Absurdist humor earns its laughs by violating our expectations.  It sets us up with a real-world premise, then pushes us off balance with a completely illogical punch line.  Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, L. Frank Baum’s OZ books, and Monty Python’s Flying Circus are examples of this type of humor.

Absurdity is more difficult to pull off in stand-up comedy.  Without props, plot, or characters to draw from, the comedian employs a deadpan delivery (because what sounds preposterous to you makes perfect sense to him) and timing.  Paramount to timing is the comedic pause.  The audience need time to “get” the joke.  Then they need more time to laugh out their surprise.  Finally, the audience need a few moments to settle down and await the next joke.  Good timing allows for each of these steps.  Steven Wright (“I’d kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.”) is a master of the genre.  So, it appears, is FBI director and erstwhile comic Jim Comey.

I caught Comey’s routine a while back.  Speaking in a low monotone, he spent fifteen minutes ripping on Hillary Clinton’s misdeeds.  “She sent and received classified information on her private email system.”  (Pow!)  “Some of it was marked classified.”  (Bam!)  “She did not turn over all of her work-related emails.”  (Smack!)  “Many of her emails were destroyed after having been subpoenaed.”  (Whack!)  “She acted with extraordinary carelessness.”  (Boom!)

Pause.

“And we’re not prosecuting.”

He gave us time to absorb it all.  Then: “And we’ve given immunity to her associates.”

Nervous chuckles turned to laughter, which started to become a clamor until Comey raised his hand.  Slowly, he said, “And we’ve destroyed their computers.”

Now the walls started shaking with the roar of our laughter, and some of us began crying while others gasped for breath, and after a while, we were all wiping tears from our eyes.  By the time we settled down and looked around, Comey had left the stage.  The curtain had come down, and the lights were back on.  But a few people started stamping their feet and yelling “Encore.  Encore.”

Soon the house lights dimmed, and Comey returned to the stage.  We became quiet.  Comey resumed his trademark monotone, “As you may know, former congressman Anthony Weiner has been sexting underage girls.”  (Pow!)

Pause.

“Therefore, the FBI is reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.”