The best jokes are dangerous, and dangerous because they are in some way truthful.

Vonnegut links humor to moral and social risk: a truly effective joke doesn’t merely entertain, it exposes something real—about power, hypocrisy, cruelty, or self-deception. That truthfulness makes it “dangerous” because it can puncture comforting narratives, embarrass authorities, or force audiences to recognize complicity. In Vonnegut’s satirical worldview, comedy is a tool for saying what polite discourse avoids; laughter becomes a way to smuggle critique past defenses, but it can also provoke backlash precisely because it lands on a recognizable truth. The line suggests that the highest form of joking is not escapism but revelation, and that the sting of recognition is part of what makes a joke memorable and potent.