First off, what was the public disagreement over humor the questioner is referring to? Meanwhile, I can't disagree with anything Gene said about us except "detests." We have been very angry at each other (not so much recently), but that's different.
Gene came to The Post's Style section in 1990 (I'd already been there for seven years) and we quickly became close friends. When he founded The Style Invitational in 1993, as editor of the Sunday Style section, he bounced ideas off me right from the start. When he went on a sabbatical in 2001, I filled in as "Auxiliary Czar" for a couple of months. And when he gave up the Invite at the end of 2003 to be a columnist for The Washington Post Magazine, I got to "depose" the Czar and take over as Empress. Then for all those years, I'd bounce ideas off /him./
I also read all his book manuscripts, including the one for his book "One Day," which took seven years to write.
But it's only here at Substack, since January 2003, that Gene and I have worked together as writing/judging /partners./ It was a whole new dynamic, and a challenging one. But it's been tremendously fruitful and rewarding. I'm pretty sure that neither of us would want to continue it alone.
Gonna leave us hanging are you? Get the Kumbaya Konnection --- age does mellow one ---but in some 30 odd years (and very odd years) there had to be a few especially memorable battle royales. One will do. And while you're cleansing your soul(s), when you are at loggerheads how do you decide: (1) rock-paper-scissors (2) two out of three falls (3) stupid question: Pat always wins.
So many good submissions this week. If I had been judging, I would have refused to declare a winner. If someone insisted on seeing my short list, the list would include:
What if there were no cellphones? Cars would move when the light turned green. (Tom Witte)
What if Trump were gay and Black? He’d still be an asshole. (Neal Starkman, Seattle)
What if humans were more like jellyfish? Shit would come out of our mouths and we’d be spineless. Basically, we’d all be in Congress. (Kevin Dopart, Naxos, Greece
What if Ilsa returns to Rick in Casablanca II? Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but sooner or later they’d start squabbling. (Dan Steinbrocker, Los Angeles)
What if the whole world were in the same time zone? Then you’d actually have to wait until 5 o’clock to have a drink. (Jonathan Jensen, Baltimore
I thought the idea of bullets existing when guns hadn't been invented was funny, but the Kristi Noem answer was the one I would most love to see happen!!
As for the other entries, the one about what would happen if there were no cellphones made me laugh.
Tom Witte's "what if card games had never been invented?" is the only entry that caused me to laugh out loud. What would we do without him and the half-dozen other Invitational reliables? How much would it have cost my parents to bribe God to make me as funny as they?
First off, what was the public disagreement over humor the questioner is referring to? Meanwhile, I can't disagree with anything Gene said about us except "detests." We have been very angry at each other (not so much recently), but that's different.
Gene came to The Post's Style section in 1990 (I'd already been there for seven years) and we quickly became close friends. When he founded The Style Invitational in 1993, as editor of the Sunday Style section, he bounced ideas off me right from the start. When he went on a sabbatical in 2001, I filled in as "Auxiliary Czar" for a couple of months. And when he gave up the Invite at the end of 2003 to be a columnist for The Washington Post Magazine, I got to "depose" the Czar and take over as Empress. Then for all those years, I'd bounce ideas off /him./
I also read all his book manuscripts, including the one for his book "One Day," which took seven years to write.
But it's only here at Substack, since January 2003, that Gene and I have worked together as writing/judging /partners./ It was a whole new dynamic, and a challenging one. But it's been tremendously fruitful and rewarding. I'm pretty sure that neither of us would want to continue it alone.
I would not. Would not continue it alone.
Gonna leave us hanging are you? Get the Kumbaya Konnection --- age does mellow one ---but in some 30 odd years (and very odd years) there had to be a few especially memorable battle royales. One will do. And while you're cleansing your soul(s), when you are at loggerheads how do you decide: (1) rock-paper-scissors (2) two out of three falls (3) stupid question: Pat always wins.
So many good submissions this week. If I had been judging, I would have refused to declare a winner. If someone insisted on seeing my short list, the list would include:
What if there were no cellphones? Cars would move when the light turned green. (Tom Witte)
What if Trump were gay and Black? He’d still be an asshole. (Neal Starkman, Seattle)
What if humans were more like jellyfish? Shit would come out of our mouths and we’d be spineless. Basically, we’d all be in Congress. (Kevin Dopart, Naxos, Greece
What if Ilsa returns to Rick in Casablanca II? Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but sooner or later they’d start squabbling. (Dan Steinbrocker, Los Angeles)
What if the whole world were in the same time zone? Then you’d actually have to wait until 5 o’clock to have a drink. (Jonathan Jensen, Baltimore
Again, I think EVERYONE is a winner this week.
I thought Judy Freed hit the trifecta with her 3 entries!
It’s like “ Rubber Soul” every week with that woman
Thanks so much, Leslie!!! Delighted to know you enjoyed them.
I thought the idea of bullets existing when guns hadn't been invented was funny, but the Kristi Noem answer was the one I would most love to see happen!!
As for the other entries, the one about what would happen if there were no cellphones made me laugh.
Tom Witte's "what if card games had never been invented?" is the only entry that caused me to laugh out loud. What would we do without him and the half-dozen other Invitational reliables? How much would it have cost my parents to bribe God to make me as funny as they?
With "Cerf" as a last name, I'd think you'd have had a good chance at the laugh genes!
Just a quick note on Melania: I don't care, do you? :)
Tom Witte's poker line made me laugh out loud.
All are good this week, I agree. But I liked the extra bathrooms for document storage in addition to others mentioned
Casablanca II was the wittiest.
So many great entries this week. I loved them all.
I voted before thinking fully about the Kristi Noem winner. That was brilliant. Kudos to Mr. Ketzner!