Q: Which is funnier: a bra or panties, or a bra and panties? Hint: this is according to P. G. Wodehouse.
A: Wodehouse thought it was funnier to surprise the audience only once, with bra OR panties, than to surprise them twice, with bra AND panties. From a letter to his theatrical crony Guy Bolton, 1955:
"Don't you think it's the showing of the brassiere earlier that hurts the showing of the--no, it's the other way about. The brassiere falls flat because the audience has seen the other feminine garment, the black one (which does get a big laugh). Why not cut one of them out and get a surprise at end of scene?"
