I love stand up comedy. I tried it for about six months after high school and it didn’t work out, but I still love it.
Stand up was my introduction to moral philosophy as well as politics. Stand up comedians are the people’s philosophers, and they typically inhabit and convey truth in a succinct and moving way that, say, Slavoj Zizek and Jordan Peterson never could, with none of the pretension. That being said, I am so glad that ‘punching down’ has become a legitimate cultural criticism of comics.
My orientation towards art has always been summed up best by that Cesar Cruz quote that ‘art should comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable’. Comedy is art as well as low-key philosophy, so I am especially glad that rich and privileged comics are now consistently receiving dings for attacking and belittling disenfranchised individuals.
Dave Chappelle used to be great. His most recent specials—aside from being overly self impressed—were dismissed for his material regarding transgender individuals. Ricky Gervais—who has never been great—has suffered from the same assessment, but to a greater degree.
Comedy is for the people. Comedians should never punch down. Punching down is designed to satiate the prejudices of the powerful. When a comedian punches down, they become nothing more than the court jester, validating the prejudices of the monarchy.
Real comedy only works when it is either delivered by a disenfranchised voice, or delivered in order to lift a disenfranchised voice.
When our most prominent comics begin acting as clowns for the powers that be, they’ve got to be held accountable. The good thing about comedians being the philosophers of the people is that you neither have to punch down nor up to let them know they’ve missed a beat. You can punch them right in the face.
Stand up was my introduction to moral philosophy as well as politics. Stand up comedians are the people’s philosophers, and they typically inhabit and convey truth in a succinct and moving way that, say, Slavoj Zizek and Jordan Peterson never could, with none of the pretension. That being said, I am so glad that ‘punching down’ has become a legitimate cultural criticism of comics.
My orientation towards art has always been summed up best by that Cesar Cruz quote that ‘art should comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable’. Comedy is art as well as low-key philosophy, so I am especially glad that rich and privileged comics are now consistently receiving dings for attacking and belittling disenfranchised individuals.
Dave Chappelle used to be great. His most recent specials—aside from being overly self impressed—were dismissed for his material regarding transgender individuals. Ricky Gervais—who has never been great—has suffered from the same assessment, but to a greater degree.
Comedy is for the people. Comedians should never punch down. Punching down is designed to satiate the prejudices of the powerful. When a comedian punches down, they become nothing more than the court jester, validating the prejudices of the monarchy.
Real comedy only works when it is either delivered by a disenfranchised voice, or delivered in order to lift a disenfranchised voice.
When our most prominent comics begin acting as clowns for the powers that be, they’ve got to be held accountable. The good thing about comedians being the philosophers of the people is that you neither have to punch down nor up to let them know they’ve missed a beat. You can punch them right in the face.
No comments:
Post a Comment