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Rules of Comedy
Jul. 12th, 2012 01:00 pmThanks to Tosh-period-zero's "brave and transgressive comedy" (which I always look for from dudebros, myself, dudebros being known for their incisive wit and marginalized outsider perspective) there is an ongoing internet discussion (again) about whether rape jokes are always funny (Tosh*) or are not ever funny (some but by no means all feminists). It is an absurd discussion to have. No topic is de facto funny or not funny. Falling down can be extremely funny or not at all funny. Even the word "pants," which I find reliably funny, is not, by itself, funny, and I can't assume that my saying "pants" will make someone else laugh. (Except Treehavn.) Context and approach are everything. If that weren't true, we wouldn't need talented comedians and comedy open mics would be hilarious.
In the realm of "not funny," I put it to you: openly threatening a person in an environment which is already hostile to them^ while they are unable to retaliate because of a significant power imbalance is not funny. It may be gleeful, because you are reveling in your superior position, but it's not funny. Especially when you clearly meant for that person to say what they said.+
--
* Much of the defense of Tosh has suggested he was being "provocative," but considering he was interested in shutting down discussion and imposing his own viewpoint while marginalizing any dissent, this portrayal is wishful thinking. Unless what you're saying he wished to provoke was media attention and tribalistic purchases by his fans, which could more realistically be called "rallying the base."
^ For the most part, being a woman in a comedy club is a miserable experience, whether as an audience member or performer. The whole "women aren't funny" meme mainly grows out of women not wanting to appear at comedy clubs, which still have a largely "no girlz alowed" atmosphere. Comedy clubs are populated by angry straight men who think they're smarter than the rest of the world and are not appropriately appreciated. Successful acts will reflect this viewpoint back to them, which will attract more of the same audience, which will reward this narrow band of comedy, etc., etc. Note for instance the whole "he had kids and stopped being funny" pattern. Kids are fonts of comedy - look at Bill Cosby or W.C. Fields. But if your humor is based on being an underappreciated single guy who belittles all other perspectives, or if that is all your audience wants to hear, it is not a subject you can make use of.
+ Relevant personal anecdote: I've been around and participated in my share of standup, and I've done a lot of interactive theater outside of standup. When you are doing provocative comedy, you are often waiting for a predictable response from the audience that you can use to continue your bit. If you don't get the response, the bit dies. It is almost exactly similar to when you are doing a sales pitch or a revival meeting; there is a call and response element that makes the audience feel personally essential, as though they're present in a specific moment rather than a performance, and it is electric. However, it is showbiz trickery, and the audience volunteer (who does not realize they are volunteering) is only as influential as the person who picks the card in a magic trick. The card doesn't matter, and the trick is going to turn out the same.
For instance, I was at a New York comedy club about twelve years back, and the guy (also a white guy in his 30s) was doing a very similar bit to the Tosh bit (you know, the edgy provocative one that's not a cliche) around how offended women are by the word "cunt." You know they're so offended by cunt. My just saying cunt is upsetting someone. Cunt cunt cunt. Somebody out there is really upset now, right? And so forth. Nobody was laughing, because there hasn't been a joke yet. We're waiting to see where this is going. He continues to vamp on this cunt thing. Finally, I call out that I'm offended. Which allows him to say the punchline. (I forget the punchline.) After the show, he came out to find me in the audience and make sure I had not been alienated and that I had had a good time, because I was an integral part of the show, an included part he could not have done without.
This is a classic way of building a bit. The description of what Tosh was doing is this bit structure - vamping by asking variations on the same question over and over, waiting for somebody in the audience to take the bait so that you can turn it all around with your punchline that shows your audience (including your mark) that they can follow you out on a limb, because there will be a delightful piece of fruit hidden at the end of the branch.
It is disingenuous to call the "I'm offended" audience member a heckler. A heckler is outside your routine, trying to interrupt your routine. The "I'm offended" person, in contrast, is somebody you're counting on, somebody you've asked to volunteer without literally saying "I need a volunteer."
What I'm getting at here is that "wouldn't it be funny if a bunch of guys raped that woman right now" is not a gaffe hastily improvised by a flustered comedian. It's the punchline the bit was setting up. There may have been an alternate punchline if nobody took the bait; I would expect that from a professional comic. But this was the gold, the ideal and predictable end of the bit. If Tosh says otherwise, he's lying or incompetent, and my money's on both.
But hey, I think we can all agree that footnotes are always funny.++
++ No.
In the realm of "not funny," I put it to you: openly threatening a person in an environment which is already hostile to them^ while they are unable to retaliate because of a significant power imbalance is not funny. It may be gleeful, because you are reveling in your superior position, but it's not funny. Especially when you clearly meant for that person to say what they said.+
--
* Much of the defense of Tosh has suggested he was being "provocative," but considering he was interested in shutting down discussion and imposing his own viewpoint while marginalizing any dissent, this portrayal is wishful thinking. Unless what you're saying he wished to provoke was media attention and tribalistic purchases by his fans, which could more realistically be called "rallying the base."
^ For the most part, being a woman in a comedy club is a miserable experience, whether as an audience member or performer. The whole "women aren't funny" meme mainly grows out of women not wanting to appear at comedy clubs, which still have a largely "no girlz alowed" atmosphere. Comedy clubs are populated by angry straight men who think they're smarter than the rest of the world and are not appropriately appreciated. Successful acts will reflect this viewpoint back to them, which will attract more of the same audience, which will reward this narrow band of comedy, etc., etc. Note for instance the whole "he had kids and stopped being funny" pattern. Kids are fonts of comedy - look at Bill Cosby or W.C. Fields. But if your humor is based on being an underappreciated single guy who belittles all other perspectives, or if that is all your audience wants to hear, it is not a subject you can make use of.
+ Relevant personal anecdote: I've been around and participated in my share of standup, and I've done a lot of interactive theater outside of standup. When you are doing provocative comedy, you are often waiting for a predictable response from the audience that you can use to continue your bit. If you don't get the response, the bit dies. It is almost exactly similar to when you are doing a sales pitch or a revival meeting; there is a call and response element that makes the audience feel personally essential, as though they're present in a specific moment rather than a performance, and it is electric. However, it is showbiz trickery, and the audience volunteer (who does not realize they are volunteering) is only as influential as the person who picks the card in a magic trick. The card doesn't matter, and the trick is going to turn out the same.
For instance, I was at a New York comedy club about twelve years back, and the guy (also a white guy in his 30s) was doing a very similar bit to the Tosh bit (you know, the edgy provocative one that's not a cliche) around how offended women are by the word "cunt." You know they're so offended by cunt. My just saying cunt is upsetting someone. Cunt cunt cunt. Somebody out there is really upset now, right? And so forth. Nobody was laughing, because there hasn't been a joke yet. We're waiting to see where this is going. He continues to vamp on this cunt thing. Finally, I call out that I'm offended. Which allows him to say the punchline. (I forget the punchline.) After the show, he came out to find me in the audience and make sure I had not been alienated and that I had had a good time, because I was an integral part of the show, an included part he could not have done without.
This is a classic way of building a bit. The description of what Tosh was doing is this bit structure - vamping by asking variations on the same question over and over, waiting for somebody in the audience to take the bait so that you can turn it all around with your punchline that shows your audience (including your mark) that they can follow you out on a limb, because there will be a delightful piece of fruit hidden at the end of the branch.
It is disingenuous to call the "I'm offended" audience member a heckler. A heckler is outside your routine, trying to interrupt your routine. The "I'm offended" person, in contrast, is somebody you're counting on, somebody you've asked to volunteer without literally saying "I need a volunteer."
What I'm getting at here is that "wouldn't it be funny if a bunch of guys raped that woman right now" is not a gaffe hastily improvised by a flustered comedian. It's the punchline the bit was setting up. There may have been an alternate punchline if nobody took the bait; I would expect that from a professional comic. But this was the gold, the ideal and predictable end of the bit. If Tosh says otherwise, he's lying or incompetent, and my money's on both.
But hey, I think we can all agree that footnotes are always funny.++
++ No.
