That Was the Wit That Was

Tom Lehrer, inventor of the Jell-O shot.

Anthony Pidgeon

Tom Lehrer, inventor of the Jell-O shot.

Related Content

• San Francisco Man Arrested in "Savage" Santa Cruz Murder
  May 8, 2012
• SF Sketchfest: Proops, Pepitone, Peretti -- and (Surprise!) Robin Williams -- Master Set List
  January 30, 2012
• Collision Repair
  February 22, 2012
• When Worlds Collide
  February 22, 2012
• Verve Coffee's Colby Barr on How to Help People Discover Richer Coffee
  November 16, 2011

More About

• Greg Proops
• Tom Lehrer
• Harvard University
• Radio
• Stand-up Comedy

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

But it's not the Democrats vs. the Republicans anymore. Because American society has grown compartmentalized and filled with special interest groups, it's more difficult to get people to agree on a point of view. Which is why, Lehrer believes, so many comedians go for sexual jokes, or four-letter words. The audience may disagree amongst each other about issues, but everybody can agree on sex or the word "fuck." And such jokes, to him, are cheap and lazy.

"The whole idea of freedom of speech means you can say 'fuck' on television is an anathema to me," Lehrer says. "That's not what freedom of speech is about. It's about saying stuff. Now you can say anything, why don't you? But they don't."