New podcast about hacks, clapter, and politics
What progressives can learn from how standup comedians talk.
In the latest ep of my Kind of a Lot with Matt Ruby podcast, I talk about what politics lovers can learn from standup comedians. I go off on hacks, clapter, and lots more.
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.
Watch it here:
Or listen here or wherever you get your podcast on.
Podcast based on this issue of the Rubesletter from a while back:
More eps of the pod:
dear matt,
"Applause are polite, laughs are primal" is great!
in Jesse David Fox's "Comedy Book," he shares that this was Colin Quinn's instruction to the Tough Crowd audience:
"Don't applaud. Either laugh or don't."
thanks for sharing as always!
love
myq