The Jersey Gene -- It's the real thing, baby!

A primer on Jersey Humor
The summer of '63. Nine college guys in their Point Pleasant summer rental home. The Sunday ritual began with mass, everyone hung over, standing in the back of the church; it climaxed with a brunch of bagels, buns, juice and coffee around the kitchen table. Like matadors, the boy/men prepared for the beach. Football? Got it. Wiffle ball? Bat? Blanket? Affirmative.
The official MC at the table was one Gerry O'Keefe, a wiry 6-foot-plus Queen City resident (Plainfield, dummy!) whose dry, sarcastic wit was already legendary. Gerry would read aloud the headlines from the morning papers, ostensibly to prepare the troupe for whatever conversational gambit would attract girls. In the middle of a particularly effective and funny monolog,  he was interrupted by someone who had a friend driving down to Point Pleasant from Wayne who needed highway directions.
"Does 23 go into 46?"
"Yes," Gerry deadpanned. "Twice."
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Every state probably has a hall of fame, a list of natives who made their marks in various human fields of endeavor. New Jersey, being the third smallest state in the Union, would logically have a small contingent. If you believe that, well, you just don't know New Jersey.

Here are two videos that illustrate the uniqueness of the Garden State. The first is a news report of the 2010 gathering of the locally famous; the second is an incredible -- and only partial -- recollection of the state's musical footprint. Both, as the credit card commercial says, are priceless.
 




Thanks to Bob Balascio for forwarding the music video and inspiring this article.