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must' ve heard my request. By the time I got to Los Angeles, the Herald-
Examiner was reporting that the Mafia was "probably the largest source
of arms for the rebels in El Salvador."

In the spring of 1982, there was a Radical Humor Festival at New
York University. That weekend, the festival sponsored an evening of
radical comedy. The next day, my performance was analyzed by an
unofficial women's caucus. Robin Tyler ( "I am not a lesbian comic--I am a
comic who is a lesbian" ) served as the spokesperson for their conclusions.
What had caused a stir was my reference to the use of turkey basters by
single mothers-to-be who were attempting to impregnate themselves by
artificial insemination. Tyler explained to me, "You have to understand,
some women still have a hang-up about penetration."

Well, I must have been suffering from Delayed Punchline Syndrome,
because it wasn't until I was returning on a plane, contemplating the
notion that freedom of absurdity transcends gender difference, that I
finally did respond, in absentia: "Yeah, but you have to understand, some
men still feel threatened by turkey basters."

* * *

The Onion posted a story about a college dorm that was nicknamed
"The Rape Hall." And an Ironic Times headline stated, "Quaaludes Ends

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