They say in comedy that timing is everything. Sometimes when telling a joke, just a split second added at the right moment can turn something slightly humorous into something completely hilarious.

However that's not the kind of timing I'm talking about. Today I'm talking about things that used to be funny, but due to a passage of time, are no longer.

The most obvious example of this is racist cartoons. You would be surprised at how many cartoons have been "swept under the rug" so-to-speak over the years. The most famous of is probably Song of the South, which Disney has refused to released (in the US) on VHS or DVD, but there are many others. This page lists the "Censored Eleven" Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes cartoons which surprisingly includes titles such as "Uncle Tom's Bungalow" and "Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs." Warner Brothers had their share of tasteless cartoons as well. Lots of insensitive references to African Americans, Native Americans and Asians have been cut from cartoons.

Racism isn't the only thing cut from today's cartoons (and in many cases, the rebroadcasts of the old ones). Much of the violence has also been removed. Again, by browsing this database you can see where references to guns (particularly Russian roulette), smoking, hangings, sleeping pills and bombs have been removed.

The reason I am writing about this is because, quite innocently, I have apparently exposed my children to two not-very-child-appropriate songs, both through old comedy compilation albums. The first hasn't been much of a problem -- Tex Williams' "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette." Morgan had no idea what it meant, and Mason was downright shocked. Remember -- he's growing up in a world where nobody smokes on television, in movies, or for the most part, around him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onW26tNkQQg

The second, I'm in more trouble for. Apparently the kids have taken a great liking to Julie Brown's 1984 hit, "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8hxCpAdCJI

Back in 1984, this was a pretty funny song -- mostly because, the concept of the homecoming queen (or any other student for that matter) was completely foreign. Lines like this were funny: "An hour later, the cops had arrived, By then the entire glee club had died - no big loss" and "Debbie didn't listen to what the cop said, She aimed and fired, and now the math teacher's dead! Oh, it's really sad, but kinda of a relief, I mean we had this big test coming up next week ..."

So at the moment I'm popular with the kids and not so popular with the wife. It's a pendulum that swings both ways, and often.

Just to bring this full circle, one of the funniest things I have ever heard is near the end of this song. After Debbie (the homecoming queen) gets shot, Julie (the singer) realizes "the bullet had got her right in the ear." The next line cracks me up everytime. "So I ran down and I said, in her good ear, Debbie ..." Oh man that makes me laugh. There's this slight pause right before and after "in her good ear" that's so perfect.

It's all about timing, right Fozzie? Moving right along, wocka wocka wocka!