What's the Point of Comedy?

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm obsessed with comedy. I like when people laugh for a lot of reasons. Laughter can take a bad situation and make it okay. Laughter helps people feel connected and is one of those rare moments when you can see through the facade of adulthood that we're all told we have to adopt if we want to be a respectable member of society. People look sort of ridiculous when they laugh (exhibit A: the picture on the right. Those idiots just look foolish for daring to show their teeth and close their eyes. A tiger could easily devour them since they've got their guard down).

But more importantly, I love thinking about comedy in a pseudo-philosophical way. Why do we laugh? Is comedy good for society? Why the hell are doggo memes so amazing (if you can manage to look at the picture on the left and not laugh I both applaud you and at the same time am deeply suspicious that you are sectrely a robot)? Only the deep questions.

And one of the biggest questions I keep coming back to is "what is the point of comedy?" What makes it a worthwhile thing. I've spent far more nights wide awake in existential dread that the thing I love most in life is actually a frivolous waste of time, a manipulative rhetorical strategy, and a deeply self-centered act. Doesn't make for amazing sleep.

But through the power of complicated mental gymnastics I've finally come to a place where I think comedy is a valuable and (in some ways) noble thing which benefits society greatly. And now that I've deluted myself into thinking what I like can be justified I sleep more comfortably. I wanted to write this blog post to talk about the three things I think comedy does well and why they're important.

Comedian as Truth-sayer
Let's face it: comedy is nothing if it's not honest. In order to connect with a comedian, you have to trust them. You're not going to laugh if you think someone is full of shit. What this means is that in order to do comedy you need to be focusing on things you think are true and worth talking about. You don't necessarily have to say it directly. One of the things that makes comedy amazing is that often you can say the literal opposite of what you are trying to convey, but if you do it in the right way the audience will understand the actual point you are trying to make. That's a little thing called sarcasm. It's pretty neat (but has its own issues, which I'll hopefully talk about in a later post).

Moreover, comedy gives people a pass to talk about taboo subjects that are normally too uncomfortable to address, but are probably worth addressing (I mean seriously, why the hell are our brains wired in such a way that doggo memes are irresistable? Only the deep questions, like I said). If you can make something funny you can talk about whatever you want. This gives a comedian a lot of power of self-expression, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing.

I think this is generally good until it crosses a line. The problem is that sometimes true doesn't equate to okay to say. I take a lot of issue with comedians (or funny people) who use their priviledged rhetorical position to say shitty things. In particular, there is a tendency toward "cruel humor" that is very dangerous. Think of that jackass that bullied you in middle school because of your race, gender, sexuality, way you looked, etc... Comedy can be used to let people get away with being dicks, and not in a playful, flirtatious kind of way- in a generally being a shitty person kind of way that reinforces dangerous and unfair narratives that have no business being reinforced.

This isn't necessarily the fault of comedy. Comedy is a tool and tools in the hands of malicious people can do a lot damage. Although I think comedy and free speech are generally good things, they aren't universally good and we as a society need to take the time to decide how to manage them. But we also have to be careful, because people are in general headstrong and don't do kindly with having their thoughts suppressed. Which is a perfect segueway (almost like I planned this shit out, which I didn't)...

Comedian as rebel
Like I said, people (and all living things for that matter) don't like being restricted against their will. One of the biggest purposes of comedy is to push boundaries and poke people's buttons. This can actually be a very healthy thing, since most boundaries need to be pushed to keep them from becoming oppressive. Institutional racism, sexism, and lots of other isms really have no right to exist since they don't make a whole lot of sense. Similarly, there are lots of cultural norms that we take for granted but don't actually make very much sense. Maybe it's just the anarcho-satanist in me, but most of these things should be burned to the ground. If an institution can't stand up to scrutiny it really shouldn't exist in the first place.

This ties back to the aspect of comedy that focuses on saying the truth, because often the truth is subversive. People are often ruthless when they feel that their backs are against the wall or that the odds are stacked against them (there is no way of withstanding the wiring in our brain that makes doggos so perfect. It's not fair that evolution would craft us to have such a weakness. #bandoggo).

The corrolary to this reasoning is that, because power structures are simply a matter of narrative, often people feel restricted unfairly when they aren't (I'll refer you back to my post on psychosis and delusion for an explanation of why). I really could do an entire post (hell, probably an entire Netflix mini-series) on the alt-right, but this is the perfect example of comedy being used to subvert an authority that doesn't exist to the extent they think it does.

Sometimes comedy attempts to push boundaries that really shouldn't be pushed for the sake of the laugh, which also isn't a bad thing. One of the best examples of this is Eric Andre, whose entire shtick is doing uncomfortable social gags like watching porn in coffee shops, which help us see why those boundaries are there in the first place and give us a clearer sense of what we want the world to be like.

Comedian as entertainer
No amazing transition this time (I did tell you I hadn't planned this out, didn't I?). Just kidding, Eric Andre is the perfect transition because I'm amazing at winging this shit (I swear, no prior planning went into this post; I'm just that good). The last thing I think comedy does is entertain, which is probably its most obvious role. We like to laugh. Sometimes we need to laugh to ease the tension (if you're feeling challenged and stressed at the moment I recommend you look back at the doggo meme. I laugh every time).

Life, while it is usually a beautiful thing, can be excrutiatingly painful sometimes. Maybe you lost your job. Maybe a loved one has died or left your life. Maybe doggo really did get banned and now there is nothing worth living for. It's not a great idea to keep your face pressed to the grindstone until the skin and bone are gone and it starts to come in contact with brain tissue; sometimes we need to come up for air and laugh to remind ourselves that life is worth living.

Especially important is "silly" comedy that connects with that little baby inside us that is screaming in the backseat while our adult persona drives. Life doesn't need to be a serious thing. It's a bit like a tasteless, dry-ass piece of meat: it should be taken with a grain of salt.

Maybe it's making weird pig squeals in public for no reason. Maybe it's kissing someone like an alpaca. (I know you're waiting for me to complete the rule of three with another doggo callback, but I refuse because I'm actually a sadist who takes great pleasure from your suffering. Sarcasm, in case you actually took that at face value. It all comes full circle). But the fact is, being silly makes life more enjoyable. Most people live boring, dreary lives and enjoy being fucked with a little bit of nonsese (just realized that sentence is a great garden path sentence that forces you to reinterpret "fucked with a little bit." Linguistics is a beautiful thing, isn't it?).

End of apology
Exactly what the title of this subsection says. Now unstick your face from the screen and go live your life. Bye.