Moral superiority is a snooze
Moral superiority is a snooze
It's not that it's wrong, it's just that it's boring. And that's bad if you want laughs as opposed to applause.
There’s a lot of jokes these days where the punchline is some variation on “straight white men suck.”
I get it, we’ve done plenty of atrocious stuff. But still, this is all rather lame.
It’s not that this offends me as a straight white man. It offends me as a comedian.
I wrote about this here, “It’s tiresome to watch a bunch of banal dunkers ooze moral superiority while posting simplistic, unoriginal thoughts about the easiest target there is to bash these days. It feels like the opposite of bravery.”
In the piece, I addressed some of the lessons standup comedians learn from telling jokes every night and how to be more interesting than base-level morality dunking. Excerpt below:
Avoid clapter
[A] cardinal sin among comedians: Seeking applause instead of laughs. Applause are polite, laughs are primal. That’s why, among good comics, clapter (i.e. “message-driven comedy that inadvertently prioritizes political pandering above comedic merit”) isn’t a desired goal.
After all, it’s easy to get applause; you just have to pander and chew it up for ‘em. “I just got engaged,” “We just had a baby,” “I’m a feminist,” etc. Congrats, the trained seals are now clapping along. You didn’t really do anything interesting, though. Frequently, applause are the approval a comic seeks when they can’t actually generate laughs.
Give up on getting offended
Another standup lesson: Let go of being offended. Comics say awful things to each other all the time without feeling like a line’s been crossed. If I wear a fedora and roll in for a set, I know I’ll get mocked mercilessly for it. If I bomb, my friends will gloat about it after. My Jewish heritage gets mentioned by fellow comics in all kinds of ways the ADL would oppose. It’s part of the deal; whatever button is sticking out will get pressed.
As comedians, we learn to take it all in stride. There’s no HR department. We are people who play with words and once you enter the arena, stuff like that is fair game. Getting upset about it just gives the other person power over you. A quote I love from Dr. Wayne Dyer: "Stop looking for opportunities to be offended."
Intention matters
Comics also know intention matters. We’re there to get laughs. If you’re just being a jerk, that’s one thing; but if you’re trying to land a zinger, have at it (and misfires are part of the drill too)…This very (like, extremely) NSFW convo between Patrice O’Neal and Louis CK may be the ultimate example of how comedians will go anywhere for a laugh – and tolerate awful ideas as long as funny ensues.
Punching up
Another helpful tenet from comedy is to punch up. You can kill with a bit about homeless people or the handicapped, but that’s just kinda gross. If you can get laughs by sticking it to those in power, that’s a way more noble endeavor (and likely to do a better job at getting the crowd on your side).
So what is punching up these days? Ah, that’s where it gets tricky. For the bitter left, common foes are the 1%, the patriarchy, white supremacy, the cops, etc. It’s a totally understandable set of targets for vegans at Brooklyn coffee shop.
But imagine you’re some broke-ass white guy with a GED who lives in a trailer park in some rural area; the factory in your town shut down, there are zero jobs, and half of the people around you are addicted to opioids. You keep hearing about the importance of “diversity,” yet no one in the media ever looks or sounds like you. If you got mocked by liberal arts grads who work at Conde Nast, do you think you’d consider it punching up?
Finger yourself (um, not like that)
Smart comedians avoid finger pointing. It's never “you suck.” It's “we suck.” And they go for the opposite of virtue signaling: They broadcast their shortcomings. They admit they’re dumb, ugly, or otherwise screwed up. They talk about the things they feel guilty about because it’s way more compelling than lecturing the crowd on what they should feel guilty about. No one’s perfect and constant posturing is tiresome.
Say something unique
Of course, people should be out there fighting for what they believe in. I just think obvious insults tossed at basic targets is the easy way out. If it’s been said before in hundreds of other places, why say it again? Get specific and give it a fresh p.o.v. that reveals something about you.
Despite our hatred of hacks, comics will also tell you there is no hack subject, only hack approaches. You can do a bit on airplanes or anything else. You just need to take an innovative approach that hasn't been heard before. And yes, that includes making straight white men the butt of the joke…