"Alas, irreverence has been subsumed by mere grossness, at least in the so-called mass media. What we have now — to quote myself at my most pretentious — is a nimiety of scurrility with a concomitant exiguity of taste. For example, the freedom (hooray!) to say almost anything you want on television about society's problems has been co-opted (alas!) by the freedom to talk instead about flatulence, orgasms, genitalia, masturbation, etc., etc., and to replace real comment with pop-culture references and so-called "adult" language. Irreverence is easy — what's hard is wit."
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Comedians from the United StatesMathematicians from the United StatesAgnostics from the United StatesSinger-songwriters from the United StatesPianists from the United States
Original Language: English
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On the current state of satire, in Rhino Records online chat (17 June 1997)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer
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Tom Lehrer
Thomas Andrew Lehrer (April 9, 1928 – July 26, 2025) was an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician.
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