Rated’N’ TIMES – Life Section
Cotton Confidence by:
Andrew Nguyen
It’s no secret that in this era superficiality has taken a backseat to personality and intelligence. In other words, good looks can only get you so far with modern women. A recent 2009 poll conducted by the Love and Sex division of the Gallop Poll has found that nine of every ten women look for a sense of humor when actively seeking potential male partners. This is welcomed news for the class clowns and sharp-witted office jokesters of the world. But what about those unfunny few who remain? Are we doomed to a life of loneliness and self love? Not anymore.
For those of us lacking in the humoral field, there’s no need to fret as the recent trend in the popularity of comical t-shirts has emerged these past few years. With the recent proliferation of clothing with silk screened jokes, puns, and overall in-your-face-isms on them, everyday comically-impaired men (most notably morticians, proctologists, Carlos Mencia) can now compete with the funniest of eligible bachelors in the dating pool.
“I prefer men with a sense of humor”, says Yvonne Baker, a college student at the University of California, Irvine. “I know it sounds terrible, but if a guy isn’t that great looking, a sense of humor can really take a guy a long way.”
“Yeah, usually I’m not that funny,” says Harry Adams, a high school student from Irvine, “but now I let my t-shirts do the talking. These days, when I walk through the mall, I have to beat off the girls with either my Harry Potter wand or Level 14 Power Sword which I keep in a holster on my hip. I’ve gotten at least six girls pregnant this month if my calculations are correct – and they usually are.” Harry’s shirt features a humorous and in-your-face credo which states that he gives 100% a day (25% video games, 25% television, 1% homework, and 49% sleep). He enjoys watching TV, eating Hot Pockets, and playing “WarCraft – but not StarCraft”, because “that shit is fucking gay.”
This trend is not just for the young either.
“The ladies read my t-shirts, and tell me that they find my sense of humor irresistible,” says Steve Ngo, a 35-year-old computer engineer from Costa Mesa, CA who purchased his t-shirt for $4 dollars at K-Mart which features a humorous Venn-diagram of Jedi Mind Tricks. “It’s roughly a three minute commitment for them to read the entire shirt to get the joke, but once they do, it’s like freaking catnip to these skanky ass bitchez [sic].”
Endowed with new confidence, Steve has just recently begun pursuing a lifelong dream of performing standup comedy. His last performance at the Hollywood Improv featured him standing on stage with a humorous t-shirt which states “My other t-shirt has a funny slogan on it”. His two-minute performance has garnered him rave reviews and has placed him in People Magazine’s 40 Top Comics to Watch. There is speculation that Ngo and NBC are close to coming to terms on a half-hour sitcom pilot featuring Ngo for the 2011 fall season.
So if the polls are any indication, women like funny men, and thanks to the newest trend in funny t-shirts, more men are capable to give them what they want. Don’t have much of a personality? Slip on a nice pair of jeans and some 100% cotton confidence in the morning and watch the world laugh – with you.

It’s finals week, so naturally I’ve watched literally (literally) 4 hours of YouTube videos from my bed today. Today in particular I’ve been looking up Asian kids – musicians, dancers, comedians, etc. I’m not sure exactly why. Probably because my mom told me that I couldn’t really do anything besides be a doctor because in her words, “look at your face. they won’t accept you.” She’s right, but goddamn it, I’d still like to dream.
