Art Of Stand Up Comedy

The Art of Offense The art of stand up comedy is one that has been around for decades, from the early Bob Hope, to Don Rickles, to the more modern Anthony Jeselnik. This form of communication has been used not only to make people laugh, but to convey messages, thoughts, ideas and societal values. People often overlook this form of performance, or worse, they seek to limit it. This is a terrible thing that is happening in our society, people looking to censor art, tell people what they can and can’t say. To quote the late George Carlin, “There 's a lot of groups, a lot of institutions in this country want to control your language.” At the time of his saying this, he was referring to people as a whole, not just stand up comedy. Over time, his …show more content…
A few years ago, well known actor and comedian Tracy Morgan was in a good deal of trouble for making a series of homophobic remarks on stage. He received so much flak in fact that he was forced to apologize on live T.V. This is a very extreme case of a comedian being told what they can and cannot say. Morgan being made to apologize for a joke he told in a stand up act is complete a violation of the rights that we are given as Americans. If he had said the things he did in an interview it would be a very different situation, but given that he said it in a stand up environment in a stand up comedy club, it is outrageous that people would make him do that. The difference lies in how the two formats are viewed by the American public. Americans generally take interviews as very serious things, even when on shows that have a comedy base such as Conan or Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, that is a platform that many people get their views on certain topics heard whereas they might not otherwise be able to talk about them. The stage is a special place where comedians, musicians, and actors can take stances that they don’t necessarily believe in to entertain audiences. Sometimes, however, people can’t understand that and will become upset or angry with the performer. Standup comedy is meant to be free expression of a person. They take an idea of how something is even if they skew it one way or another, to make it presentable to the public in a fashion that will entertain them. Very few comedians use the art as an actual platform for serious political or social activism. They just introduce ideas through their experiences in ways that people will relate to and find funny. It’s okay to get offended by a joke, everybody does, but to then make someone else change to fit what a select group thinks is okay is just insane. You