"You'd stand in line to hear McDermitt speak? Er, well ...uh...ok."

I'd call that a perfect example of flippancy, Doug. About which CS Lewis (in the person of the veteran devil Screwtape) had some interesting things to say:

"Flippancy is the best of all... every serious subject is discussed in a manner which implies that they have already found a ridiculous side to it. If prolonged, the habit of Flippancy builds up around a man the best armour plating against the Enemy that I know... It is a thousand miles away from joy; it deadens, instead of sharpening, the intellect; and it excites no affection between those who practise it."