“I’m HIV positive the movie starts at 9:00,” she said as we were en route to the theater last night.<\/p>\n
Oh come on.<\/p>\n
Admit it… that’s funny.<\/p>\n
A little dark<\/em>, maybe.<\/p>\n (Like a joke from the movie “Pulp Fiction”).<\/p>\n But, I couldn’t help but snicker when she said it.<\/p>\n And, I bet a lot of people reading this email chuckled at it, too — albeit maybe feeling bad about being entertained in such a way. Just as during other times when I go out of my way to make jokes that are a little… politically incorrect… in my emails — not only to this BenSettle.com list, but other lists I write for, as well.<\/p>\n But you know what?<\/p>\n Lots of profitable emails contain “dark” entertainment.<\/p>\n Will make some kind of statement about the human condition.<\/p>\n And, yes, be uncomfortably funny<\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n But they can also make you sales, too.<\/p>\n (Assuming you do them right, I can already see a bunch of goo-roo fanboys now writing some idiotic pornographic joke to their list thinking they’re being funny… then getting a horde of unsubscribes and complaining what I teach “doesn’t work!”…)<\/p>\n But anyway, don’t fear dark entertainment.<\/p>\n As my boy, the legendary Johnny Carson, said:<\/p>\n “Lay any joke open you will find True ‘dat.<\/p>\n He joked about all kinds of taboo subjects.<\/p>\n Like divorce.<\/p>\n Death.<\/p>\n Infidelity.<\/p>\n Obesity.<\/p>\n Even (gasp!) mocking Mr. Rogers.<\/p>\n And you know what?<\/p>\n He made millions laugh. Brought a little joy to their dreary day. And, was beloved by America (as a whole, obviously he had his haters, and you will too if you do it right) for it.<\/p>\n Anyway, don’t let mush cookies censor you.<\/p>\n Otherwise your emails are doomed to be limp.<\/p>\n Boring.<\/p>\n And, dry as a horse’s skull on the desert.<\/p>\n To learn my email system check out:<\/p>\n
\nsomething unpleasant underneath”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n