Punching Up, Punching Down
Punching Up, Punching Down
How not to be an @$$#0|e
This subject is made to seem complicated but I don’t think it is. Let’s start where we most likely agree. Making fun of disabled people is pretty universally accepted as wrong. Even if you think it’s okay, trust me, it’s pretty universally accepted as wrong. Maybe you can cultivate an audience who are into it, it could happen, it has happened, but for the most part, it’s gonna lose you the crowd.
Of course if you are disabled, and you make fun of yourself, you’re probably gonna get away with it. (Check out my friends, The Comedians With Disabillities Act.)
The reasons why an able-bodied person making fun of a disabled person doesn’t work are the same reasons you can apply to a white guy making fun of minorities, straight people making fun of LGBQT people, etc. It all has to do with who is in the majority, who is holding the power, and if you’re punching up, speaking truth to power, or at least ridiculing power, or punching down, and making fun of someone who has less than you, which comes across as bullying.
I was on a show called The Coexist? Comedy Tour that featured a Muslim, a Christian, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Jew, and an atheist. We’d all rip on each other’s religious beliefs mercilessly, (in the name of world peace of course.) Larry Brand directed a documentary about us, and he explained to me one night after a show that what he loved about our tour was that each of our acts making fun of other people’s beliefs, would be horribly politically incorrect on its own, but together, it became the most politically correct show around. I was fascinated to observe that all the comics coming out on stage together at the top of the show, and allowing the audience to see our friendship and the obvious affection we held for one another was absolutely vital to the material working. On a couple of occasions we had a comic running late, or we had to shorten our overall run time and we skipped this intro. It was devastating to much of the show.
I worked with roast comic Lisa Lampenelli who is known for going after everyone equally. I see people claim they do this, but she was pretty masterful about it, and I notice she’d say, “Where my Mexicans at” and all the Mexicans in the audience would cheer, allowing her to then roast the hell out of them in a way that felt consensual and affectionate. She was protested by some activists who were hearing impaired after she said some on-brand awful things about deaf people. I wondered if she could have cleared it all up by putting a few sign language interpreters in the room and inviting the protesters in to be part of the fun. (Funny enough, I did not work with Lisa as a comedian. A friend managed the theatre she was performing in, and asked if I’d help man the merch table.)
A quick note about political correctness, wokeness, cancel culture, or whatever else is currently killing comedy. Despite what you may have heard, comedy is fine. At one time blackface was the dominant form of entertainment in America. When it went away, I’m certain there were people who felt wokeness (though they called it something else then) was killing comedy, and entertainment. If you want to see how old this fight really is, look up Groucho Marx calling out AL Jolson for continuing to do black face long past when most of his peers had realized it was horribly inappropriate.
And as for free speech, I find the people complaining that their free speech is being threatened are actually trying to impinge on the free speech of those who are criticizing them, or even boycotting them, both of which are example of free speech.
Let me address a certain former sitcom star on the other side of his peak saying the kids don’t like/get comedy anymore; every generation has their own music and their own comedy that they love and that the older generations think is weird, and not as good as their music, or their comedy. The early monologists like Bob Newhart, Lenny Bruce, and Mort Sahl seemed to older comics like they weren’t telling jokes, just talking, Monty Python’s love of absurdity baffled many adults. This isn’t new. Dude, you had your day. Enjoy performing for huge crowds at casinos, and convention centers and quit griping. Have a Pop Tart. You’re doin’ alright.
One last thought, make fun of, ridicule, parody things you are knowledgeable about. I find someone who loves hip hop can make fun it because they know it, and they get it. When someone who doesn’t like hip hop tries to make fun of it, it falls flat, and I find this is true with most things. Obviously, a political comedian is gonna joke about things they despise, but even there, they have to get a deep understanding of it if they really want to skewer it properly. Joke from a place of knowing. When I was doing the Coexist Comedy Tour, I spent hours doing research.
So, its easy. Don’t be a jerk, unless you want to be a jerk, but then don’t get mad when people call you a jerk, and notice, there is definitely an audience for jerks, but maybe you have to get mad to impress them. Confused? Me too. I find its much easier to just be nice, and if you misstep, apologize, mean it, and do better.
If you’re in the Sacramento area, and you want to take an in person class, I’ve got a four week session (one class per week, and then a graduation) starting up tomorrow and there are a few spots still open.
Information here: https://www.punchlinesac.com/