Michigander in Mass

Detroiters have a sense of humor--well, most of them. If you've been through all the shit that they have over the last 50 years, you'd have to have a sense of humor just to survive.

Bostonians, on the other hand, seem to take life a lot more seriously. Maybe it's the Puritanical heritage or the New England sensibilities, but whatever the cause, there's a visible undercurrent of tension here--especially when it comes to sports--that a midwestern white suburbanite like me can best describe as the feeling you get when you realize you made a wrong turn into a part of the city you're completely unfamiliar with, and oh dear God is that what a crack house really looks like?

Maybe that's why comedy is actually big in Boston! It's a pressure valve for the high expectations set for Boston.