It's Springtime for Hitler

Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere,

Today is Hitler's birthday. A less funny man, perhaps, never walked the face of the earth, Dick Shawn, however,...Comedy has powers that few other modes of human expression can claim. We can use prose or visual arts like photography to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the horror, but it is maybe through comedy alone that we can reclaim our humanity in the face of it. We can own it, we can make it mean something that does not ignore it, but rather allows us to live with it.

"Hitler" was not actually his birth name. It was his stepfather came from a family named "Heider" which turned into "Hitler," but for a while he carried his mother's maiden name, Schicklegruber. I guess we see where teasing on the third grade playground can lead...

And here's Hitler himself doing stand-up at the ReichstagA genocidal evil maniac, sure, but you try getting laughs like that out of Estonia and Yugoslavia. Fortunately, he has all of eternity to work on his timing...during the credits as he is forced to watch infinite re-runs of Stop or My Mom Will Shoot in comedy hell.

Have a nice weekend, and please people, no brown shirts.

Live, love, and laugh,

Irreverend Steve