Columnist Scott Dickensheets: Of unfunny Republicans and odd art

Scott Dickensheets

Sunday, Dec. 6, 1998 | 8:50 a.m.

There are days -- and this is one of them -- when I'd rather shun the deep thoughts and big picture of the Critic at Large for the narrow focus and glib musings of, well, the Critic at Small. Here, then, a pair of items that didn't merit full column treatment, but were straining at the notebook to get out:

Do elephants laugh?: Quick, name a funny Republican! Writer P.J. O'Rourke, sure. And Bob Dole when he's on a Viagra bender. Rush Limbaugh? No, I mean intentionally humorous, which rules out Limbaugh, Gordon Liddy, Phyllis Schlafly and nearly everyone else to the right of Al Gore. Isn't that odd? Almost daily, the White House offers up tons of material so absurd, so kooky, so begging-for-skewering, that even Bob Hope's gag writers could make it funny. We should be seeing an era of Republican comedy; clearly, we're not.

So it's with mildly aroused expectations that one clicks onto the "political jokes" section of UNLV's College Republicans' website. If anyone can rowdy up GOP humor, you'd think it would be college students.

Think again. A typical entry: "You might be a liberal if ... you think sexual harassment is rampant, date rape pervasive, domestic violence common and Paula Jones is lying." Ha, ha ... ha? That rattling sound is laughter dying in my throat. The "jokes" are standard Republiguff crammed into some lame comic setup: "You might be a liberal if ... you believe the fetus is a blob of protoplasm ... you want to legalize cocaine and outlaw handguns ..."

The laff riot continues with more tepid lib-bashing and a stillborn satire called "Clinton's 12-Step Truth Suppression Program." My ribs were left distinctly untickled. Only once does the site get off a good one: "The difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get any worse when a Democrat gets elected."

The last entry on the political jokes page is titled "Republican PBS," actually the work of a liberal. A mock TV schedule for a Republican-controlled PBS, it's offered on this site to demonstrate "the ignorance of Democrats," how unhumorous they are. And it's funny:

9 a.m.: "Mr. Rogers' Segregated Neighborhood" -- The House Un-American Activities investigation of Mr. McFeely continues. Mr. Rogers explains why certain kids can't be his neighbor.

4 p.m.: "Nova" -- "Creationism: Discredited, But What the Hell?"

7 p.m.: "Great Performances" -- Pat Buchanan is guest conductor of Wagner's "Prelude to a Cultural War."

OK, maybe it's just mildly amusing, which means, on this site, among contemporary Republicans, that it's funny. Of course, the other side isn't doing much better; UNLV's Young Democrats website, perhaps wisely, doesn't even bother with political jokes.

Funny dwarf art: It's too late to see this if you haven't already, but the Lost Vegas Gallery, in the Arts Factory, recently hosted a show -- "Las Vegas: Love It or Leave It" -- that included a piece I can't shake from my skull.

Called "Fremont Street Experience," by artist Terry Stolz, it was four photos depicting a dwarf in an alley, handing a briefcase to a tall, black-dressed man. Why? Who are they? What's in the case? We're not told. It had a fun, out-of-context humor, the way a good punch line -- "a frog in a blender!" -- retains its kick even if you don't know the joke. The scenario was sinister and funny in the way that all alley transactions between dwarfs and men in black are presumed to be sinister and funny. I sensed something else to the piece but couldn't put my mental finger on it.

Until now. Cued by the title, I read the images in a more literal way: the controversial Fremont Street Experience as the product of sneaky dealings involving a shady dwarf (city government) who hands over a valuable package (downtown redevelopment) to a sleazy figure in black (downtown businessmen). Now it all made sense! "Those were the things I was thinking about," Stolz agrees. "The seediness, the back-room deals."

Now that's funny! So remember: You might be a Critic at Small if ... you like seedy dwarf art ... you think frogs in blenders are funnier than Republicans ... you can't put your mental fingers on things ...