I’m working on improving my gallows humor. What are your favorite examples?
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One of the guys in Waiting for Godot takes off his belt to hang himself and his pants fall down.
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Carl Panzram, hanged at Leavenworth, 1930.
WARDEN: Any last words.
PANZRAM: Yes, hurry it up, you Hoosier bastard! I could kill a dozen men while you're screwing around!
I admire only that he truly knew himself. He would test my agnostic view of spiritual evil.
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Three men are sitting in a KGB cell. The first asks the second why he’s in prison. "Because I criticized Karl Radek." The first man says, "I am here because I spoke out in *favor* of Radek!" They turn to the third man, quiet in the back. He replies, "I'm Karl Radek."
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So this is it, said Arthur, We are going to die
Yes, said Ford, except Wait a minute! He lunged across the chamber at something behind Arthur's vision
What's this switch? he cried
What Where? cried Arthur, twisting round
No, I was fooling, said Ford, we are going to die after all
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Guy goes to the doctor, doctor gives him 6 months. Guy can't pay, doctor gives him another six months.
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The essence of gallows humor, like a lot of Jewish humor now I think of it, is the double bind. Eg, why can't you have Seder in a restaurant? Because they won't let you sit down until your entire party is present.
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