Wicked Funny Origasm

Day 222 of the "What are you reading, and why?" project, and David is reading The Clown, by Heinrich Boll.  Hence, Sideshow Bob.  Who, however, has nothing to do with The Clown, by Heinrich Boll.  But Sideshow Bob seemed a safe clown image to present, as so many people are afraid of clowns, and because I also want to get to the phrase "wicked funny" today, which I keep encountering in blogs, on Facebook, and in popular culture.

For instance, "wicked funny" comes up in this blog entry from Lemon Hound, or in comments, etc.--lots to click around and catch up on, once you get there--about very funny negative poetry book reviews.

Now Sideshow Bob really is wicked--he wants to kill Bart Simpson--and funny, as drawn by Matt Groening and played by Kelsey Grammer.

But "wicked funny" seems to refer to sarcasm used to make fun of people, their flaws, and their work.  (One might even want to be wicked funny about Kelsey Grammer's life and recent woes, but, fear not, I am not going to link you to TMZ, and Wikipedia takes care of that, anyway.  Poor Frasier.)

And "origasm" is a made up word meaning origami orgasm, as when the brain folds get so intense your hair corkscrews out the side of your head.

Last night, for example, watching Woman in Mind, the play by Alan Ayckbourn, I heard Gerald, a not-so-sympathetic-till-you-get-to-empathize-with-him character, played sympathetically by Todd Wineburner, say something about sarcasm being the last defense of the mediocre mind.  That's not it, but Julie will correct me.  And there are many excellent quotations for and against sarcasm, some of them sarcastic!  Anyhoo....

1) I have indeed noticed sarcasm used to easily dismiss writers, especially threateningly successful or popular writers who have worked very hard...

2)  Being wicked funny is a way to get your own work read, or maybe that's just me being frankly cynical...

3) I am backing further and further away from sarcasm...because Sideshow Bob has a knife.

Meanwhile, the way-above-sarcasm-mentioned David just finished Hunger, by Knut Hamsun, and is reading a poetry book by C. K. Williams.

And Caroline is reading The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde, by Peter Akroyd, which seems to tie right in.