It's true that when Dave Barry won the Pulitzer Prize for his Miami Herald columns, he became more commonly known as "Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Dave Barry." But he's even likelier to be referenced by his other great career high: Being anointed the funniest man in America by the New York Times. Specifically, the Times Book Review provided the überblurb for Barry's Greatest Hits, which he published the same year he won the Pulitzer: "Mr. Barry is the funniest man in America and we should encourage him. Buy this book." It's the kind of blurb that stays with a person like an overdose of kim chee.
That was in 1988, so it's not surprising that new contenders for the title have surfaced since then. A close second seems to be Chris Rock, again thanks to a major media outlet. This magazine likes Chris Rock so much that it saw fit to Superlative-Size him twice. "When it comes to American Bestness, Rock may be [America's Best Artists and Entertainers'] least controversial selection. After all," writes Time, "Time has already labeled the 35-year-old comedian "the funniest man in America" in a previous issue." And after all, who fails to think of Time when they think of sidesplitting comedy?
Still, confusion persists. According to Iron Minds, Jon Stewart is the funniest man in America. Indiewire nominates Albert Brooks. A biography of Andy Kaufman makes the same declaration, although it's hard to be the funniest man in America when you're dead.
But there's one man who bests them all in Web searches: James Gregory. You've heard of him? Then you've probably never attended a corporate function in the South, where all the real funny is happening anyway. He trades on "Southern-fried comedy" that is "family friendly" (Jackson Sun). But Gregory can be subversive too, according to a Musicmaker magazine review: "One might think that in a sophisticated environment such as the Radisson that there would be an adverse reaction to a down home style. Not so with James Gregory. They rolled in the aisles."
Gregory's own Web page features not only a raft of similar accolades, but endorsements from such hefty comedic authorities as Magazine Consultants, Inc., the Tallahassee Touchdown Club, the Georgia Ophthalmology Association, and the Health Physics Society. To wit: "'I made a terrible mistake...I showed one of your videos during lunch and thought several directors might actually die from choking on their food or from being hit by food flying through the air. It was a quick and unanimous decision to invite you to bring the keynote address to our annual banquet.' (John Cox, Paulding County Chamber of Commerce)" Somewhere, Jeff Foxworthy is cursing this man. Gregory -- and not self-styled arbiter of redneckery Foxworthy -- is capturing the funny bone of down-home America.
But Gregory's most effective strategy in securing this moniker was to produce a CD entitled The Funniest Man in America. (Helpfully, e-tailer eBay suggests that if you like this disc, you will also enjoy the riotously funny Lenny by Lenny Kravitz and Amnesiac by Radiohead. Foiled again, Foxworthy!)
All of these pretenders don't rate a close second to the real funniest man in America -- and no, I'm not talking about Michael Jackson. The man who's been robbed of his proper title is George W. Bush; and if there were any justice, we would anoint him the Funniest Man in America and make Dave Barry the president. After all, Barry's true ambitions are right there in his bio: "In his spare time, Dave is a candidate for president of the United States." Somehow, with just that sentence, he seems more genuine than the incumbent ever did.
October 29, 2002