Three Comedians

Ethically and morally, writing about something humble, philosophical and possibly esoteric was to be tonight's blog post for this month's theme of Kindness.

Kindness, in some very distorted manner, may have been involved, but of that I'm not certain. I really never know what will come up when I have a predetermined beginning to my blog post. Today, listening to George Carlin, Louis C.K. and Trevor Noah would seem to be a far cry from such an endeavour. Each one of them has their own brand of humour. Often much too vulgar for my daily fare, however on this journey from Vancouver to Regina I became a captive audience. Not forced, but I decided to listen to their presentations with openness within the confines of the van we are travelling in as I write. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about these three.  Many of us of my generation at least know of George Carlin who began with an extremely acerbic and vulgar presentation. Like many of us he has toned down his vocabulary while maintaining his comedic performances. Louis C.K. and Trevor Noah were both new to me. I’ve often found that many comedians or humorists seem to ridicule people, places or things. Trevor Noah, a quiet voiced man, while still humorous, was not as driven and energetic as George Carlin or Louis C.K. I especially enjoyed Louis C.K., the comedian with his extremely colourful language. If I had been at home alone I would have turned off the radio, ejected the CD and in general turned up my nose at his audacity. However, I listened to him tell the truth about parenting, about our many petty ‘First World problems’ and dating after age 40. An example? If we fight with our three year old, it is not the child’s fault but our fault. The three comedians, while verbally vulgar in varying degrees, took the human condition and turned it rapidly on its ear. They each made me laugh out loud. (I was embarrassed because of the vulgarity, but kept quiet about that) Are they unethical and immoral because of the charming turns of phrases that they each use? I’m certain some would say a resounding ‘Yes!’ Some would also suggest that the use of such brittle turns of phrase is the sign of a poor vocabulary. This jury is still out on the unethical, immoral question, however each had a remarkable vocabulary that included a lot of ‘swears’, while driving home their many ethical and moralistic arguments. Laughing out loud with my son and my grandson felt very good.

“Irony is just honesty with the volume cranked up.”

~ George Saunders