Mel Brooks warns about the death of comedy

"You can be funny and kind, or funny and cruel. The second one is easier, but the first one is worth it" - Justin Mcelroy, co-host of My Brother, My Brother And Me

I'm a straight, white, middle-class cisgender man. I have pretty much every privilege in the book. My personal rule these days is that if anyone tells me that something I've done or said has offended them, even if I don't think it's a big deal, their comfort is more important than my right to say whatever I want.
 
Louis CK, Bill Burr, Joe Rogan, and Doug Stanhope all have audiences, so I don't think we need to sound the death knell yet. I think certain venues and audiences are no longer receptive to comedy, but there are still plenty of outlets for subversive or irreverent humor.

Exactly. Look at South Park, Rick & Morty, the idiot Farrelly brothers, there are still lots of people pushing boundaries and there always will be.
 
Off all the people that I've got to meet and hang out with from the RPF... caymanshen, I really hope one of these days we cross paths. I don't think I've ever disagreed with one of your posts brother.

Mel definitely has a point here and it is truly sad.

And yeah Louis CK... love his stuff... I have to think his days are numbered. Good thing he doesn't care one bit! LOL.
 
Off all the people that I've got to meet and hang out with from the RPF... caymanshen, I really hope one of these days we cross paths. I don't think I've ever disagreed with one of your posts brother.

Mel definitely has a point here and it is truly sad.

And yeah Louis CK... love his stuff... I have to think his days are numbered. Good thing he doesn't care one bit! LOL.

I'll buy you a beer if we ever happen to meet :)
 
IF Louie 's days are numbered, it's because he's an alleged creep. Dude didn't become an overnight millionaire selling $5 downloads because "pc culture" thought he was offensive.

I find the idea that certain venues aren't open to comedy to be absurd. SF still has an active comedy scene and most of y'all probably think we all have our heads up our rear ends.
 
IF Louie 's days are numbered, it's because he's an alleged creep. Dude didn't become an overnight millionaire selling $5 downloads because "pc culture" thought he was offensive.

I find the idea that certain venues aren't open to comedy to be absurd. SF still has an active comedy scene and most of y'all probably think we all have our heads up our rear ends.

I don't know about "overnight". He was writing comedy in the 90's. He certainly isn't going anywhere based on his material, he's pretty much at the peak of his popularity right now. Sold out MSG 3 times in one tour, no comedian has ever done that before.
 
I noticed comedy dying around me when the first SNL cast/writers/producers turned over in 1980 for the "next generation" cast.
 
"You can be funny and kind, or funny and cruel. The second one is easier, but the first one is worth it" - Justin Mcelroy, co-host of My Brother, My Brother And Me

I'm a straight, white, middle-class cisgender man. I have pretty much every privilege in the book. My personal rule these days is that if anyone tells me that something I've done or said has offended them, even if I don't think it's a big deal, their comfort is more important than my right to say whatever I want.
That’s not the issue. People often pretend it is, but it isn’t. That’s just being decent.

the issue is not whether you think you should say it. It’s when you start telling others they can’t say it because you don’t like it. Then you’ve made yourself the arbiter of decency for other people. THAT’S privilege. Getting to decide right and wrong for everyone else. Most don’t even like when churches do that and they’ve had 2000 + years of practice. Random_guy_02 shouldn’t be able to assume that kind of authority.

now if it’s your house that’s one thing, but out in the world, it’s presumptuous to mandate that others subscribe to your personal standard of behavior.

Also, were just not always going no to agree on what’s funny or not. It’s ok.
 
I don't know about "overnight". He was writing comedy in the 90's. He certainly isn't going anywhere based on his material, he's pretty much at the peak of his popularity right now. Sold out MSG 3 times in one tour, no comedian has ever done that before.

I meant it way more literal than that. The $5 special did a gross profit of $1mil in like 12 days, and in 2012, when he sold tickets directly (cutting out ticketmaster) he sold $4.5mil worth of tickets in 48 hours. Obviously that's not all net profits to him, but it definitely demonstrates that he's not being socially ostracized for his material.
 
I meant it way more literal than that. The $5 special did a gross profit of $1mil in like 12 days, and in 2012, when he sold tickets directly (cutting out ticketmaster) he sold $4.5mil worth of tickets in 48 hours. Obviously that's not all net profits to him, but it definitely demonstrates that he's not being socially ostracized for his material.

No one said the hyper-liberal PC culture has killed comedy, but rather that it's trending that way.

Obviously, there are exceptions who still thrive being very un-PC. But they are a dying breed. That is the point.

The Wook
 
No one said the hyper-liberal PC culture has killed comedy, but rather that it's trending that way.

Obviously, there are exceptions who still thrive being very un-PC. But they are a dying breed. That is the point.

The Wook

Well, someone did say that "certain audiences" aren't "receptive to comedy."

I don't wholly disagree with the point that there's been a shift in acceptability, but I think a lot of the divide is exaggerated and artificial.

To Bryan's earlier point about the overuse of -isms and what not, we can add "political correctness" to that list. "PC" is a label attached by opponents of a thing, not one that's embraced by proponents of said thing. The origins of the term actually came from left-wing academics as a kind of jocular, half-serious, prodding for intra-academic debate. The popular conception began around language (e.g. "Indian" or "Native American"), but the foundation of it all is that people want to be respected. And we should all be respectful, no?

Are there uptight people in the world? Hell yes there are. And I'd probably agree with a lot of the examples that you could bring to this thread. That Katy Perry video is cringe inducing.

I just don't think it's killing comedy. People have just moved on to pushing different taboos.
 
I just don't see comedy as "dying". I don't care how many loudmouth whackjobs you point to. Those people are the fringe, not the majority. Comedians just have better, more efficient ways of getting their content out there these days. Its not just doing stand up in clubs or theaters. They can deliver it direct to their audience without having to depend on a middle man like they used to. I know of more comedians now because of YouTube, Twitter, and various podcasts than I ever would have heard of if they were dependent on the old route of having to be a total road dog, performing on the circuit, then hoping to make it on a late night show or SNL and then eventually landing a sitcom deal or movie deal or book deal.

Comedy dying? Now thats a joke.
 
Well, someone did say that "certain audiences" aren't "receptive to comedy."

I don't wholly disagree with the point that there's been a shift in acceptability, but I think a lot of the divide is exaggerated and artificial.

To Bryan's earlier point about the overuse of -isms and what not, we can add "political correctness" to that list. "PC" is a label attached by opponents of a thing, not one that's embraced by proponents of said thing. The origins of the term actually came from left-wing academics as a kind of jocular, half-serious, prodding for intra-academic debate. The popular conception began around language (e.g. "Indian" or "Native American"), but the foundation of it all is that people want to be respected. And we should all be respectful, no?

Are there uptight people in the world? Hell yes there are. And I'd probably agree with a lot of the examples that you could bring to this thread. That Katy Perry video is cringe inducing.

I just don't think it's killing comedy. People have just moved on to pushing different taboos.

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I'm over all the PC bulls***. Apparently now if I eat a Taco while wearing a sombrero I'm racist and appropriating someone's culture. Seems to me, I'm accepting that culture. People need to just lighten the hell up! We've got people flying airplanes into buildings because they don't like us. I think that's a little more of a threat than someone telling an off color joke.
 
But its not dying. Not by a long shot. Maybe doing standup comedy on college campuses isn't what it used to be, but so what? Times change and so do people's sensibilities. There is still plenty of edgy comedy out there if that's your thing. People using the blanket term of "political correctness" are using a term that basically has no meaning anymore. And this thread is just a thinly veiled excuse to discuss politics and disparage people with beliefs you don't agree with. The 2nd post is proof of that.
 
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