If the audience
is the final censor,
Is any formal censorship really necessary?
This web page was inspired by a rather good Christian comedienne
posting in a LinkedIn discussion group October 20, 2013,
who made an odd comment:
"It is important not to embarrass or offend as a corporate comedian."
My reply:
Restricting subject matter to your narrow view denies any historical perspective:
Will Rogers
Lest you forget, it is well-documented that bankers loved to book Will Rogers
(November 4, 1879–August 15, 1935)
to roast them during after dinner speeches,
even during The Great Depression
(1929 to mid-1940s),
and greatly enjoyed his witty attacks at their expense.
I'm sure your heart is nearly in the right place.
:-)
But I suggest that you instead:
•increase your Laughs Per Minute
•and use more Topical
Material which can be just as electrifying as blue material.
I expound on Topical monologues as part of comedy acts during this 6 minute video
clip.
Keep the faith!
8-)
As we bantered back and forth, I followed up with:
If the audience is the final censor, is censorship really necessary?
I like your warning that beginning comedians make the mistake
that simply removing the f-words does not by itself make your act clean.
HBO may actually insist that you add more f-words!
;-)
Comedian Dane Cook (born March 18, 1972), in a scene from his HBO show “Tourgasm.”
Louis C. K. (born September 12, 1967) following on HBO in the Dane Cook mode:
Nice-young-man-who-swears-a-lot
What does "clean" stand-up comedy actually mean?
Does it have anything to do with being a Christian comedian, as you seem to suggest?
This indicates that you only see this as a religious issue.
IMHO:
That misses the mark by a country mile.
My approach has always been a bit more inclusive.
Here is part of The Producer's "Audition Requirements" letter which I sent out to newly hired comics,
back-in-the-day when I was still booking comedy shows in northern California:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter:
Quality of material —
We are actively interested in replacing comics on our roster who use blue material that bores audience members over forty and offends some over sixty.
You can't tell whether or not you're funny to all the community if most of the audience is under 25.
What is "blue material"?
Simply put, gratuitous swear words and any graphic genitalia;
i.e., summer camp humor:
• The kids in the audience yell and applaud.
•Those who are put off by the blue material remain silent.
But you can hear their comments as they exit the comedy club
after the show is
over,
•what they really think.
Timothy Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) & Lenny Bruce (October
13, 1925 – August 3, 1966)
were both household name comedians who only used blue language to make social
commentary points.
Leary once observed rhetorically to me right after he killed at The Inn of The
Beginning in Cotati, California,
"How many of those Harvard professors could hold an audience for an hour
of this kinda stand-up comedy?!?"
Ray
Krutt (died April 16, 1996), the very funny MC for 23 years at all San Francisco Police
Department functions:
"I was in the station house when they brought in Lenny Bruce.
I liked Lenny.
Compared to today's comics, Lenny Bruce was a clean-cut kid."
If you have questions about particular bits of yours,
•feel free to call us to check it out.
We are also strongly prejudiced in favor of comics employing:
•social commentary and
•bits dealing with relationships.
To us, this is an art form as much as it is a business.
The complete Producer's "Audition
Requirements" letter
End of Letter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
History:
More on the History of Censorship
from ancient Greece to the present day:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship
Questions?
•Get in touch:
415-877-4424
jim@Stand-UpComedyWorkshop.com
Snail mail:
Jim Richardson
Comedy Coach & Co-Writer
Organized
Comedy
PO Box 992
Mill Valley, California
94942-0992
USA
Page
last updated: Friday, December 27, 2013, 8:56 am PST and Saturday, June
4, 2014, 10:40 am PST.
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