What Tickles a Gay Man's Funny Bone

I've written a number of posts about magazine ads that I've found titillating, so for a change of pace I decided to share another aspect of a gay man's world view by delving into the gay funny bone.  What follows is a selection of ads, post cards and pages torn from magazines that make me chuckle.  Absurd, campy, a touch mean-spirited - they all bring a smile of delight to my face.

 

• Below is a fine characterture of the gals from Sex & the City that appeared in the pages of The New Yorker at the time of the release of the second SAC movie.  I laughed for days.  (Actually, Sarah Jessica Parker's character Carrie looks pretty good.)

 

 

• Quintessential sophomoric humor from National Lampoon in the late 1970s. 

 

 

• South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker were good sports when they allowed the tables to be turned on them for this Absolut ad.  This was years before their Book of Mormon fame.

 

 

• Just as they do with drag names, gay men have a knack for coming up with campy captions to accompany innocent photos from a more innocent time.  

 

 

 

• Joan Crawford + Madonna + Cher = laff riot!  This page was pulled from an issue in Movieline Magazine in the 1990s.  Joan is on the phone from heaven and says, "Madonna has no class and no dignity," declares Joan Crawford from the afterlife.  "And that Cher!  She dressses like a burlesque queen."

 

 

• This cover of TimeOutNY was years before same-sex marriage was legalized in New York State.  The Canadian comedy troupe Kids in the Hall were great in everything they did, and drag was one of there specialties.  Their show first aired in the U.S. in the 1990s on Comedy Central.

 

 

• This ad for the club Limelight, a former church on 6th Avenue and 20th Street, is from the mid-80s.  It had a gay night on Sunday.  This is probably more amusing if you're not overly religious.

 

 

• If you want something more authentic for your Halloween costume than what you can find in the bargain stores on West 14th Street, there's the Museum Replicas catalog to consider. 

 

  

 

• Finally, two more post cards: