The intersection between anger and comedy
Anger can be great fuel for standup bits, but so can things that delight you.
Larry David’s empire is built upon minor peeves that irritate him in an outsized way. Likewise, Bill Burr has turned his rage into tons of hilarious bits. Tuning into what upsets you can be incredible fuel for comedy.
Re: anger as ammo, here’s an excerpt from this author Charlie Jane Anders’ piece: Hold On To Your Anger. It’s a Storytelling Goldmine.
Anger leads to everything good. Including a ton of red-hot premises, but also a lot of intensity, and a whole range of emotions. Humor comes from anger (which is why so many comedians are deeply angry people). Great story conflicts come out of accessing your anger, too. And anger can be a way to access tenderness, kindness, protectiveness and other “gentle” emotions. If you can get mad, you’ll never run out of stories…
When I am trying to capture a real intensity, that fire that makes stories come to life, it often comes down to reconnecting with my anger. A sense of urgency, desperation, or snarky humor can come out of touching that raw nerve. And when I’m trying to create a feeling of chaos and surprising twists and turns, it’s not a bad thing to plug into that urge to flip over some tables.
And it’s the same when you’re trying to create vivid scenes, with powerful details. The things that make you angriest are also likely to be some of your strongest, most powerful memories, because these things get burned into your brain. You can vividly remember what you were holding, what you were wearing, what you smelled, what you tasted, and everything that was going on in your head during a moment when something really pushed your buttons. And that’s exactly the level of immediacy that you’re aiming for in your storytelling. It’s the intimacy of being right there in the middle of a bad situation.
On the other hand, Patton Oswalt preaches love instead of hate in standup.
“Actually, I think when you’re younger, anger and comedy mesh together very, very well,” Oswalt answers, “because there are things that you feel like, ‘Am I the only person seeing this?’ But then, as you get older, I don’t think anger and comedy mesh at all. I remember Chris Rock telling me, ‘Don’t get mad, get funnier.’ Getting mad doesn’t help you as a comedian. Anger eventually cancels out comedy. I think what you have to do is find the things that delight you, and if you really push the things that delight you, then the things or people that piss you off, it just makes them angry. If people you don’t like or people that you disagree with, if they see you on stage pissed off and angry, that’s actually kind of reassuring. Because they’re like, ‘I’m getting to that guy.’ But if you’re on stage, and instead of cursing what you hate, you’re celebrating the alternative and making that seem better, that’s what drives your enemies bugfuck. That’s what just drives them into the red.”
“Pointing out that stuff sucks is not edgy or dangerous anymore,” he says. “Everyone knows what sucks. What’s better is to find the stuff that’s amazing and hold it up. Even something like the KFC bowl, in a weird way, I love it. I love that we’ve gotten to the point where [there’s] an actual manifestation of the problem and we actually have it in bowl form. Before, it was scattered amongst 50 different fast-food chains, and it was so hard to make your argument. People would go, ‘Yeah, but there’s salads, and…’ Now I’m just like, ‘Here is the top-selling fast food item.’ Thank you, KFC!”
“[The KFC Famous Bowl bit] was also from sheer exasperation,” he says. “Like, finally, what I’ve been talking about all along about what is wrong with us. And also, ultimately, what’s wrong with me, you know? I need to lose weight because I eat a lot of crappy food. I think the best anger is the stuff that you are pointing at yourself, rather than, ‘Everything sucks and I’m here to point out why.’“
So who’s right? Obviously, the answer is it depends. Whatever works, y’know? That said, Oswalt has done great bits dumping on George Lucas, his hometown, people who celebrate birthdays, people who advocate natural births, George Bush, etc. Even his "Big Fan" director Rob Siegel called Oswalt's comedy "hateful, misanthropic, and dark" in an interview (he meant it in a good way).
Maybe the sweet spot is something you love but also hate at the same time. Keeps the passion in there but ya also get the mockery that gives it a juicy twist.