The Late Show With Stephen Colbert just breathed its last, and what is there to say? Late night talk shows started as a way to be amused in the hours where you couldn't quite get to sleep, and as long as they hewed to that purpose they were in good shape. When they started functioning as a validation of the politics of part of their audience that was the beginning of the end. I think this is coming to be generally acknowledged.
Anyway, it's in relation that event that this post has resurfaced. Feser has some pretty solid ideas of what comedy is and isn't.
The problem is not that the progressives in question look at humor through the wrong political lens. The problem is that looking at humor through any political lens, including the right one, is simply to misunderstand the nature of humor. The fact is that there does not seem to be any essential connection at all between something’s being funny and it’s conveying some truth, uncomfortable or otherwise.
There is much truth to this. Duck Soup is often remembered as a masterful satire on the absurdities of war, and sure you can take that message from it. But if that's really what the Marx Brothers were trying to do, rather than―as Groucho put it―"four Jews trying to be funny", it probably would be a lot less watchable.
As for black comedy, I think that is funny because of the relief factor. The very fact that you're not supposed to make jokes about certain subjects makes it funnier when you do.
2 comments:
It was a long time ago I enjoyed staying up very late to watch Jack Parr and later Johnny Carson whenever I could. Both of them were around for a long time were popular because they were funny and entertaining. No written explanation is required about what makes good comedy if only you watch a clip of a Carson show - of course it helps that he had some equally funny guests:
https://youtu.be/_bfVLB_UegY?si=UeOnh1WJyWFwVV9H
Colbert decided to make partisan jokes to gain the favor of leftist elites and became instantly boring.
You're right of course that nothing kills comedy faster than determining your jokes or remarks must avoid particular subjects. Political correctness is just a mask to use when following the prescribed terminology. You haven’t changed peoples minds, you've just changed some words. In the meantime there are a number of people who aren't good at making others laugh.
I agree too about the Marx Brothers, absolute masters of comedy largely for the reason in the PBS article: The Marx Brothers arrived with perfectly crafted characters, honed over the course of thousands of nights in front of paying audiences, and their movies are inspired bits of nonsense, designed to tear down all manner of clay-footed idols.
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/how-the-marx-brothers-got-famous-in-hollywood/25191/
Jack Paar I only found out about after he'd been off the air for years, although I think he got a reunion show here and there. I've been able to ascertain that he was a very funny man, but his time had past before I was aware of him. Carson was obviously a different story. He had such charm and such a hold on the audience that he was like the air. And certainly having a guest like Bob Newhart show up on a regular basis helps things too.
Things are funny because they're funny, not because you agree with them. How long before the professionals rediscover this fact?
The purposes of humor are embedded deep in our consciousness. The battles of the culture war are ephemeral. Politics can be a funny topic, but you have to play fair with the audience.
That's a neat link. In the early picture of the brothers with Gummo, Groucho looks like a troublemaker even if he hasn't painted the mustache on yet.
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