Tim Blair: Canny comedians turn stupid into laughs and profit
While activists are generating nothing but pointless outrage, canny comedic operators are effortlessly converting that free-range fury into laughs and profits, writes Tim Blair.
Opinion
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Comedy and satire work on a Newtonian principle: for every action there will be an equal and opposite reaction.
Right now, there’s plenty for comedians and satirists to react against. From the wailing of climate change obsessives who are convinced the entire planet is doomed to the three-year panic tantrum over US President Donald Trump, it’s an absolute comedy goldmine out there.
And then we have the eternally offended Twitter types whose grim denunciations of anyone mocking these perfect joke situations only adds to the hilarity.
They’re playing the prudish, unamused, disapproving Margaret Dumont role amid a global cast of giggling Marx Brothers.
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Consider how Newton’s third law functions in that particular set of circumstances.
“I don’t try to offend, but the more people are offended by a joke, particularly on Twitter, the funnier I find it,” Ricky Gervais, comedian and co-creator of television comedy series The Office, wrote online last week.
“And the angrier the tweet, the more chance of me using it and turning it to laughs and cash.”
He’s turning stupid into money.
The great news for Gervais and others operating in this lucrative field is that their source of income is endlessly regenerating.
Moron mining might be the most sustainable industry ever devised.
Actually, “mining” is the wrong term. No gold mine ever handed over its nuggets without some extractive effort. But these clowns just walk up and deliver their payloads over and over again.
“PC culture isn’t killing comedy,” Gervais concluded. “It’s driving it. As it always did.”
True, and last week gave us a brilliant example.
When President Trump happened upon a photoshopped image of himself awarding a medal to the combat dog that helped corner now-disassembled Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, he immediately posted the image on his Twitter feed.
That was good for a few laughs. But the real pay-off came as earnest, mirthless journalists went all-in on photographic investigations.
“A White House official said ‘the dog is not at the White House’,” reported CNN’s Jim Acosta, possibly imagining himself at the centre of a Watergate-level exclusive.
“I’ve requested details from the White House on this photo,” announced Voice of America’s Steve Herman, playing Woodward to Acosta’s Bernstein. “There was no such canine event on today’s POTUS schedule.”
AMERICAN HERO! pic.twitter.com/XCCa2sGfsZ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2019
The New York Times put two reporters on the case. The Washington Post cut to the key issue: “Trump tweeted a photo of a Medal of Honour recipient — who was edited out and replaced with a dog.”
Hoping for outrage, reporters tracked down that medal recipient. But retired army medic James McCloughan didn’t play along. Being sane, he enjoyed the picture and the obvious tribute.
“This recognises the dog is part of that team of brave people,” McCloughan said.
Reviewing all of this, Jesse Watters couldn’t conceal his abundant amusement. “God, these people are stupid,” the Fox News presenter told viewers.
“I mean, these jokes go right over their heads. They’re fact-checking jokes now.”
That’s how the politically correct left operates. Even the most obviously harmless gag is fuel for distress. Related to this is how the politically correct left treats obvious absurdity as serious and worthy.
Remember how our PC friends reacted to actor Jussie Smollett’s ridiculous tale of being roughed up in Chicago at 2am by two white Trump supporters.
“Everybody was furious, especially in Hollywood. It’s all over everybody’s Twitter feed and Instagram page. ‘Justice for Jussie’ and all this s. t,” observed Dave Chappelle in his outstanding Sticks And Stones Netflix special. “The whole country was up in arms.”
Chappelle, possibly sensing the same satirical opportunities identified by Gervais, has lately emerged from semi-retirement to slap around PC types. His Smollett routine is beautiful, compressing almost every comedic trope and technique into a five-minute masterclass.
Chappelle begins with a line providing a running gag for the routine’s duration, almost loses it at the sheer implausibility of Smollett’s claims, slides briefly into Twain-like storytelling mode and then provides a rational everyman response to Smollett via the device of an imagined police officer.
His punchline is both unexpected and generous, because it credits his audience with an impressive level of cultural awareness. Not so unexpected was the reaction from people who are offended by jokes.
“I’m not mad he’s not being ‘politically correct’,” insisted one online critic. “I’m just disappointed that someone so intelligent and gifted insists on punching down. I don’t get it.”
Online outrage merely drove more viewers Chappelle’s way. That one-hour special earned him an estimated $15 million or so.
Those who get Chappelle’s jokes plainly outnumber those who don’t, and by a massive margin.
As for Gervais, he was in trouble again last week after announcing his Halloween plans. These involved a Canadian transgender identity who recently lost a court case after suing beauty salons that refused to wax her scrotum.
(It’s 2019, so that line apparently makes sense.)
“I was going to dress up as something weird and creepy for my Halloween party, but I’m bucking the trend this year and I’m going as brave female activist Jessica Yaniv,” Gervais wrote.
“This also means I don’t have to wax my big old hairy balls.”
Follow Newton’s third law, people. The more they rage, the more we laugh.