Marshall McLuhan, 1973.

After Dinner Jokes

The NYPR Archive Collections | Jan 1, 2000

Tony Schwartz observes that that tape recorder allows the user the ability to observe the functioning of people. Here, Schwartz plays a recording of media theorist Marshall McLuhan telling and analyzing his own jokes at a luncheon. They include zingers about Churchill speaking French, a mouse being chased by a bilingual cat, and a "Help Beautify Junkyards" sign. Ultimately, McLuhan concludes that all good jokes are, essentially, grievances.


WNYC archives id: 152018

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