tragedy plus time

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The article tracing the adage "Tragedy plus time equals comedy" is now
available here:
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/06/25/comedy-plus/

Many thanks to the ADS discussants back in 2011. Feedback welcome.
Garson

On Tue, Jun 18, 2013 at 6:50 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: tragedy plus time
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The culture editor at Slate asked me about the saying "comedy equals
> tragedy plus time" which was discussed on this list in March 2011.
> Many list members participated in that very fruitful discussion
> thread. Barry Popik has an entry from June 2011.
>
> The earliest instance I have found is in a February 1957 article by
> the comedian and remarkable polymath Steve Allen:
>
> [ref] 1957 February, Cosmopolitan, Volume 142, Steve Allen's Almanac
> by Steve Allen, (This column was part of a series published between
> 1956 and 1957), Start Page 12, Hearst Corp., New York. (Great thanks
> to the librarians at the Browne Popular Culture Library of Bowling
> Green State University who provided scans of article text containing
> the quotation from the "Steve Allen Collection")[/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> When I explained to a friend recently that the subject matter of most
> comedy is tragic (drunkenness, overweight, financial problems,
> accidents, etc.) he said, "Do you mean to tell me that the dreadful
> events of the day are a fit subject for humorous comment? The answer
> is "No, but they will be pretty soon." Man jokes about the things that
> depress him, but he usually waits till a certain amount of time has
> passed. It must have been a tragedy when Judge Crater disappeared, but
> everybody jokes about it now. I guess you can make a mathematical
> formula out of it. Tragedy plus time equals comedy.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 12:48 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      tragedy plus time
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> As Woody Allen famously put it, "Humor is tragedy plus time."
>>
>> According to somebody quoted without correction on CNN, it was Mark Twain
>> who said it.
>>
>> JL
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
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>
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