line of demarcation
10 08 2005Those of you that know me well know that my sense of humor can be a bit dark sometimes. I like that I can find humor where many others might not. The problem with this is that I often have to watch what kind of jokes I’m making depending on who’s around so as not to greatly offend anyone. It’s hard for me to define where the line for something like that is, but I came across something today that I think does a pretty good job of illustrating it.
Pretty much everyone knows Bob Saget from his days as Danny Tanner on Full House and as the host of America’s Funniest Home Videos. If these two family-friendly programs were the only sources of exposure to his work, you’d think that he was as G-rated as actors/comedians come. You’d be horribly, horribly wrong.
Saget has long been known as being one of the dirtiest comedians working, even before his Full House days. How he got cast for those two shows is beyond me, but I’d guess it’s because he looks goofy and pretty harmless. At any rate, he’s in a movie that’s out Aug. 12 called The Aristocrats, which is a stream of comedians all telling versions of one joke, supposedly the filthiest joke in existence (there is some info and an example here). Bob Saget is among the group of people telling it, and director Paul Provenza had this story to tell about Bob:
If you are easily offended, you will NOT want to read this. You’ve been warned.
To illustrate this, Provenza tells a story of the time when Saget’s wife had troubles during childbirth and ended up in a coma. “She was in a coma for three weeks, and the baby was sick and in an incubator and nearly died, and they both came through it eventually. So I called up Saget and went to visit, and he’s like “Yeah, the wife is resting, she nearly died, it was a rough time but it’s all good now; hey, do you wanna see the baby?” So I’m like, sure, and he takes me to the baby’s room and opens the door a little, and the tiniest sliver of light rolls across the child’s face and it’s the most beautiful moment. And I say, “wow, Bob, she’s really beautiful” and he says, “Yeah - I’ll let you finger her for a dollar.” That’s Saget, man, he’s just got the nastiest mouth out there. I’m like, “Saget, man!” and he says, “What? You think I can get a dollar fifty?”
Horribly inappropriate, but I was absolutely cracking up when I read that this morning. I could understand someone not finding that funny, especially a parent, but it just serves to reinforce my point. I don’t find everything offensive to be humorous, but I clearly won’t find a joke to be unfunny just because it crosses into some sort of taboo area. There’s also clearly a huge difference between laughing at something like this vs. finding it funny if it were to actually happen, which would not be the case at all (I shouldn’t have to specify that, but you never know).
The line hasn’t exactly been drawn, but I think you might have a good idea of the area it lies in. I hope you all enjoyed the joke, but I’m sure there are at least one or two of you whose jaws dropped when you reached the punchline. If I come across anything else that I find like this, I’ll try to remember to post it. People take life too seriously sometimes. It’s good to laugh.
I have often been called many things along the lines of a$# hole, insensitive, and tasteless because of my humor. I, like you, see funning things in things that just aren’t funny to most. Though things in life are to be taken seriously it’s not like there’s not something funny about them. These days, if it’s something really bad, I don’t share what it is I find so funny unless someone, at a funeral for example, asks why I’m laughing. “Show some tact Trevor!”…”Up yours biotch!”
One of the down sides to the way I see things is that it takes something pretty damn funny for me to laugh. I can just sit there, sullen, while a whole room seems to be enjoying themselves at whatever it was that was said or done.
I sometimes think my sense of humor is a defense mechanism. Perhaps you have the power to avoid pain and suffering when tragedy strikes also. I am usually the one in the family who can rise up and keep everything in perspective since I am not so down in the dumps at that time. That kind of detachment at a time when everyone else has fallen apart used to scare me. I think there are just some of us built like that to take care of others while they are down and pick them up so that they can be there for us. I also grieve but just at a later time.
Here’s something that I thought about once and now all the time after seeing a Christian Childrens Fund commercial. The commercial with that chubby white haired guy asking you to give up your morning cup o’ joe to save a child. He was telling a story about this little girl who was starving, lived in a tin shack on the edge of a cliff. I thought: I bet she had a really great view!
Humor that is thought out, thought provoking, sharp and witty is the funniest around in my opinion. I think racist humor is the laziest and most thoughtless stuff out there. Although racist humor can be funny at times, I think it is a major factor in maintaining a divide amongst different cultures. I personally don’t feel further away from others because of what was said but rather that others might and it’s that which bothers me. To me, a strong comedian doesn’t need to go down that path to entertain. The weaker one’s always pull a race card out.
I’d have to say Robin Williams is a pretty funny comedian… and if you look at all his stand up stuffs it’s like pr0n everywhere. Never expected it from a guy where 90% of his work is done where kids can watch it. And being the genie in Alladin for Disney.
And everyone remembers him as Mork… funny thing about that is that they cast him to wear what he wore to his stand up routines… I’d have to say Robin Williams Live on Broadway is one of the funniest routines I’ve seen from a comedian in a long time.
Trevor, I couldn’t agree more. If you want to talk about the “old timers”, I’ve always loved George Carlin; he can be quite nasty but he’s extraordinarily intelligent and his humor has a point. One of the things I’ve always liked about him is when he says something and the audience groans, he calls them on it and on what he’s talking about and goes off on tangents about their hypocrisy and he’s usually dead-on right!!! Richard Pryor was always a favorite, smart and funny. Whoopi Goldberg is an amazing and intelligent woman. Eddie Murphy completely turned me off during his “Raw” days; same as the race card, it doesn’t take much creativity to talk about your d- - - constantly. Woohoo, yeah, I’m impressed.
The “newer” people out there now, I don’t think there’s any comedian smarter than Bill Maher. He’s got a new stand-up on HBO that’s excellent! Chris and I most generally appreciate the same type humor and as I’ve said before, hell, even the most innocuous comments are going to offend somebody so I say what I have to say and if it “offends” someone, so be it. Their problem, not mine. (I will say that working for a religious organization, these serious types don’t always appreciate my humor…and to that I say, “oh well”….I’m sure God, if there really is one, finds us all hilariously funny.)
I love George Carlin! He’s one of my all time favorite comedians. I remember a Bob Saget thing we watched when we were younger, he had this whole bit about taking your kids to the zoo and every other thing was ’stick it up the crack of my butt, the crack of my butt.’ Do you remember that Chris?
I would have to say the funniest things I usually hear are out of my son’s mouth. For example, Monday night I made tacos for dinner, and Matthew was sitting at the table, eating a soft taco. He has it in his hands and looks up at me and says,”Mommy, is this Christ?” in regards to his tortilla. Now I don’t go to church but he goes every once in awhile with my dad and stepmom and goes to a Christian daycare, so I’m guessing he was trying to refer to communion, but as I try to catch my breath from laughing I say ‘like Jesus Christ?’ and he says “yeah mommy, Jesus Cripes” It has to be one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. That and the time he told me that both horses and himself smell adorable. He’s too cute!:mrgreen:
I really like George Carlin and Robin Williams. I agree that the Robin Williams live on broadway is great. no matter how many times i see it, i still laugh out loud. But it was a huge shock for me to hear him say f*** this and that. Took some adusting since i think of him as this goofy nice guy. Another really funny comedian is Rodney Carrington. Very country but hilarious. Like George Carlin, he calls the audience out on a lot of stuff.
And of course one of the funniest skits I’ve heard is The Underwear Goes Inside the Pants by Lazyboy. It was done to music and put on the radio while we were in DC (think back to the wear sunscreen thing but much better).
http://www.lyricstop.com/u/underweargoesinsidethepants-lazyboy.html
I’m into that angry, pissed off at the world humor. Guess it just makes me feel better.