout the Rocky Mountains, since 1996. As he explained, somewhat paradoxically, "Humor is something I take seriously."   

Hecox discussed the challenges of humor writing and the performance of comedy on stage. He touched on that indefinable, ethereal quality of humor. Inevitably, "every humor writer has a slightly different voice and the humor writing itself may be funny in a number of different ways, so there is no easily definable thing as humor writing."

"I've found that being a humor writer helps me as a comedian, because it forces me to keep writing new material," Hecox said. "The problem with humor is that it is so pervasive. It is everywhere. We hear jokes on the radio as we get up in the morning; we hear jokes on the Metro. Bob at the water cooler in the office may have a joke he heard on 'Letterman' last night that he wants to share with you. There is always someone with a joke ... everyone believes they are a humorist. Whether they can write it down and make us believe that they are is a different issue."

He said his genre's bookstore shelves are something of a literary no-man's land. "As a genre, humor is a difficult thing to sell. I'm a big believer now, after 10 years of knocking my head against the wall, that to successfully market your writing, don't call it 'humor.' Call it something else. Call it 'first-person essay,' or a 'personal memoir.' Call it something more artistic... when you call it 'humor,' you're automatically challenging the reader. It's a little confrontational. This may be why writers like Amy Sedaris, David Sedaris or other legitimately humorous writers are not calling their works 'humor.' Their books are not found in the 'humor ghetto' of bookstores. Instead, they are out in the great expanse of mainstream literature."

"Humor writing is never taken seriously, and that's its cross to bear. Because people laugh when they read it, it's diminished or trivialized." He said "political humor writing is the most difficult to write, because it gets dated fast. You have to constantly write as fast as the news, if not faster." While early comedians like Milton Berle or Bob Hope could literally make a career based on one act, the times have changed; the demand for new material is as prevalent as the public's easy access to it.  

That said, as any area where people tend to take themselves very seriously, D.C. is ripe for material. Political figures are their own punch lines, said Hecox. "I don't know if any of you are familiar with Congress," he explained, "but they are putting out some of the funniest writing ever. There are 535 humor writers over there, and they are writing daily ... Thankfully, Congress writes half my material for me. If I can be the Dave Barry of politics, I'm happy as a clam."   

He described a nuance of humor, "What is funny is different for every person. Sometimes it's the irony, sometimes it's the location, sometimes it's the inappropriateness, sometimes it's the wordplay of it. Every person has a different gauge on what is funny. Every audience is different and every individual is different. Thankfully, every joke is a little bit different." No topic is considered sacred. He said he tries to find humor in news and politics but he's not above anything and is more than willing to be self-effacing.  

Hecox said "The beauty of humor is that everyone can do it, and you don't necessarily have to be as funny as the next guy, you just have to have that unique voice and it has to be entertaining. That really is the ultimate goal—make sure the reader has had an enjoyable read."

Surprisingly there were no digs on the quirky setting of the Front Page atrium, with all of its strange acoustics and palm trees, and the evening seemed a success. Most all of the attendees asked questions as he went along and opened up some interesting discussions—everything from comedy albums and Woody Allen, to his difficulties in writing a newspaper column about ranching when he is not, in fact, a rancher. He also discussed what it was like to be the first comedian in Washington, D.C., to perform after September 11.  

Hecox had prepared remarks and tips which he never managed to deliver, as the audience was interrupting with applause too often. Those tips are available as September's Ask the Expert article on the WIW Web site.

Sign up for the next Pubspeak online.