paul f tompkins is one of my faves and he super nails it here, which i'm cutting and pasting just so it potentially reaches more people:
“I would say in most cases, audiences are not telling them, ‘You can’t joke about this.’ What they’re saying is, ‘That wasn’t funny.’ And that’s a different thing. I think you can talk about any topic, and I think you can make any topic funny. It depends upon what your point is, and where you’re coming from. Audiences always know. They always know. And if you have a sound point that you’re making, and it’s well thought-out, and it’s well-crafted, you can make me laugh at a thing that I think is tragic. You can make me laugh at a thing that I think is horrific. You can make me laugh at a thing that affects me personally. But if you’ve done your homework, and you’ve gone about it the right way, it will still be funny. It’s when people do, I think, a lazy job at something. They’re not trying as hard as they could. Or, they really are just courting outrage. That’s when audiences say, ‘That wasn’t funny.’ But I think it’s so rare, it’s so rare, that anyone says ‘You’re not allowed to joke about that.'”
I love all these guys...I like comedy that's on the edge. George Carlin did jokes about some dark stuff...but he exposed our society's hypocrisy and or disingenuousness a lot, imo. Anthony Jeselnik is funny, but he often does the freaky surprise ending thing...I thought he was a bit of a one-trick pony, but haven't heard him lately. I need to check out the Theo Von podcast. :)
dear matt,
this is all great.
paul f tompkins is one of my faves and he super nails it here, which i'm cutting and pasting just so it potentially reaches more people:
“I would say in most cases, audiences are not telling them, ‘You can’t joke about this.’ What they’re saying is, ‘That wasn’t funny.’ And that’s a different thing. I think you can talk about any topic, and I think you can make any topic funny. It depends upon what your point is, and where you’re coming from. Audiences always know. They always know. And if you have a sound point that you’re making, and it’s well thought-out, and it’s well-crafted, you can make me laugh at a thing that I think is tragic. You can make me laugh at a thing that I think is horrific. You can make me laugh at a thing that affects me personally. But if you’ve done your homework, and you’ve gone about it the right way, it will still be funny. It’s when people do, I think, a lazy job at something. They’re not trying as hard as they could. Or, they really are just courting outrage. That’s when audiences say, ‘That wasn’t funny.’ But I think it’s so rare, it’s so rare, that anyone says ‘You’re not allowed to joke about that.'”
thanks for sharing!
love,
myq
I love all these guys...I like comedy that's on the edge. George Carlin did jokes about some dark stuff...but he exposed our society's hypocrisy and or disingenuousness a lot, imo. Anthony Jeselnik is funny, but he often does the freaky surprise ending thing...I thought he was a bit of a one-trick pony, but haven't heard him lately. I need to check out the Theo Von podcast. :)