It was the best of jokes, it was the worst of jokes.
I had entirely forgotten about a crack I made on the episode of “High School Bowl” that aired a weekend or two ago. There was a question that neither team was able to answer, so I replied to it this way--
“The answer would be Midas (pause for effect). You know, the patron saint of mufflers”.
The kids looked kind of confused, like they had no idea what I was talking about, while the audience slightly groaned, after which I shot them a look perfectly captured by the director of the show. We moved on and, like I said, I had entirely forgotten about it until watching the show with Loraine earlier this month.
Since it aired I've heard from two people about the joke. One came into the station to pick up a prize a few days later and commented on how she laughed when I said it. She also wondered if it was something I had prepared ahead of time, and I had to tell her that it wasn't. It was just something that came out of my mouth when no one knew the answer to the question. That happens every once in a while; I have no idea what I say until after I've said it. I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse (although I'm guessing the latter), but it happens.
Then late last week I received a friendly e-mail from someone who caught the show online. She said that although she admired the fact that I came up with the joke, she said she (like the studio audience) audibly groaned when I said it. She went on to say, and I quote, “I'd fire your writer if I were you”. I had to reply this way--
“I would fire my writer, except he's been with me for a long, long time and knows where all the (metaphorical) bodies are buried. Besides, that writer works for me quite cheaply, as is readily apparent by some of the material that leaves my mouth.”
I will be the first to admit that it was not the world's greatest joke. In fact, it probably doesn't even fall within the parameters of the world's one million greatest jokes. And the fact that most of the audience either didn't get it or thought it was slightly on the stupid side proves that point. And it's just basically a ripoff of a joke I told on the radio a long time ago, when I claimed that Mercury was actually the god of flower delivery. So if nothing else...
It proves that I love the obscure reference. That I have a very bizarre sense of humor. And that, as a surprising number of individuals have told me recently, people actually do pay attention to the weird things that come out of my mouth.
So, if I can, I'd just like to issue a blanket apology to all those people (heck, to everyone on the planet) for anything I say in the future. Especially if it involves Greek gods, mufflers, or really, really bad jokes.
8-)
(ps—Try to go out and make a difference, either in one person's life or in the world at large. That's why we have a holiday today!)
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