[Tomlin's] more than a comedienne, she's a clown….

A carefully constructed pyramid of wit and wisdom, [Tomlin's humor is] by and for the people, a contemporary phenomenon that shouldn't be examined and dissected in some academic exercise; but it certainly can be admired as a reflection of the seventies, for she is one of our spokes-persons, clowning it all the way to tomorrow. After all, we live in a fairly schizoid society, and amidst this relatively safe, healthy world there is a great and growing fear of the unknown, the uncontrollable; if we can't laugh at it, we're in much worse shape than we think. (p. 46)

You gotta laugh. And that, of course, is why we have clowns—to soothe our pains, prop up our inadequacies, and puncture our pretensions. And maybe that's why Lily Tomlin is so right for today.

To conclude that Tomlin had a "message...