Slipping on a banana peel has been a joke for over a century, having first appeared on film in Charlie Chaplin’s By the Sea in 1915. Sorry, but I’m afraid this is one of those articles that starts off with a quote by a famous person. Here it is: “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.” Mel Brooks said that, and I think we immediately understand where he’s coming from. The misfortune of others has been part of comedy forever. It’s like that expression: comedy equals tragedy plus time. This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Three Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 49 Karin Mamma Andersson Inside the moody, mysterious world of Sweden’s preeminent painter. Arts & Culture Issue 49 Mass Destruction “Artists are often left baffled by the fact that they have millions of monthly streams, yet only a couple of thousand followers on social media.” Arts & Culture Issue 49 On the Cheap The greatness of cultural worsts. Arts & Culture Issue 48 Cult Rooms After “completing” philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein tried—and failed—at architecture. Arts & Culture Issue 43 Amia Srinivasan Amia Srinivasan on the philosophy of sex. Arts & Culture Issue 43 Signal Boost How status anxiety drives culture.
Arts & Culture Issue 49 Karin Mamma Andersson Inside the moody, mysterious world of Sweden’s preeminent painter.
Arts & Culture Issue 49 Mass Destruction “Artists are often left baffled by the fact that they have millions of monthly streams, yet only a couple of thousand followers on social media.”
Arts & Culture Issue 48 Cult Rooms After “completing” philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein tried—and failed—at architecture.
