How much can comedians lie?

On Hasan Minhaj's "emotional truths" and setting expectations.

In Hasan Minhaj’s “Emotional Truths” [The New Yorker], Minhaj explains how he builds stories “around a seed of truth.”

Minhaj acknowledged, for the first time, that many of the anecdotes he related in his Netflix specials were untrue. Still, he said that he stood by his work. “Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth,” he said. “My comedy Arnold Palmer is seventy per cent emotional truth—this happened—and then thirty per cent hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.”

Listen to Steve Martin’s old standup routines. Every single thing he said was a lie. But no one cared because the audience knew he was pretending/out to get laughs. The problem here is that Minhaj’s storytelling/comedy shows set different expectations. Viewers assume what he’s saying is grounded in truth.

Adding to the issue here is how Minhaj positioned himself as a serious and trustworthy voice on his Netflix show in way similar to Jo(h)ns Oliver/Stewart. Again, that creates different expectations. Comedians make stuff up. That's comedy. Journalists tell the truth. That's journalism. People who blur the line between comedy and journalism operate in a grey zone that’s tricky.

More from The New Yorker piece:

Minhaj insisted that, though both stories were made up, they were based on “emotional truth.” The broader points he was trying to make justified concocting stories in which to deliver them. “The punch line is worth the fictionalized premise,” he said.

…

During our meeting, Minhaj drew a hard line between his hosting duties on “Patriot Act” and his stage work. In his Netflix specials, he said, he was allowed to create characters and events in service of storytelling, to sharpen his social points. The “emotional truth,” he told me, repeatedly, was more important. But in “Patriot Act,” his comedic license took a back seat to the information being conveyed. He seemed to sidestep the possibility that most people likely don’t parse which Hasan Minhaj they’re watching at a given moment.

Illustration by Richard Chance

Jason Zinoman wrote an interesting follow-up piece: Lying in Comedy Isn’t Always Wrong, but Hasan Minhaj Crossed a Line [NY Times]. He explores when/how other comics stretch the truth in jokes. A key point: “Lies involving real people should add a new sense of obligation.”

The reality is that some comics have more leeway toying with the truth than others. All artists teach their audience how to view them, by the way they tell jokes, their style, the level of absurdity. What makes Hasan Minhaj such a troubling example is that his style, onstage and often off in interviews, suggested we should believe him.

Minhaj is known for using visual aids the way a journalist would. He mixes clips of television news and photos from his life with a general tone of sincerity. The nature of his deceptions were peculiar. He didn’t invent stuff to make himself funnier. He did it to raise the stakes in the easiest, most self-regarding way possible. Lying in comedy isn’t necessarily wrong. But how you lie matters. Minhaj has told a story about his prom date reneging on the day of the dance because her parents didn’t want her seen in photos with a “brown boy.” He now admits to some untruths in this story, but not all, and left her perspective out. (The woman has said she and her family faced online threats for years.) This genre of fiction is a shortcut to sympathy, an unearned tug at the heartstrings. It’s not a capital crime, but it’s an unnecessary and risky one.

Lies involving real people should add a new sense of obligation.

…

Every comic has an unspoken pact with the audience. The one Seinfeld has is different from Minhaj’s, and part of the reason has nothing to do with their intentions. Whether or not critics like me think authenticity is important, it does matter to the audience. So does honesty. And comics understand that.

This commenter at the NYT makes an interesting point too:

To me the dividing line is that you shouldn't lie in circumstances where your audience might be inclined to act based on your stories. No one cares about a comedian's dating life. But a lot of political comedy is designed to get people to act and vote a certain way. As this piece noted, if it comes out that a comedian was lying about mistreatment, that can discredit actual stories of abuse. And conversely, the fact that Minhaj's prom date got death threats for her supposedly racist behavior, and that behavior may not even have been accurately described, is concerning.

My .02: It’s fine when Hedberg, Dangerfield, or Jeselnik lie in bits because we know that’s what they’re doing. But it’s weird when comics invent stuff while assuming the role of pseudo-journalist or reality-based storyteller, especially if they’re trying to portray themselves as a victim and/or sway an audience to take their side. If you want the power you get from that flavor of storytelling, you should also accept the responsibility that goes along with it (i.e. to tell the truth).

What do you think about lying in comedy? Leave a comment.