Paul F. Tompkins Explains Why Ted Cruz’s Dumb Tweet About Patton Oswalt Proves The Senator ‘Does Not Know How Comedy Works’

Everyone who’s seen his The Simpsons impressions knows Ted Cruz isn’t funny. But lots of people aren’t funny. Like me, for instance, or anyone who thinks it would be amusing to go as Joe Exotic this Halloween. But the Texas senator is a special kind of unfunny — he’s profoundly unfunny, as comedian Paul F. Tompkins explained on Twitter.

In response to an article about Patton Oswalt canceling tour dates because certain states (ahem Utah AHEM Florida) refuse to take COVID seriously, Cruz tweeted, “Both of his fans were disappointed.” Cruz has 4.5 million followers on Twitter; Oswalt has 4.7 million. But beyond that, the senator’s joke (“joke”?) doesn’t make a lick of sense.

“It’s not just that Ted Cruz isn’t funny, it’s that his premises are faulty. Anyone can be unfunny but to start with a premise that is not based on reality is the sign of someone who truly does not know how comedy works,” Tompkins tweeted. “All the people who liked the tweet and think this is a good burn suffer from this same condition. They don’t know what is actually funny, they just like things to sound like something they themselves would have said.” The BoJack Horseman star added, “To say nothing of the fact that Ted Cruz is, of course, vaccinated.”

I fully expect Cruz to respond to PFT with a “you’re right… NOT” joke.

You know who knows how comedy works? Patton Oswalt! (Ted needs to stop picking fights with comedians.) “Okay Ted, here we go… Not as disappointed as Texas was when you cut your Cancun vacation short and came home,” he responded to Cruz, along with, “Ted, you Tweeted this at 1am. Put the phone down and return to liquid form for a few hours” and “I’m so flattered you took time from your porn scrolling for this, Ted.”

That’s how you do it.