#NerdsUnite: I can haz funny (one nerds journey around the comedic circuit)
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 at 3:01PM<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Brandon. We started talking on the Facebook not too long ago, and lemme tell you, this guy can throw in quite the few kneeslappers in his emails. Yep, see Brandon is a comedian who is here today to tell you the real deal on what it's like being "on the circuit." I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT BRANDON!!! </editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @BrandonComedy
*This entire post is in reference to this blog ("A Girl Walks Into A Comedy Club")
To preface, I’m not “pro rape.” I think it is a deplorable and debasing act of inhumanity, and I hope that everyone who has been a victim of this crime gets the justice they so rightly deserve. That said; there is a growing legion of “P.C. Police” who complain about content they found disturbing at a comedy club. Comedians walk a high wire act when dealing with controversial subjects, and EVERYONE has some sort of trigger that they don’t want to hear a comedic take on, but to feel entitled enough to yell out to a performer DURING a show, because your specific trigger was hit is more offensive than any comedian could be. You have the right to be offended by something. Who am I to tell you otherwise? But you do not have the right to interrupt a show because something didn’t resonate with you.
Let me tell you a little bit about my act. I hit on all sorts of taboo topics, and do so freely, because my job as a comedian gives me license to mine any comedic mine where funny might be found. Neither I nor any of my colleagues would ever tell a joke that didn’t get laughs and only served to hurt people. I currently have 0 rape jokes in my act; I personally can’t find a way to make them funny. Last week I closed with a bit about ejaculating on a woman with breast cancer. Was it the most women positive joke? NOPE! But I can tell it without fear, because I know that as a comic, I’m not doing any jokes with the intention to harm, but to entertain.
Daniel Tosh has been doing the same type of act for over a decade. It has landed him a hit TV show, and 2 highly rated comedy specials (both of which feature rape jokes). You should be able to tell 3 minutes into his act that “oh hey this might get offensive, if I am a person of a particular sensibility, maybe I should leave, this might not be for me.” To stick around, and then feign offense when a topic personal to you gets hit is irresponsible, to yell back at the comic and then be offended when you’re “put in your place” is tragic. As a comic, you are trained to just get hecklers out of the way, not to stop your show and make apologies. If you can make a joke while doing it, no matter how crass and tasteless the joke, your comedic instinct is going to tell you to do it.
Walking into a comedy club, you should have certain expectations. You might think you’d like to see comedy that offends no one on any level, but I pose that comedy is not as effective if EVERYONE laughs at EVERY joke. I could be wrong, but every comic I’ve seen ever tells me I’m not. We all know what happens at comedy clubs. We all know that comedians push the line. To be offended at “edgy” material at a comedy club is almost the expectation today. You would have a better argument if you went to a jazz club and Dizzy Gillespie told you it would be funny if five dudes raped you (Dizzy Gillespie has been dead for almost 10 years, him telling you to get raped in 2012 is shocking for a number of reasons). You don’t get to be mad at Daniel Tosh, a man KNOWN for making declarative and inflammatory statements in a comedy club. He didn’t walk past you on the street and threaten you, and he only specifically addressed you when you attacked him.
Oh, and Dane Cook’s rape-joke-free woman’s rights progressive show you were going to see? Let’s not forget as recently as THIS YEAR, he got in hot water for similar comments.
If you can’t control your level of outrage, go see a funny movie. A comedy club isn’t a place for people to get upset whenever their niche issue gets mentioned. That being said; I’ll be at the Oklahoma City Loony Bin all this week.
#nerdsunite
click here to follow Brandon on twitter & don't miss his blog over yonder!
Reader Comments (9)
Wrong. If Tosh can't get through a routine without a rape joke, he's just a bad comedian.
There are taboo topics...and then there is rape. It's one of the few things in the world that is always, always, ALWAYS wrong and therefore it can never be funny in any context. Women should be able to see a comedy show, or any other piece of entertainment, without having to worry about whether there will be a rape joke in there.
I'm very disappointed to read this. Women need more male allies against sexual assault, and I wish you'd taken a stand on this issue and been one of them.
Actually...right after I read this post, coincidentally I read another one that I think you should read.
http://www.thelatepartygirls.com/2012/07/lorraine-says-never-pick-up-phone.html
I entirely disagree. I will concede that rape is a topic that people are passionate about, but life is full of terrible and sad things. You don't get to say your terrible and sad thing is any worse than someone else's terrible sad thing. I agree that rape is a particularly touchy subject, but if comics couldn't make it funny, they wouldn't do it. Louis CK, Iliza Shlesinger, George Carlin, Dane Cook, Daniel Tosh, Sarah Silverman, Anthony Jeselnik, all have rape jokes somewhere in their act and they all (in Carlin's case, did) sell lots of tickets and have lots of fans. Someone thinks the jokes are funny.
Please enlighten me on which rape jokes you think are funny.
Here are a few.
Robot Chicken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpDVeq4t4h0
Louis CK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4hNaFkbZYU
Dave Chappelle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLWlBgj0uOc&feature=fvwrel
Sarah Silverman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5IoKVHNXmI
Natasha Leggero: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHyhLtroeF4&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL47251B368B4E9840
Norm MacDonald: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VswaN5b_SzQ
I have a mother, sisters and daughters....! That being said... Comedy is not for everybody, however, that girl should have done her homework going into a comedy club. With the access to Youtube literally in the palm of everybody's hand, there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for what she did....!
That Dave Chappelle 'Man Rape' is fuckin funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...Wow. You are officially a HORRIBLE PERSON.
This guy gets it. Why don't you?
http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/70422346.html#cutid1#ixzz20qFZKi2y
I'm a horrible person because I don't share your opinion? In addition to writing a well reasoned and informed article, I have cited 6 sources that corroborate that rape jokes can be made funny. You have cited one article with no relevance, and another that provides a similarly well reasoned, but dissenting opinion. I feel like you are too close to this topic to debate it fairly. And that's okay.