The SODs’ question this week arrived on fire on the front porch in a brown paper bag:

Is profanity a crutch?

Johnny Mac: Yes.

Jim F’n Zarling:  Of course you see everything in black and white when in reality the world exists in shades of Jim. Profanity can be a crutch. You can tell when it is being used as a crutch. When punchlines are replaced with profanity, you have a problem. However if a comic is being true to him or herself and profanity is a natural part of his or her personality then he or she isn’t using it as a crutch.

JM: I don’t get offended by profanity, I get offended by laziness. And I think allowing yourself to use profanity encourages laziness, especially when you are starting out. Take out all your f-bombs and all your dick jokes — do you still have a routine? I think profane humor is the hardest comedy to do well, cause it’s the easiest comedy to do badly and still get laughs. When the laughs result not from any creativity or originality on the comic’s part, but rather thru banal shock value, I get offended. (hehh, I said ‘Banal’.)

JFZ:  You don’t have to talk to me about laziness through profanity and blue humor.  We’ve seen our share of “funny” comics in the area who couldn’t hack it once crowds got bored with their swearing. I agree with most of your points, but just to be a dick I’m going to say the answer to this question is ‘no’. Pulling a trick out of the book of Bill Clinton the key word is “is”- Is Profanity A Crutch? No, not always. Can it be? Yes, mos def.