Wanda discusses insider trading in her comedy bit and notes that everyone participates in some form of insider trading. While Martha Stewart may have been sent to jail for insider trading, her cousin who works at Walmart will call her and tell her not to buy certain products because they’ll go on sale next week.
Ron isn’t sure how a pair of sunglasses can cost more than a color television. On a recent trip to the Sunglass Hut to pick up a pair of new sunglasses, he encounters a salesperson who tries to convince him that the elimination of UV rays makes the glasses worth their price tag. Ron, not so politely, disagrees.
Wanda Sykes describes how she tests her husband when he doesn’t even know he’s being tested. She’s okay with a sink of dirty dishes one or two days, but if it continues for much longer than she’ll extract her revenge (later in the clip she talks about how all the fury comes out when they’re having sex). This tit-for-tat behavior where one party waits for the other one can turn into a situation where both parties are eating off of napkins and no one is cleaning anything.
Ron White, in They Call Me Tater Salad, discusses an interaction with a fan who wanted him to know that it’s illegal to shoot someone in the back regardless of what crime they’ve committed against you. Ron quickly points out that you could just shoot them in the leg in order to get them to turn around, which means that the optimal strategy is to never turn around.
In his 2007 special, Spark of Insanity, ventriloquist Jeff Dunham brings his trust “side stick” Jose Jalapeño on stage to discuss immigration. Jeff decides to ask how Jose feels about the increased presence of National Guard agents along the Mexico/US border, but Jose notes that he isn’t too concerned about it. Peanut quickly points on that Jose isn’t worried because Jose is already in the country. Increased presence of border protection doesn’t do much to curtail illegal immigrants already in the country.
Jerry Seinfeld asks where we can we ever have enough comedy on tv? Is there a point where diminishing returns kicks in and people no longer want any more chuckles?
Guns and bullets are complement goods. This clip from Chris Rock’s HBO comedy special talks about how making the price of bullets $5000 would limit the amount of shootings. This is essentially talking about how when the price of a product increases, the demand for complement goods related to that product decreases. By having the price of a bullet cost $5000, Chris is basically saying that the government should put a price floor on bullets. This will result in less people being able to afford bullets and possible a black market for bullets. All of which are addressed in this clip. This clip has been edited for class use.
H/T to James Tierney