Sometimes stand-up comics make me cringe as they tend to poke fun at things that are intrinsically tragic – the misfortune of others, war, difficult situations, people with a variety of physical or mental challenges, etc. One that has been an on-going popular target is the ever-present “fat guy” jokes. Even Jay Leno, in his nightly monologue, has a running pitch that starts out “just how fat are we getting?” and then he launches into some situation concerning changing services or particular situations focusing on the preponderance of overweight Americans. However, perhaps this is one of those cases where if “we didn’t laugh, we’d cry.” Because the reality is, obesity is certainly no laughing matter – here in the United States or anywhere else.
