Things have to be funny first, and if they want to have a point, that's awesome.
Interpretation
Humor should be enjoyable on its own, and if it also conveys a message, that's a bonus.
John Mulaney's quote suggests that the primary objective of humor is to elicit laughter and enjoyment. While humor can carry deeper messages or meanings, its main purpose should always be to entertain; any insightful commentary that arises is simply an added benefit.
In practice
In a comedy show, a comedian can use this quote to emphasize the importance of humor in their performance.
I never turn on the crowd. Sometimes, you think it's a terrible show, and then afterward, sometimes people say they really liked it. So turning on the crowd is only going to alienate the few people who might like it. What do I do in that situation? Get through it.
I have found that people who really want to work at 'Saturday Night Live' and pursue it get pretty close. You have to be funny - but everyone who works there, it was their dream to work there. So it's kind of nice in that way - there's a lot of people who say, 'I just always wanted to do this, and now I'm doing it.'
Sometimes I - with comedy, it's like someone liking you in high school. They either do, or they don't. And when they don't, they don't. And that's it. There are no appeals. You show up, and you're like, 'Hi! I'm -' and you stumble, and they're like, 'It's over.'
God will forgive me. It's his job." Heine said this on his deathbed (1856). Hilarious. He must have thought that up years before and counted the seconds to use it.
He didn't look like a soldier at all. He looked like a filthy flamingo.
I do note with interest that old women in my books become young women on the covers... this is discrimination against the chronologically gifted.
Why do they bother saying "raw sewage"? Do some people actually cook that stuff?
People would say I never censor. As Billy Crystal says, 'I don't have that button.'
Alimony is like buying hay for a dead horse.
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