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Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.
—Mel Brooks
This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.
—Horace Walpole
Stand-up comedy and comedy in general is the ultimate form of free speech, because you get to poke holes in all the pretentious bubbles politicians and pundits and popes and pretenders try to float over our heads.
—Denis Leary |
Fair warning: this is going to be a serious editorial. If you just want laughs, skip to the Editor's Picks (though I'm making no guarantees).
Recently, a high-profile comedian got suspended from his TV show due to US government pressure.
I'm not here to discuss that particular event. That's been done, and overdone, by people more qualified (and louder, and funnier) than I am, and I don't need to add to that noise.
But I did want to say some things about freedom of speech, and they apply whether you live in the US or not.
Comedy is, in a way, the most important use case of free speech. The court jester, or Fool, holds up a funhouse mirror, and either the monarch tolerates it, or proves himself a tyrant by beheading the jester.
In our times, though, things are a bit different. Every joke has the potential to be the joke heard 'round the world, and it can do so at very nearly the speed of light.
But there's one important corollary, here: no one is obligated to listen.
If you're a TV comedian, and people just aren't watching, you get fired. That's life. Sucks, but no one owes you a platform. It's like you're doing standup and the room stays deathly silent: that's on you. If, on the other hand, the people with all the power decide they didn't like what you had to say about them, and pull you off the stage, well, that's censorship.
Some censorship is understandable, such as forbidding graphic pornography on public billboards, or advertising blaring from loudspeakers at every intersection. Reasonable people can disagree about where to draw the line, but part of a comedian's job is not to toe that line, but to sneak across it.
There's a big difference, I think, between someone saying a comedian shouldn't make fun of a certain thing, and the people in power passing laws to make such jokes illegal. Blasphemy laws, for instance: religion can be a powerful force in society, and a legitimate target for jokes. And yet, some supposedly enlightened democracies have anti-blasphemy laws on the books, to protect the delicate feelings of religious practitioners.
On the other end of things, I don't like it when comedians (or "comedians") poke fun at the disadvantaged. But to pass laws saying you can't poke fun at the disadvantaged is a step towards tyranny. Passing laws against poking fun at the people in power is full-on tyranny.
There's quite a bit more nuance, like how much a private company or institution is able to curtail speech, but I've banged on long enough. Just remember this: comedy can be a weapon. You can use it to attack the mighty, or you can use it to bludgeon those who can't defend themselves.
Choose wisely, Fool. |
If you're wise, you skipped the editorial. Here's the funny part:
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Last time, in "Cheesier" , I demonstrated cheesiness.
I will take the resulting deafening silence as proof that my comedy cannot be improved upon.
So that's it for me for now! See you next time. Until then,
LAUGH ON!!!
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Comedy: October 08, 2025 Issue [#13388]
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