SWA # 7/8

I hate song lyrics. No to hell with that, I loathe song lyrics. Vague phrases which are barely intelligible drive me insane. For a good portion of songs the music just over powers the lyrics so people in their cars on the way to work find themselves creating their own intuitive verses. The meanings of a song are often as varied as the opinions of the people interpreting them. I tend to be a more mathematical person so circular opinionated arguments tend to cause me brain pain. This is my soundtrack and there will be no songs. My soundtrack is instead filled with bit after bit of stand-up comedy. I find stand-up comedy to be so compelling not simply because I just love jokes but because stand-up comedy is such a great representation of so many different aspects of life. There is no greater thrill for me than realizing one of these many aspects while listening to a new track.

The Power of Comedy.
Nothing brings people together like a good joke about how white ass crackers can’t dance, or how about a good black people like fried chicken and watermelon joke. One of the most paradoxical powers of comedy is its ability to use the stereotypes meant to separate people to unite people together. Lisa Lampanelli is the champion of this technique, she is an insult comic. Here would be a great place to throw in a quote to prove my point but the trouble is comedy does not work like this. One of Lampanelli’s jokes would be highly offensive out of the context of her tone and posture and meaning on the stage. One thing I can mention though is the composition of Lampanelli’s crowd. There are Asians, blacks, whites, Hispanics and just about any other ethnicity (well maybe no Eskimos) you can think of all laughing themselves blue over the stereotypes Lampanelli’s ridicules. A racial stereotype divides people based upon the context they are used in. Racial slurs have no power if they have no context given from the racist asshole using them. It is the attitude and tone of the racist asshole’s voice and posture which give racial slurs their negative connotation. Changing the context of a racial slur removes the negative connotation associated with the slur. The contextual humor added to the stereotypes deprives these negative labels of their power. By making fun of a stereotype a comedian is revealing how fucking stupid they are and thus by destroying a stereotype comedy unites people.
This will seem insane to people who know who Rodney Carrington is but this does not make my statement any less valid. Rodney Carrington (yes including his song Dear Penis) brings part of Martin Luther King’s dream to life. Seems kind of crazy but hear me out. MLK wanted people to be judged not by their appearance but by the content of their character. This dream is fully realized in stand-up comedy. People going to a comedy show have a certain expectation. They expect to be entertained and made to laugh. When discussing a comedian people don’t focus on the ethnicity or the appearance of a comedian they discuss the content and the value of his jokes. A comedian is judged by their ability to entertain a crowd with clever, unique, or just purely vulgar humor. There may be the initial visual judgment as the comedian steps on stage (which is simply an unavoidable part of human nature) but quickly this judgment is replaced by the joke material. No one sees a comedian and thinks, “Well he does not look funny at all, and I’m leaving the show.” People wait to hear the comedian before judging him. The content judging relationship between comedian and audience is a relationship every decent human being should emulate.

Comedy is not my hobby

A hobby is something a person can buy at a store like a model airplane kit. Comedy is more than that to me. Comedy is not a just something to pass the time with. Comedy is not a fucking model train set. It is part of who I am. It defines the way I approach real situations and it defines the way I relate to other people. One reason this holds true for me is the fact that my family spends most of its time teasing other family members. I’ll give you a little example. My grandmother is like any other. She worries and she nags (mostly nags). We have a handy little system where I tell inappropriate jokes to my grandmother to let her know to chill the hell out. I’ll begin to answer common questions with things a person should never say to their grandmother. If I sniffle on the phone Grandma reacts with, “Are your allergies acting up? Do you need me to bring you allergy pills?” To this I will usually respond with something such as, “No Grandma my allergies are fine I just have the sniffles because of the gram of coke I snorted just before you called, which for your information I bought with the birthday money you sent me.” Or Grandma may ask, “What did you do with your birthday money?” I’ll say, “Oh not much Grandma, I bought a book for class but most of the cash went towards my Support the One-Legged Hooker’s with an Eyepatch Charity Fund.” Now I get the feeling I may have surprised a person or two. Believe it or not my Grandmother laughs at these things. Oh do not fret, Grandma can defend herself and she has retaliated on more than one occasion. Comedy is more than a hobby to me it is a form of communication. It is the way I think and the way I interact with the world around me. Comedy just relives me and makes life easier to deal with. Some people deal with life by slamming booze or smoking dope. I say hell no to booze because I like my liver. I say fuck no to smoking dope because I am cheap. And I say hell yes to comedy because it is the cheapest, best, and most readily available drug I know of.

Soundtrack List (Just to name a few comedians listen to any acts you come across)
George Carlin, Dmetri Martin, Steven Wright, Mitch Hedberg, Tom Cotter
Bill Maher, Lewis Black, Carlos Mencia, Patton Oswalt
Chris Rock, Richard Pryor, Robert Schimmel, D.L. Hughley
Lisa Lampanelli, Dennis Leary, Sam Kinison, Rodney Carrington, Dave Atell
Ralphie May, Craig Shoemaker,