Jack Handey (born February 25, 1949) is an American humorist. He is best known for his "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey", a large body of surrealistic one-liner jokes, as well as his "Fuzzy Memories" and "My Big Thick Novel" shorts, and for his deadpan delivery. Although many assume otherwise, In April 1984, National Lampoon published a piece titled "Deep Thoughts". Additional Deep Thoughts appeared in the October and November 1984 editions, as well as in the short-lived Army Man comedy magazine, while more appeared in 1988 in The Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper. The one-liners were to become Handey's signature work, notable for their concise humor and outlandish hypothetical situations. For example:

  • If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason. The recurring skit originated in 1989 with Steve Martin and Victoria Jackson as the crash-prone kitten's owners. In 1992 NBC aired a half-hour Toonces special. Handey, who lived with a real cat by the same name, once said he could not remember exactly how he dreamed up the premise. He said, "It was just one of those free association ideas you write down and look at later and think, 'Maybe. He graduated from Eastwood High School in El Paso, Texas, where he was the editor of the school newspaper, Sabre.

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Television writing

  • Steve Martin: Comedy Is Not Pretty! (1980)
  • Prime Times (1983)
  • The New Show (1984)
  • Television Parts Home Companion (1985) - sequel to Elephant Parts by Michael Nesmith)
  • Doctor Duck's Super Secret All-Purpose Sauce (1986) - another sequel to Elephant Parts by Michael Nesmith
  • Saturday Night Live (1985–1998 and 2001–2002)
  • Quote I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like his passengers is used in intro of the Adam McKay directed movie Don't Look Up.

References

  • Jack Handey's articles at The New Yorker