Nontando Mposo of IOL interviewed South African media personality Jeannie D and stand-up Jason Goliath about their upcoming episode of “Celebs Stand Up” (8/11/2017), and they managed to touch on a few interesting topics.
Jason Goliath
Goliath gets the softball questions, like this one:
What makes your stand-up comedy unique and different from other comedians?
I’m a storyteller not a joke-teller. My stories are brutally honest and that’s where I find the funny. At the end of the day, most of us are going through, or have been through, similar things, so people relate to honesty.
So here we see some typical themes, beginning with a differentiation of humorous stories from strict jokes [I will write something up on this eventually, but basically: where’s the distinction? When does a bit become a story, and are there ever stories without injections of jokes?]. Then there’s the idea of honesty, or truth-telling (parrhesia). It may not quite be speaking “truth to power,” but he’s on the road. As Jay Leno says, it’s great if it happens.
Jeannie D
Jeannie D, on the other hand, gets a better question:
What is your take on jokes that may offend people?
I am one of those people who do not get offended easily, but I do understand how certain subjects may be sensitive to the audience. My idea of comedy is that sometimes the only way to get through tough times is to be able to laugh at yourself and the circumstances. I believe that when you’re able to laugh at yourself and your situation, you will be happier.
Laughing with vs. at
Her answer strikes me as one a privileged person would give. Laughing at your circumstances, when you are the victim of the story, is a good coping mechanism – it’s either laugh or cry.
However, the idea of laughing at yourself, making yourself the butt of the joke and thereby allowing the audience to laugh with you is great, if you are in little danger. We can laugh at trivial things about ourselves or our past with little consequences. It’s much more damaging to laugh at yourself when it’s something about yourself you care about. This is why I’m skeptical of marginalized personas – the Josh Blues and fat comics galore.
Hyper-masculinity
The idea of “lighten up,” “where’s your sense of humor?” “laugh it off,” are at their root hyper-masculine, coming from a culture of “taking it.” Men can “take it,” handle themselves and their emotions (especially fear), suck it up, don’t get riled. People who can’t are less than men, wusses and worse. This culture has a lot of problems and consequences, as it frequently punches down.
Maybe I’m wrong, maybe some can laugh it off and not be emotionally damaged, but the sad clown is a salient exemplar for a reason. I am aware that not everyone has the same hang-ups and sensitivities, yet I’m also aware that just because people are laughing with us, doesn’t mean they’re on our side. Our actions have consequences.
Truth
This also assumes that if the audience isn’t laughing, it’s because it hits too close to home, when in fact the joke or statement might just not be funny, be inappropriate for the audience or occasion, or a host of other problems. We can also get offended on behalf of other people. The presumption is still that there was a truth there that we couldn’t “handle,” when in fact, the problem might be that there’s no truth there at all.
Jeannie D might well consider these things a bit more.
Questions? Comments? Thoughts? Additions?
