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Thursday, August 2, 2012

Comedy What a Real Comedian Is

Posted by Charles Mudede on Thu, Aug 2, 2012 at 8:00 AM

On one of his recent radio shows, a popular Somali comedian ridiculed commanders of a ruthless Islamist insurgent group that is notorious for forcibly recruiting boys into its ranks and making them fight.

“Hey young boys, you can’t move back from the enemy shelling ... instead just stay there and fight,” the comedian said, taking the role of an al-Shabab commander speaking by phone to his youthful troops from an oceanside spot, far from the front lines

Such ribbing may have cost comedian Abdi Jeylani Malaq his life. On Tuesday, the 43-year-old Malaq was shot dead near his home in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, by two young men suspected of belonging to al-Shabab, a group that pledges fealty to al-Qaida.

The targeted killing sparked calls for investigations into his death.

Many in Somalia will miss Malaq’s ability to make them laugh as they try to overcome some 20 years of conflict.

The reason why the Left has so many (maybe too many) great comedians (Jon Stewart and so on) and the Right has so few (if none at all—think of Red Eye), is because comedy in its essence is subversive. Power hates those who have access to the disruptive/destructive energies of laughter.

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I keep mentioning this Harlan Ellison quote I read -- I can only paraphrase it now -- but he says something like "There is no such thing as a funny right-wing comedian because comedy is all about pointing out absurdity, and if a right-winger tried to do that he'd wind up shelling his own troops."

Posted by --MC on August 2, 2012 at 8:24 AM

I very much agree with this. One time, a friend asked me what I thought the difference was between "good bad taste" and "bad bad taste." I told him that I thought the former subverts the status quo, while the latter upholds it.

Posted by Peteykins

on August 2, 2012 at 8:32 AM

His bravery was beyond humbling.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on August 2, 2012 at 8:42 AM

The right has Gallagher. Smashing a watermelon apparently counts as subversive among the conservatives.

Posted by MR M on August 2, 2012 at 8:44 AM

And don't forget Victoria Jackson. On second thought, try to REMEMBER Victoria Jackson.

Posted by --MC on August 2, 2012 at 9:31 AM

Charles,
That is bloody sad.
Regarding comedians, you may have a point ...now. But in the 60s and earlier it might not have been so. Bob Newhart (now since retired?) remains a very funny man. And, without knowing his political stance could easily be center-Right. Still, there is an element of the subversive. Point taken.

Posted by lark on August 2, 2012 at 9:37 AM

Dennis Miller is kinda right wing. Jeff Foxworthy isn't super right-wingy, but he's still conservative.

But of course, both of them are only funny when they're NOT joking about something political.

Posted by Urgutha Forka on August 2, 2012 at 9:59 AM

Ron White

Larry the Cable Guy (pretends to be one kind of conservative, while actually being another)

Billy Gartrell

Nick Di Paolo

Drew Carey is Libertarian

I'm sure there's others not springing immediately to mind.

Posted by evilvolus on August 2, 2012 at 10:21 AM

@8: Ron White might have an accent and drink Bourbon, but he's not very conservative.

Posted by NateMan on August 2, 2012 at 10:29 AM

Is he not? Hmm. Sounds like an excuse to rewatch Tater Salad and see.

Posted by evilvolus on August 2, 2012 at 11:13 AM

@8,

Who?

Are you kidding?

Who?

Who?

Are you kidding?

We're talking about *funny* comedians, not people who have the word "comedian" on their resume.

Posted by keshmeshi on August 2, 2012 at 11:30 AM

And there are comedians whose acts are apolitical who are generally considered objectively funny, or at least were at the time they were active. Some were/are conservatives (Bob Hope comes to mind), but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a comedian who makes conservatism part of his act who isn't widely regarded as an unfunny hack.

Posted by keshmeshi on August 2, 2012 at 11:33 AM

Yeah, Ron White is pretty non-political. He's definitely not super right wing; he's in favor of marijuana legalization for one thing.

I think he's funny as hell. Oh, and he drinks scotch, not bourbon.

Posted by Urgutha Forka on August 2, 2012 at 11:42 AM

@11 - Larry the Cable Guy is not my cup of tea, but there's plenty that would disagree. Everyone else on that list has been pretty funny at least a few times in their life.

Re: Ron White, I agree that he's funny as hell. Tater Salad is largely apolitical, but he does do an anti gun-control bit and a pro death penalty bit, but he also does a bit on how stupid homophobia is. So, it's probably fair to call him a Texas Liberal.

Posted by evilvolus on August 2, 2012 at 12:04 PM

adam corolla in a Ron Paul-ish sort of way

Posted by rodlotta on August 2, 2012 at 1:51 PM

@12 - Is there any chance that "widely regarded" means "among my liberal friends"?

Posted by evilvolus on August 2, 2012 at 2:57 PM

@16 of course that's what @12 means. Also their comment #11 shows that they know fuck-all about comedy.

"I've never heard of these wildly successful comedians nor do I find them funny therefore they aren't wildly successful nor funny."

Objective statements about a subjective art form just makes you look like a know-nothing asshole.

Posted by McGee on August 2, 2012 at 3:44 PM