the book is complex. it's trying to draw some quite complex intellectual ideas around how anti—semitism has been a neglected thing that the people who are very obsessed with identity politics have left behind. i see no reason why a joke in the middle of that would deflate or subvert an argument. i think that's a weird thing that people assume that the minute you go into comedy, you're somehow upending what you're saying. intellectually, i don't see that at all. iam glad... i mean, it's a privilege, really, that, despite being a comedian and probably being best known for being a comedian, the times literary supplement still come to me and say, "we'd like you to write a book about an essay, a book about anything you like." i say, "i want to write it about this," and they don't say, "well, don't be ridiculous, you're a funnyman." you know, a little theme i've been developing is how you've changed and evolved over time, both in your comedy and your wider life. i mean, you are not a religiousjew. but you're very clearly a proud... i don't know if you say blood or ethnicjew,