Certainly it’s true that a little ironic distancing can work wonders as a coping device. At Groucho Marx’s separation from his first wife, Ruth, for example, he told a joke. After many unhappy years, they had agreed to a divorce, and so she packed up the car and was leaving the house for the last time. Groucho put out his hand and said, “Well, it was nice knowing you . . . and if you’re ever in the neighborhood again, drop in.” Ruth laughed, and the tension was broken. It was the unprecedented and awkward seriousness of the moment that led to the ironic farewell, Groucho explained to his son. “I didn’t know quite what to say.”
Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture
Ken Jennings