"It's hard to be funny when you have to be clean"

Mae West's quote speaks to the problem of being funny without turning to indecency or blasphemy. It indicates that it is harder to be amusing when one has to bear in mind the language they use and the subjects they go over. This is since humor frequently counts on shock value or taboo subjects to be reliable. When one needs to be tidy, they are restricted in the topics they can talk about and the language they can use, making it more difficult to be amusing. This quote also speaks with the idea that humor is subjective which what one person finds amusing, another may not. It is a reminder that humor is a fragile art kind and that it needs skill and finesse to be effective.