1. Some thoughts on COVID and coronavirus humor.
First, I'm not a comedian, nor a scold. We have to laugh in difficult times.
But I am an historian & scholar of HIV/AIDS, and I have some decently informed thoughts about when plague humor works, and when it doesn't.
First, I'm not a comedian, nor a scold. We have to laugh in difficult times.
But I am an historian & scholar of HIV/AIDS, and I have some decently informed thoughts about when plague humor works, and when it doesn't.
2. First, AVOID PUNS ABOUT THE NAME! Puns never work—they're cheap, low hanging fruit.
Here's Sen. Evan Bayh joking he has "aides" (via @megancarpentier @Jezebel).
Puns don't work—they're lazy & just bring pain to ppl who are going through it.
jezebel.com/evan-bayh-crac…
Here's Sen. Evan Bayh joking he has "aides" (via @megancarpentier @Jezebel).
Puns don't work—they're lazy & just bring pain to ppl who are going through it.
jezebel.com/evan-bayh-crac…
3. Twitter, I think, makes us feel like we always have to write SOMETHING, but remember to always punch up.
Puns are kind of punching down—making light of something serious.
Joking about the serious screw ups of the ppl at the top with skewering satire? Sure, punch up.
Puns are kind of punching down—making light of something serious.
Joking about the serious screw ups of the ppl at the top with skewering satire? Sure, punch up.
4. Jokes about how fear of sickness is mapping onto fears of marginalized ppl work IF made by the marginalized people themselves! @hxhassan sets the standard here—it makes us laugh and speaks to the human condition!
5. Jokes about the human condition we find ourselves work! These needn't minimize the suffering of some, but address (and to some degree alleviate) shared fears with humor! Like @TheSamhita on the greatest love of all
6. (Personally, I have been thinking about wearing one of these to try to stop me from touching my face so much.) 
7. Jokes that in any way are ableist or racist or joke about the kinds of people everyone "should" be afraid of never work. Humor joking about Asian/Asian Americans or disabled ppl is cruel & fuels xenophobia (please read @MatthewLeeMPH) nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
8. This is going to go on for a long time, and we need to laugh! For instance, I saw nattily dressed gay throuple going home on the train from the opera last night, and all three were so physically affectionate and deep in their opera convo I almost burst out laughing...
9. ...there's nothing inherently funny about a 3-way relationship, but seeing them post opera in a time of pandemic got me so out of my own anxious head that it made me want to guffaw.
I think we're gonna have a lot of end-of-Weimar Republic humor & horniness in our midst.
I think we're gonna have a lot of end-of-Weimar Republic humor & horniness in our midst.
10. I think we will need to laugh a LOT in the coming days. It's a great coping mechanism, especially with absurdity—like this dispatch from @sarahschulman3 of reading Kafka's THE TRIAL with Lisa Duggan & others in an empty theater of 1,000 ppl. (Spolier: Kafka lives!)
11. The trick, I think, is to think about who the jokes target & who they're for.
Do they target the sick & vulnerable? 👎🏾
Do they target xenophobia & injustice? 👍🏾
Do they target our anxieties about absurdity? 👍🏾
Do they let us take joy w/o being dismissive? 👍🏾
Do they target the sick & vulnerable? 👎🏾
Do they target xenophobia & injustice? 👍🏾
Do they target our anxieties about absurdity? 👍🏾
Do they let us take joy w/o being dismissive? 👍🏾
12. I do think Asian/Asian American ppl might have some skeweringly funny things to say about their experiences of these absurd times. But—just as white ppl shouldn’t really be the ones to make jokes about Black ppls’ experiences of racism—Asian/American ppl get a patent here.
13. Mere observations about the absurdity of capitalism in a time of mortal crisis usually work as wickedly funny jokes; however, as @WHarkavy taught me, play it straight. Don’t embellish. Let it sit there.
