This one is possibly going to be heady and weird, but trust me it has a point. I was thinking to myself about how we do things or learn about something, yet find ourselves lacking in other forms. This all actually started because of thinking about so many comedians who complain about not being able to say something without “offending” someone. Then it gets blamed on the culture being too sensitive or people finding ways to get themselves offended. If you don’t know a comedians body of work or if you take just one joke or the punchline out of a whole set, yeah, you’ll probably be upset for lack of information. BUT at the same time the understanding of what’s funny is subjective like all art forms, so naturally some will not see what the problem is and choose to argue that a comedians job is to push boundaries; making you think more on a topic that you already believe you have a solid understanding of. The sensitivity of a joke is often due to how close you are to the subject material. A set could be great until they get to a point where you have a tender spot.
This then led to me wondering something: are the comedians upset about the current shift of social behavior in culture or are they upset that their careers in comedy have become “outdated”. What I mean by this is are they worried about what is funny or are they worried their brand of comedy is not as popular anymore. White comedians wanting to say the “N” word, CIS gender people using Trans people as a punchline… Because of what we learn about identities and social status has changed, some commentary jokes can be offensive or miss the mark. It’s brave to go into territory that is “punching down”, and without pinpoint accuracy your joke becomes less a joke and more a gun aimed at the unconventional.
Then I started to wonder how many comedians create venues for comedy. Are they able to use their popularity to showcase comedians they enjoy? Yes, there are plenty that do that; but are there comedians who open a club or something that provides a space where they don’t have to deal with the bs they had to deal with coming up? Fair pay for time, safety from predators and harassment; because the stories a lot of comedians tell use these experiences as if it’s a badge of honor rather than inspiration for change if they are successful enough. Then I started to wonder if they’re even allowed to? To compete with businesses where you got your start would probably be difficult because it would almost feel like betrayal or a line being crossed.
Most people would call this kind of thinking a “rabbit hole”, but I believe you can look at asking all of these questions as learning. Brick by boring brick. Which is why I think to know something is to never be finished knowing. It’s a circle drawn but rather than the circle closing it is barely touching the opposite end by an infinitesimal amount and continuing the circle. It causes you to deal with never truly being finished understanding. Ugh, I’ve basically become Socrates pestering the people of Athens asking them if they truly are what they claim they are. It’s annoying, so annoying Athens killed him for it. Because who wants to constantly deal with someone challenging you when you just want to get to friggin work? In the context of comedians who push for progressive reform, we see a lot of acceptance of some social groups, but not enough understanding of what people are truly saying. In other words, they closed the circle.
Something With Nothing 