Can A Joke Still Be Funny After It's Explained? They say if you have to explain a joke, it isn't funny anymore. Then this isn't a joke, it's a puzzle. Who's who in the picture? Peter Sellers is Peter Sellers and that expression would be smug. The Russian ambassador is the literary establishment. The establishment is livid. The rest of the people in the war room is you. I obviously have issues, and 'our friend Colby' had already been lynched by the time this photo was taken.