America's First Humorist

I completed reading The Singular Mark Twain, by Fred Kaplan. It was a giant book, probably the best biography of Twain I've read. In many respects, Twain was America's first humorist. But I have to say, his writing is tough to read today. So many of the jokes are simply lost over time and it's tough to catch his subtle barbs when the reader can't reenter the time.

I like writing humor, too, but I'm afraid I lose most people. And my faint attempts at using humor to diffuse a situation (say, with my wife) don't usually work. And my son won't laugh at my jokes unless they involve potty humor or if I use my finger, say, to pick at some part of my anatomy.

But my hair is becoming grayer with each passing, and it will only be a matter of time before I look like Twain. I'll get big laughs then, especially if I stumble a lot or have to walk with a red-tipped cane.