e-liz

But most people working this territory aren’t putting the same level of thought into it that Louis C.K. and Sarah Silverman have. Most are telling offensive jokes because offensive jokes get laughs. Some people love gay bashing jokes and some people love racist jokes, and some people think rape jokes are hilarious. The guy at the Del Close Marathon was getting laughs. He was also getting boos. But he was getting laughs. And that’s why he was so confident that his story was hilarious: that shit always gets some laughs. His decision was being reinforced as a good idea. Even in an audience where statistically there were bound to be rape survivors, a story about rape got laughs. If you, as a comic, aware of that balance, of the cheap laughs you get for exploiting pain versus the pain itself and the role your joke plays in normalizing an ongoing culture of acceptable criminal brutality, then you’re opting for the comedy of dumb guts and bullies. If you, as a comic, engage on these topics in a way that makes us question that norm, well, you’re back into “this is really difficult.” Good luck to you. Have a good long think, give it a try, run it by some comics you trust, and be prepared to apologize. If you get it right, you’ve done something semi-heroic.