Comedy, like drawing with cheese or playing the zither, is essentially an outsider art. It is best practiced by those who feel undernourished by human regard. This would include such admiration-impoverished individuals as a skinny, neurotic young Woody Allen; a homely, heavy Roseanne; a plain-weird Andy Kaufman and a vast number of Canadians. Nothing kills comedy quicker than acceptance.
And few comics are as adored by their constituents as Ellen DeGeneres. She winds up a 36-city tour this week with an HBO special (July 23, 10 p.m. E.T.). It's the first stand-up the comic and actor has done in seven years,...
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