What a splendid little piece! I’ve always figured ex–U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins developed his great sense of humor by himself. I recall one occasion swigging Tullamore Dew alone with Collins until we were both so schwacked that he began to speak in an Irish accent—and, naturally, I followed suit.

Turns out Collins inherited his flair for comedy from his dad. In this “StoryCorps” sketch he describes a practical joke his father played on one of the old man’s office co-workers. I won’t spoil the joke by summarizing it, except to say that, in its use of fedora hats, it resembles a time-honored vaudeville routine used on the stage. By the way, Samuel Beckett also used it in a somewhat different form in “Waiting for Godot.”

Not to get too serious about a subversively, sadistically funny Father’s Day story. Collins is probably America’s most popular living poet. One obvious reason for this is his wonderful wit. In poems as sturdy as shamrocks again and again he appears to have kissed the Blarney Stone—and attracted legions of readers.