Meta Description: Join Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle in Ad Navseam Episode 78 as they welcome professional comedian Robert Mac. From the “lost book” of Aristotle’s Poetics to the mechanics of the “Paraprosdokian,” explore the intersection of Classics and Comedy. Discover why specificity is the soul of wit, how to handle a heckling hand surgeon, and why the Latin language is the ultimate tool for understanding the structure of a joke.
Introduction: A “Comedy-Free Zone” in the Vomitorium
Welcome back to the “Vomitorium,” listeners! It is Episode 78 of the Ad Navseam Podcast. The atmosphere is jovial, the banter is sharp, and your hosts, Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle, are ready to dive into a topic that the ancient Greeks took remarkably seriously: Comedy. Usually, the hosts are the ones cracking the “dad jokes” (or “hack” jokes, as they self-deprecatingly admit), but today they have brought in a professional. Their guest is Robert Mac, an award-winning comedian known for his dry wit, deadpan delivery, and “clever jokes for clever folks.” Dr. Noe jokes that the podcast is usually a “comedy-free zone” where one can be as funny as they want with “no consequence,” but today, they are dissecting the frog to see what makes it jump. They are exploring the mechanics of humor, the challenges of modern audiences, and the enduring question: Is comedy cruel enough?
Shout-Out: The Autodidact Physicist
Before analyzing the punchlines, we have a shout-out to a listener who embodies the spirit of lifelong learning: Bill McFarland. Bill’s background is in math and physics, proving that you don’t need a degree in Classics to love the ancient world. He describes himself as an “autodidact” who hopes to one day study the Latin language and Greek formally—perhaps when he retires. Bill found the podcast through Latin Per Diem and enjoyed the (admittedly niche) episodes on Odysseus. To Bill, for proving that the gap between physics and philology is bridgeable: Macte virtute!
The Opening Quote: The Fear of Laughter
To set the stage for a discussion on comedy, the hosts turn to Umberto Eco’s masterpiece, The Name of the Rose. The quote is a dialogue between the severe monk Jorge of Burgos and the protagonist William of Baskerville. The subject? The legendary “Lost Second Book” of Aristotle’s Poetics—the book dedicated to comedy. Jorge argues that laughter is a “devilish wind” that deforms the face and makes men look like monkeys. He insists that Christ never laughed. William counters that laughter is particular to man (and perhaps the saints used it to ridicule enemies of the faith).
“Aristotle devoted his second book of poetics to comedy as an instrument of truth.” Jorge fears this book because it elevates comedy to the level of philosophy. And that is exactly what Robert Mac does: he treats comedy as an instrument of truth, analyzing the world with the precision of a philosopher (or a very confused genius).
The Mechanics of the Joke: Incongruity and the “Left Turn”
What makes a joke funny? According to Leon Golden (a scholar of Aristotle), comedy depends on incongruity.
Robert Mac demonstrates this perfectly with his joke about therapy:
“She asked me… If your house were on fire and you could only remove one thing, what would it be? … I said, well, I’d probably remove the fire.”
The Analysis:
Robert explains that comedy is about “two ideas that are jockeying for position.”
- Idea A: The speaker is a genius being interviewed for his brilliant thoughts.
- Idea B: The speaker is a man in desperate need of therapy who doesn’t realize he’s being analyzed. The conflict between these perspectives creates the humor. It’s a classic juxtaposition.
The Paraprosdokian:
Dr. Noe introduces a fantastic Greek term: Paraprosdokian.
This refers to a figure of speech where the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe the first part.
Robert calls this the “Left Turn.”
“I had one of those things that fancy people have in the morning. Day job.” He sets up an expectation (he’s talking about a fancy breakfast or luxury item) and then pivots sharply to something mundane and horrible. The audience’s brain has to race to catch up, and the release of that tension is laughter.
The Literary Comedian: Catch-22 and the In-Group
Robert Mac’s comedy often rewards the well-read. In a brilliant bit about selling back textbooks, he references Joseph Heller’s Catch-22.
He tries to buy a copy of Catch-22, but the clerk says he needs a membership card. To get a card, he has to buy something.
“So I didn’t get the Catch-22, but that’s all right. Many of you didn’t either. So instead, I got To Kill a Mocking Clerk… Next to Death of a Salesman.”
The Venn Diagram of Humor: Robert explains his writing process as finding where “lists intersect.” He takes a list of book titles and a list of bookstore frustrations and finds the overlap. Dr. Winkle notes that this creates an “in-group” feeling. If you know what a Catch-22 is, and you know To Kill a Mockingbird, you feel smart for getting the joke. It elevates the audience rather than playing to the lowest common denominator.
The Modern Agora: Comedy and “Cancellation”
The conversation inevitably turns to the challenges of performing comedy today. Robert admits he was recently “canceled” from a gig for a joke involving the word “Metrican.”
The joke:
“We need to build a wall… And who do you think is going to measure that wall? You are with your yardstick. No way, Jose, a Metrican is.”
Literalism vs. Metaphor:
Robert explains that younger audiences often struggle with irony. They take things literally. They hear “Metrican” and assume he is mocking “Mexican,” missing the fact that he is actually mocking the people who want to build walls and fear outsiders.
“A big part of comedy is talking about two or more things at once… But people of a certain generation don’t have that skill… they are more out to look to be offended rather than looking to be entertained.” It is a loss of the ability to understand metaphor, a skill that the study of literature and the Latin language cultivates.
Specificity: The Trader Joe’s Rule
One of the most valuable lessons from the episode is the importance of specificity.
In a joke about Marie Curie, Robert claims she discovered the only substance harder than diamonds:
“It’s an avocado from Trader Joe’s.”
Dr. Noe points out that if he had just said “a grocery store,” the joke would fall flat. Robert explains that specificity “paints a picture.” It makes the abstract real. If you can visualize the rock-hard avocados at Trader Joe’s, you are there with him. Mark Twain advised sticking to the truth because it’s easier to remember; Robert advises sticking to the specific because it’s harder to ignore. However, even this backfired once with a group of hand surgeons who were too elite to do their own grocery shopping. Rule #1: Know your audience.
The Rule of Three: The Wife with the Broken Femur
Finally, Robert breaks down a bit about his wife’s actual bicycle accident.
The joke relies on the Rule of Three.
- He introduces the condition: “Wife with Broken Femur.”
- He repeats the full phrase later: “Wife with Broken Femur.”
- Finally, he shortens it to an acronym: “WBF.”
“That’s the only good thing about WBF.” By the third time, the audience knows the code. They feel smart for decoding the acronym. It turns a tragic event into a shared linguistic game.
Sponsors: Tools for the Articulate and Caffeinated
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The Gustatory Parting Shot: Rapid Fire
Instead of a quote about food, we give the floor to Robert Mac for a rapid-fire set of his “short attention span” jokes.
A few highlights:
- “How many landlords does it take to screw in a light bulb? None. Also, she won’t fix the sink.”
- “Never buy sushi at the 99 cent store. True story.”
- “I went to a dyslexic masseuse. Really rubbed me the wrong way.”
- “I went to the bank the other day and said to the teller, “I need $50”. The teller said, “Withdrawal?” So I said, “Ah doon’t neeed $50.”
It is a masterclass in economy of language. Not a word wasted.
Valete!
Resources for the Classical Learner:The Moss Method: Ready to read Aristotle’s Poetics in the original Greek? Visit latinperdiem.com to start your journey today!
