Reclamation of The Second City as Chicago’s once pejorative nickname happened long before I developed an interest in comedy. And as an avid comedy fan attending the 2012 Just For Laughs Chicago festival, it became clear that the interest in comedy of the city’s citizens must have had much to do with that connotative shift.
Most literally, this was evidenced by seminal Conan writer Brian Stack’s return to the eponymous Second City training center three days prior the start of the festival proper for the recording of the popular 
Subtlety is probably not what you’d expect from a comedian who trades in fat suits and black face, but it’s the medium in which Australian funnyman Chris Lilley works. Instead of painting his wacky characters with broad strokes, in his past three shows — We Can Be Heroes in 2005, Summer Heights High in 2008, and Angry Boys which premiered January 1st — and for the past six years, Chris Lilley has breathed specificity into characters who, without their invented idiosyncrasies, would be little more than tired stereotypes.
It's a good thing I enjoy humor because, if I had to estimate, I'd put the number of humor pieces I've read this year somewhere in the low thousands. As a fan — and as someone who's numb to the embarrassment that comes with laughing aloud while riding public transportation — I imagine I'd have read some fraction of these just for fun. But as someone who’s had the privilege of editing Splitsider's 
Comedians in commercials are definitely a thing. I’m no good at trivia, but I can always impress my (non-comedy nerd) friends and family members by knowing the names of actors in commercials because so many of them are stand up and improv comics. From a 2009 episode of The Comedy Nerds Podcast called 
“Like blurbs, an author’s choice of title is very important… Take Gravity’s Rainbow. That is a terrific title. Why? Because it tells you what the book is about.”
Most people tuning into Friday’s premiere of The Onion News Network on IFC probably knew what to expect. For over 20 years, The Onion’s brand of print humor has made us laugh — and since 2006, we’ve enjoyed The Onion News Network’s online videos. In its newest incarnation, The ONN makes the leap to television and hits all the right strides.
Several of the show’s segments were released and well-received online before ONN’s premiere, but any sense of inertia viewers may have felt was allayed by the addition of the Factzone’s great cast. Suzanne Sena plays ONN’s Stepford anchor, Brooke Alvarez, an icy blond megalomaniac whose polished newscaster cadence and inflection seem almost too convincing. This comes as no surprise: Sena is a former on-air Fox News personality. Alvarez begrudgingly shares the spotlight and her only-barely-ostentatious set with touch screen operator Tucker Hope (a nod to CNN’s John King), the First Responders (the rag tag panel of talking heads from ONN online who make Brooke “look attractive by comparison”), and a coterie of faux field reporters, political analysts, and pop culture experts — none of whom Brooke can abide. Here, the news format itself is the main topic of parody.
Save the occasional illustration, picture, or creative departure from form, print and web humorists are charged with making us laugh without the benefit of many bells and whistles. From original conceits to clever and consistent executions, everything has to be on the page (or screen). One would think that because humor in print has existed as long as the written word itself (probably! That seems true!) and even before — surely oral tradition must have included some knee slappers — every conceivable topic would have been explored by now and the well would be long dry. 2010 has proven that humorists’ fodder won’t soon be in short supply.
I often joke about being depressed and uninsured* because laughter is literally the best medicine I can afford right now –- and I’ve shopped around. In my group therapy sessions, each attendee tries to out-sad the last, and one-downers are much worse than one-uppers. Shrugging off that absurdity seems a small price to pay to get the help I need. And lately, I’ve been complimented on my hair and skin while in the same breath asked if I’m having a rough day, which is ironic because the vitamins and herbal supplements I take to help me feel better are doing everything but. Experimenting with free and cheap mental health treatments, as I have for all of 2010, would have probably been unbearable without a sense of humor.
Be sure to check out Part 1 of Where Have All the Humorists Gone?, 
Among aspiring comedy writers, the would-be print humorist seems rare. Though The Onion, McSweeney’s, and The New Yorker are high-profile exceptions, it seems everyone wants to write for sitcoms, late night shows, and film. What's not rare is to hear Woody Allen named among the influences of comedians and comedy writers. In fact, Woody Allen’s impact over the genre of comedy writing is so vast that it almost seems redundant to name him as an influence. But when Allen is named, it's not just because of his stand up or his films. His humor collections (including one of my favorites, Without Feathers) and decades of contributions to The New Yorker have cemented Allen’s legacy as a print humorist as much as his movies have affirmed his status as a visionary filmmaker.
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An Encyclopedic Guide to the Best Callbacks, Running Jokes and Hidden Gags in the New Season of 'Arrested Development'
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