A Good Comedian

Nobody has the power to attack a good comedian. This is the thought that came to my mind, and I want to find out whether it is true or not. Comedy is the heart of truth. Unlike almost any other job, the success of one's performance in comedy cannot be faked.

The audience poses a judgement, and a brutal one at that. They either give you their approval or they don't. If they don't approve, it can cut one right to the core. The person blushes and feels red-hot embarrassed in front of a crowd. That kind of comedian failed at their attempt at gaining the respect and admiration, or at least commisseration, of the crowd. After all, that's what a good comedian does, right? If he wants to make people laugh, he must make them feel at ease, and make himself feel understood in the minds of his audience.

A good comedian has the audience in hysterics. That only happens when they have captured the attention of the audience. Thus due to the high degree of honesty present in comedy, a good comedian hardly has to worry about his competence, or whether his words are accepted. If, say, a Twitter mob tries to bully a good comedian into feeling shameful about an "offensive joke" they've cracked, the comedian has nothing to worry about. Because firstly, they were free to say what they said. Secondly, and more importantly when it comes to acceptability of one's ideas, people laughed.

Try saying "That's not funny." to that comedian right after he tells a joke. (I was told that once by a classmate in the eighth grade, after I made a joke about slavery.) Typically, that kind of statement can drag down one's confidence in the moment, especially if the person who is being told that doesn't clearly have very many people on their side. But if a whole theater is roaring, and you try to bully a comedian into stopping his act by lecturing him about ethics and morality, you'll not be very successful. Clearly, what they've said has been accepted by the people they're addressing.