Triforce Of Comedy: Trash
The Robot Gospel, Part 01100
There was a clip making the rounds of comedian Anthony Jeselnik talking about “controversial comics” last year where he said:
People think like, “Oh, as a comic your job is to get in trouble,” but they don't want to get yelled at. Like, it's okay to make people mad, but they don't want any push-back, and I think that's wrong. As a comedian, you want to make people laugh. This is a quote attributed to Andy Warhol that I love that’s just “Art is getting away with it.1” You know, if you put out a special and everyone's pissed, you didn't get away with it. You need to make everyone laugh so that they’re like, “Yeah, he talked about some fucked up stuff, but we're all happy. That’s art. Otherwise, you’re just a troll.
Laughing relieves tension built up in the body. It temporarily raises your heart rate and blood pressure and then brings it down. It can stimulate circulation and elevate your mood. This is all factual medical stuff. It’s so similar to the ways our bodies react to sexual stimulation (RIP Dr. Ruth), and perhaps why, along with having some sense of shame tied up with them, bodily functions are inherently tied to comedy.
It’s a shame that film comedies have, for the most part, been relegated to being ostracized to streaming platforms instead of being given the chance at broad theatrical release. Laughing in a group of people builds connections. You all tie yourselves to this experience of shared release and elation, and there is way less of a mess than if you were all at an orgy.
And because laughter is a good way to bond in groups, finding someone in an out group to ridicule is natural. It’s fucking hack and easy, but there is a primordial pull toward it.
It strengthens bonds in a group, because when you’re pointing and laughing at someone else, what you’re saying to the other members of your group is: This person isn’t one of us. Don’t be like them. And it’s a warning to not violate the norms you’re supposed to adhere to in the group. And if you aren’t laughing, then you may pose a threat to the group.
Are you a spy? Is there something about what defines this group that you find distasteful — are we the baddies? Do you really belong?
The legend goes, that Dave Chappelle was filming a sketch where he was in black face, when the profuse laughter of a White onlooker didn’t feel quite right, and thus, the season that it was being filmed for was eventually curtailed.
There were other things going on with Chappelle at the time, but he says that this is one of the final straws.
In an appearance on David Duchovny’s podcast earlier this year, Sarah Silverman discussed that early in her comedic career, she played an “ignorant arrogant” character — someone gleefully in-the-wrong — that she believed could say horrible things, and we would laugh at it. Pushing the envelope and being subversive. Building the tension of not abiding by social norms, daring you to release in laughter.
You really have to stay with what is funny to you and that hopefully changes over time because it means you’ve grown, or you’ve changed, or the world has changed and you’ve changed with it, or the world has changed and you haven’t changed with it.
There is a school of thought when it comes to comedy, that stand-up comedians are modern day philosophers. Truth tellers... The people saying that, however, are usually stand-ups themselves with over-inflated egos who see themselves as the next George Carlin or Bill Hicks2. Comics that feel like they have the duty to push boundaries and make people uncomfortable with their “wild, out there points of view.”
And a lot of those people when confronted by an audience who believe what they’re saying is in bad taste will say: “I’m just joking around. People shouldn’t listen to me. I’m a clown.”
But just because you make someone laugh, doesn’t mean you’ve done something funny. You’re not owed a laugh just because you’ve told (what you believe to be) a joke.
Again, laughter is involuntary. If you are tickled and are ticklish, then you are going to squirm and laugh. If you see something surprising that you did not expect to see, you may gasp or laugh. If something gory in a movie happens, you might cover your eyes or, again, laugh. Laughter is a release of tension — be it comedic or dramatic — and while it is usually linked to humor, that is not its sole domain.
So, saying shocking things can get laughs, but that doesn’t mean everyone that laughed finds it funny. You can insult people and dole out slurs, and that won’t mean that the laughs are endorsements of hateful ideologies. But those that do take those statements at face value are never far.
The common belief is that: If you explain a joke, it’s no longer funny. What people usually take away from that, is that you shouldn’t explain jokes.
But what that also must mean then, is that jokes can be explained.
Right now, comedian Ariel Elias is writing a joke every day for a year in order to create a new set after having taped her first album3. On her Instagram she also gives a little explanation. Giving context to how she thought of it. Working through what about it makes it funny. Admitting why it might not work. Trying to figure out how to make it better.
She’s taking her process public, which some creative people balk at, because it takes the mystery and magic away. It’s admitting that Art takes Work and isn’t just 100% reliant on your sheer gods-given scary talent.
And a lot of what comedians do is Work — that’s why they call it “Working The Road,” or “Working On My Hour.” They try out jokes and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. The ones that don’t work never make it to the eventual album or special. They’re left on the comedy club floor to fade into the red brick wall behind them.
That’s also the reason why most comedians don’t want audiences to record their sets — because they (unlike musicians) don’t want audiences to know what the jokes are before you see them4. And if an unrefined, in-progress joke gets out there, people might see it and think that the comic isn’t funny and dismiss them entirely.
So let’s try to explain a joke I overheard the other day. One guy is talking about the things his college age kid is doing, and he says his kid is going to a parade. The other guy then says: “Oh, the gay pride parade?” And he, of course, starts laughing like a maniac.
Now, that was October. I’ll grant you, here in Reno, we have a separate Pride celebration in September in addition to the national observance of Pride in June. So the time frame for that comment doesn’t quite line up (although I don’t believe that the “joke” teller is even aware of those facts, so the statement isn’t made with a knowing wink toward someone else possessing that knowledge).
Being in a parade by itself isn’t funny. Driving around in a little Shriner car or being a clown with big floppy shoes could be funny, though. But again, in the “joke” neither of those images are presented as what the fulcrum of the humor would hinge on.
That leaves the gay part. The conceit is that being gay is funny...? Going to a gay pride parade is funny? The person’s son isn’t gay, so is that really a subversion of expectations? It would only really fit that criteria if that were accepted as an insult — a wild exaggeration. For instance: Calling someone big, “Tiny.” Naming a turtle, “Speedy.” Calling Elmer Fudd, “Nimrod.”
Perhaps rude, but the avenue that the comedy is traveling can be followed. Calling someone that is not gay, “gay,” I guess could apply the rationale of subversion. But there is context behind that kind of “joke” that re-frames from just an innocent jape.
“Gay” is an insult. If you grew up in the 80s and 90s you know that. A lot of us used it as an insult. Back then, just using it purely as a description was negative, for the most part.
Roast jokes and insult comedy have to actually be funny, which is where the artistry comes in. To a lot of people it looks like just talking shit, which is why they often think that they, in turn, can do it. Why they are always flabbergasted when someone takes offense.
What’s more, if you tell a joke to, or use irony with, someone that will take the setup or conceit of the joke at face value, then it’s no longer a joke. It’s just a statement...
The line people will say is: “It’s funny ‘cause it’s true.” Or: “He’s saying what we’re all thinking.” Yep, Puerto Ricans live on a trash island — and even though they can come to the United States all they want because it’s a territory, they can’t vote — so fuck ‘em!
But see, no, there really is a huge island of trash in the ocean — and that’s where you think he’s going. But, then he swerves and says it’s an island where actual human beings live that isn’t really made of trash. So, are we supposed to feel bad and want to help people who are unfortunately living amongst a land mass made of dirty, repugnant garbage? No! We have to laugh at them because we are better than them, because we don’t live on a trash island.
Humor brings people together in laughter. Someone says something, and the people that can identify where the funny is, laugh. People have Inside Jokes that are designed only for those within their in-group — jokes where context and lived experience are the keys to unlocking the humor vault. And some jokes are just bad jokes and no one laughs.
Making people laugh should feel good all around, for all parties involved. Win-win. Trying to make someone else feel bad in an attempt to prop someone else up — first of all: that’s revealing that you, yourself, are starting from a lower status. The eagle doesn’t catch flies. Someone that is doing well in life doesn’t need to hurt someone else — make them feel like shit — in order to prove their worth.
Using comedy as a weapon to fight for power and status is inelegant. Gauche. Just plain not funny. Those people are the trash.
-bcp
Allie Goertz came out with a Nine Inch Nails cover album earlier in the year, and while they are essentially just slower, stripped down versions of songs — nothing amazingly transformative — she sings with a vulnerability that uncovers a hidden fragility and frailty5 that is often overpowered by the anger that Reznor puts into the production.
Of course, the correct quote is “Art is anything you can get away with,” from Marshall McLuhan’s book The Medium Is The Message.
I’m looking at you Maher, and your little Austin crew, Rogan.
She’s also putting the joke on her Threads account.
Again, because humor relies on subverting expectations. So if you’ve heard a not so good version of a joke before, even a perfected version won’t have the same punch(line).
See what I did there?