Humor and Stand Up Comedy

I read the first two essays on cultural humor and stand up comedy in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In The Seriously Erotic Politics of Laughter by Cynthia and Julie Willett and Black Female Crossover Comedy by Naomi Zack address the social complexity of comedy.  There has to be some truth in a joke, otherwise it becomes unrelatable and therefore uncomical.  Cynthia and Julie Willett discuss the nature of turning harmful prejudices and derogatory stereotypes around on the audience through humor, however it is necessary for those who suffer from both to be the comedian in question.  If a member of another class or race attempts to joke about the suffering of another, the joke becomes less of a relatable commentary and more of an ignorant validation of social norms.  Only the sufferer can joke about his or her suffering.  Naomi Zack addresses black stand-up comedy in more depth than the Willetts especially regarding the intricacies of comedy which make it successful. At the end, Zack concludes her piece noting the important incorporation of both repelling and humorous material into a joke.  This duality is often prevalent in black stand-up both male and female.  She notes that with it comes the successful creation of psychological buffers to pain.  Both pieces discuss the somewhat uncomfortable nature of eroticized humor and the interesting psychological effects that such discomfort may bring to an audience.

These two pieces thematically address the nature of language.  As we have often discussed in class, they ask the subliminal question: who has power over certain language?  What kind of diction are black people allowed to use and white people are not and vice versa? What about women and men? It brings to mind the fundamental goal to reclaim certain words and phrases by marginalized groups.  The nature of one's social stature marks the differences that come with culutre.   However, is strict cultural variation a goal, or even unavoidable? Or perhaps, are we moving towards a culture so complex and integrated that there will come a point when the rules of comedy become obsolete and we will one day laugh at the eggshells so many tip-toed around (or didn't) in the past?