“I’m gonna show that I’m not afraid to mock this upsetting thing that most ppl don’t find funny” is not brave. It’s not hilarious because it offends some people. It’s a FORMULA, and an increasingly lazy one.
I don’t spend a lot of time judging the quality of other’s comedy (it mostly just comes off as adolescent & insecure). My taste isn’t the law. People like what they like. What do I care? Some comedy sucks. What do I care?
But there is some comedy that sucks and it’s bad for people imo. Some comedy sucks and it’s bad for comedy imo. And if I yell “Boo!” that is not censorship. It’s just not a laugh. And if you tell jokes that’s the risk you run. No sense crying about it.
“In today’s environment (fill in blank w name of legendary stand up) wouldn’t succeed!” Stand up from 50 yrs ago wouldn’t work? No shit! Comedy is the most perishable form of entertainment. Shit just stops being funny. We’ve all watched old SNL’s & experienced this.
(Also comedy is on a continuum. You can’t pluck someone out of the historical timeline and plop them down somewhere else. Today’s comedy is what it is bc of yesterday’s comedy. The jokes of today have to be what they are because of the jokes of the past)
I can’t say that the hackiness of what Louis said was the main thing, because he said some fucked up stuff (i.e., denying bravery of Parkland survivors advocacy is untrue. Shitting on trans ppl is small & mean). But wow, was it lazy. Wow, was it EASY.
Now there’s a lot of revisionist history about Louis’ work, mainly that he was never funny. That is not true. Years ago Louis could be stone cold brilliant. About relationships. About parenthood. About the fucking human condition. That’s why this is all such a bummer for me.
We are seeing a cliche in action. Comedy man meets consequences. Comedy man becomes “truth teller” by fishing in a barrel of societally sensitive topics. What a gigantic yawn. What a waste. What a lost opportunity for an artist to do some art.
The PC police are not ruining comedy. It is a challenging time to be making jokes. You either accept the challenge or retreat into a past that was easier for you. I hope that this kind of selfish, easy, decency-contrarianism soon becomes as hack as airline food and mother-in-laws
