Steve Macone reports from the 2011 International Society for Humor Studies Conference:
There is that famous metaphor, E.B. White’s: "Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it." The profession of standup, the idea of "the comic" in the minds of the average person, exists in a similar state of delicate homeostasis. … The comic can be academic, explaining the profession to death, qualifying terms and remedying misconceptions, or she can joke around and be funny. But for reasons that are both revealing and mysterious, she can rarely do both. She is forced to decide. The comic is the frog.
The Dish 