Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often.

Carson’s joke hinges on the contrast between the idealized sentiment of Thanksgiving—gratitude, family togetherness, and heartfelt reunion—and the reality that family gatherings can revive old tensions. By calling it an “emotional holiday,” he frames the day as charged with feeling, then undercuts the expected warmth with the punchline: the annual visit is already more than enough. The humor comes from exaggeration and recognition: many people endure obligatory travel and social rituals, only to find that closeness can be stressful. The line also reflects Carson’s late–20th-century stand-up style, where domestic life and social conventions become material for wry, observational comedy.