WSJ on the current state of golf jokes

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on March 3rd, 2008

FOS Terry Reilly sends along a link to a Wall Street Journal article, written by John Paul Newport, that ponders the phenomenon of the golf joke.

A few theories are kicked around as to why, even though traditional jokes seem to be in decline, the golf joke is bucking the trend.

But humor theory suggests an additional reason. Old-style joke-telling, which probably had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, was popular because the jokes didn’t reveal much about either the teller or the listener. They were clever but safe and impersonal, which fit the times. Since then, however, the culture has moved into a more emotive phase. People feel more comfortable wearing their hearts on their sleeves. And golf jokes– the good ones, at least– tap into the emotions that all golfers share, particularly those created by the game’s maddening difficulty.

There’s a mention of T.P. Mulrooney, a former club comic who has carved out a niche for himself as a “golf comedian,” touted on his website as “the official comedian of the Senior PGA Tour.”

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