On reading the interview, I made some updates to Intentionality – where I talk about the idea that comics are first and foremost trying to get a laugh on-stage. James Davis seems to have a more nuanced take than some comics.
Q: So you’re willing to sacrifice a laugh or two to make a point?
A: The laugh is the most important thing. I never wanted to be a teacher or a preacher. I don’t want the audience ever thinking that they’re listening to Don Lemon or Anderson Cooper. But early in my career I was just telling jokes. I wouldn’t think about using them to send a message. But now, after studying comedians like Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, I know how to talk about the society around me.
These comics seem to believe that they should be trying to be funny first and foremost, and if they can do it while talking about their society, that’s good, but it’s an after-effect.
Not that James thinks that comics have no power to change people’s minds. Referring to Hannibal Buress, who may have got people talking about Bill Cosby, James says,
Hannibal has reached a level of success where he probably hit more stages during the last campaign than Hillary Clinton did. And people listen to him after the show and pick up on his material on their cellphones. That’s power. I’m aware of it and I keep that in mind when I make decisions about jokes. I have to make sure people are laughing when I want them to laugh.
When you put it that way – about sheer exposure – how could a comic not have an effect? Still, there’s this idea that comics “don’t really mean any of it” that may create a (carnivalesque) space for both the humor to exist and for the audience to feel that they don’t have to do anything but laugh, and a common conception of laughter is that it doesn’t do anything.
Questions? Comments? Thoughts? Additions?
