Wodehouse understood, as many funny novelists don't, the preeminence of storytelling. Without a plot to push along, the jokes lose their force. Amis himself said he learned this from reading Wodehouse, who never wasted a joke merely for the sake of a laugh, or, for that matter, wasted a plot twist without making it the occasion for a joke. Wodehouse is hard to quote. Most often the humor comes packaged like this, from Right Ho, Jeeves , as Bertie and his feckless chum Gussie, a scientist who specializes in the study of newts, discuss his nerve-wracking courtship of Madeline Basset.
Color does make a difference.
Look at newts. During the courting season the male newt is brilliantly colored. He just stands in front of the female newts vibrating his tail and bending his body in a semicircle. I could do that on my head. But if you were a male newt, Madeline Basset wouldn't look at you.