Black teen pregnancy.
AIDS.
Rape.
Is anything off limits in comedy anymore?
Increasingly, the answer is no, as once-taboo topics are cropping up in mainstream comedy. Still, some warn that this kind of comedy can easily be misunderstood and desensitize viewers to serious social issues–such as racism.
The insult-comedy tradition traces back to the ’60s and ’70s with the reign of Don Rickles, and re-emerged in the ’90s with shock comedians including Andrew Dice Clay and Sam Kinison.
But today’s insult comedians can push buttons on a bigger stage than ever: your TV.
Comic Sarah Silverman, who has even made rape the topic of her riffs, recently landed her own show, “The Sarah Silverman Program,” which launches on Comedy Central on Feb. 1.
Lisa Lampanelli, a comic known for racially charged material, also will appear in a Comedy Central special, “Lisa Lampanelli: Dirty Girl,” on Sunday.
Silverman and Lampanelli told RedEye they are clearly joking and that so-called politically incorrect comedy exposes, rather than endorses, ignorance and intolerance in America.
“Political correctness has no place in comedy,” said Lampanelli, the self-described “Lovable Queen of Mean.” “You’re supposed to make fun of things you’re scared of, like racism.”
One south suburban resident and self-described comedy fan said that as long as it’s funny, anything goes.
“Comedy is sometimes the only place you can talk about really serious stuff,” said Angel Elmore, 27, who was at the Chicago Underground Comedy Show at Beat Kitchen on Tuesday night. “People shouldn’t get offended, it’s not that serious.”
But one local comic said focusing too much on differences within the audience goes against the inclusive nature of comedy.
“I want everyone to laugh, and there’s plenty to talk about without everything being racially focused,” said Damon Williams, one of the hosts at Bronzeville-based Jokes and Notes comedy club. “That old ‘white people got garbage cans in their house, but blacks use Jewel bags to put away garbage’ stuff always seems to come across as white is right and black is wrong.”
Williams, who is black, said racial comparisons have been popularized by African-American comedians as far back as Richard Pryor and heightened again during HBO’s Def Comedy Jam days, and most recently, by Dave Chappelle’s now-defunct show on Comedy Central. But such jokes can backfire, depending on who delivers them, Williams said.
Lampanelli agreed, pointing out the recent flap when fellow comic and “The View” co-host Rosie O’Donnell appeared to mock the Chinese language during a segment in December. O’Donnell later apologized while warning, “there’s a good chance I’ll do something like that again.”
“She’s a comedian, and that’s what they pay her to do,” Lampanelli said of the incident. “Then they wonder why I don’t want to go on ‘The View’ and face the uptight soccer moms.”
Soccer moms aren’t the only people who would be offended, Williams said.
“Things are changing, but it’s still pretty much taboo for white comics to use racial slurs or stereotypes because of injustices that whites have historically committed against other races,” Williams said. “Race humor isn’t funny if the person’s race that you are talking about can’t laugh at it also.”
Some humor also goes against the grain of what is generally accepted in mainstream comedy, a local sociology expert said.
“I’m not so sure that anyone can make fun of anyone they want,” said Gary Alan Fine, a Northwestern University professor and expert in social psychology. “Typically, African-Americans make fun of African-Americans and Jews make fun of Jews. In the past, Jackie Mason would make fun of Jews and about how cheap they were. Bill Cosby couldn’t get away with that.”
Nowadays, Lampanelli said, audiences are more accepting of a clever insult comic no matter what his or her skin color. In fact, Lampanelli said she has based her 16-year stand-up career on jokes about Jews, blacks, Latinos, Asians, the disabled–and her “own people, the Italians.”
“Equal-opportunity” insults are less harmful, said an Upper Midwest spokesman for the Anti-Defamation League, but he also warned that it can be troublesome if one group becomes a target or if some audience members fail to see the irony in stereotypical comments.
“Then it becomes a case of laughing at someone rather than with them,” the league’s Lonnie Nasatir said.
Silverman, who is Jewish, has joked about Judaism, Christianity, black teenage pregnancy and 9/11 in her act. She also has touched upon those with disabilities.
“Jeez, I haven’t been thinking of it as ‘jokes against those with disabilities,’ ” Silverman said in an e-mail to RedEye. “To me it feels more like, we’re all on this world together, and it’s just silliness. My intention is certainly not to separate people with jokes.”
Jokes and Notes’ Williams isn’t so sure audiences will understand those intentions.
“It’s different when you joke in front of people in a club or a concert who understand your humor than when you’re doing it on a television program,” Williams said.
Even Silverman is unsure about whether some will find her show offensive, but if they do: “I can only say sorry,” Silverman said. “I never defend it. Comedy is totally subjective.”
A Comedy Central executive expects Silverman’s humor to be a hit with young men who are tired of traditional sitcom humor and infatuated with her from her schtick in the movies “Aristocrats” and “Jesus is Magic.”
Her show–which centers on the surreal adventures of Silverman, her real-life sister and their two gay friends–will offer similar shock value, said Lauren Corrao, Comedy Central’s executive vice president of original programming and development.
“In one of her episodes, she’s having a ho-hum day and she goes to get an AIDS test to cheer herself up,” Corrao said. “Sarah hangs around a lot of comedians, so her comedy is particularly edgy.”
Silverman seemed uncertain of shock comedy’s future.
“I think that the next backlash will be against this political incorrectness, and I’m still deciding on what side I’ll be on,” Silverman wrote.
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kkyles@tribune.com
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Michael Richards’ fallout
Is the comedy world–particularly comedians who push the envelope–under increased scrutiny after comic Michael Richards’ n-word outburst? Comedians Lisa Lampanelli, Sarah Silverman and a spokesman from the Anti-Defamation League weighed in on the November incident:
“I’ve been heckled personally and cut off in traffic in New York at least every day, and I yell things, but it’s never about race. Michael Richards looked at a grACoup of black people in the audience and went off. I think he’s racist and there’s something going on there, but that’s not comedy … that is anger.”
Lisa Lampanelli [ comic ]
“I think [the incident] has made it a bit more of a sensitive time for comedy. It’s made the topic raw again, but good can potentially come from it.”
Sarah Silverman [ comic ]
“The Michael Richards situation was one where someone clearly went beyond the line, and it was not comedy anymore, but outright vitriol and something incredibly hurtful and hateful. We believe in free speech in comedy, but that went way over the line.”
Lonnie Nasatir [ of the Anti-Defamation League ]
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REDEYE ON THE SPOT
RedEye asked aspiring comics and comedy fans at a Chicago Underground Comedy Show at Lakeview’s Beat Kitchen if they thought it was possible for comedy to cross the line.
“I like edgy comedy, not just a comic who is picking on people, but one who is pushing the limits of the medium. I think audiences can certainly tell the difference if jokes are coming from a humorous or an angry place.”
Ashley Bates [ 26, Roscoe Village ]
“As a comedian myself, I don’t like comedy that is mean-spirited or picks on certain groups of people just for shock value. It has to be funny. That kind of comedy can be like bathroom humor. It’s an easy laugh, but not very original.”
Hattie Snider [ 28, Avondale ]
“I don’t like shock comedy. I like smart comedy, though it can be funny when a good comedian says what other people are thinking, but wouldn’t ordinarily say.”
Tony Goskie [ 38, Avondale ]
“There should be no holds barred in comedy. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you can’t laugh at anything. Everybody is so PC now. I’m Polish, and I can rattle off 100 Polish jokes.”
Mike Curylo [ 41, Lakeview ]
“If you make fun of somebody’s race, it had better be the funniest thing ever heard. Otherwise, you’re just a racist.”
Tony Sam [ 30, Lakeview, co-creator, producer Chicago Underground Comedy ]
