Over Easter weekend, I had an interesting conversation with my grandparents discussing the passing of legendary insult comedian, Don Rickles. Mr. Rickles was a master at holding a senile attitude towards anyone who he was talking to while the camera’s were on. His nickname, “Mr. Warmth” was one that was created in irony because his on-stage attitude in which consisted of a variety of insults directed at anyone or anything that caught his eye. He walked the line political correctness yet and could easily be taken as a misogynistic, homophobic, sexist, and racist but you never heard any of those criticisms when referring to Rickles’ act. Yet, my grandparents argument for loving him was that he was “clean.” I put the word in quotes because it’s an extremely subjective word to describe someone’s act. Clean to who? Comedy is all about context and understanding the bigger picture will help you realize that explicit content has it’s place in the comedic world.
I want to make a point that if you judge a comedian by he/she’s ability to remain “clean” then you’re a fool. Example number one, Mike Birbiglia is known for being a clean comic in the sense that he hardly uses profanity in his acts because he never saw the reason for it. He mentions this in his latest special only to reel off a couple of explicit words in a row which gets the crowd going, it was from this point on where Birbiglia’s stand up progresses to something special. He tells a story about how he had a gig in which he had stand up performance with the infamous Muppets and he accidentally dropped his first f-bomb while doing a live show. He completely regrets his actions but then goes onto explain that he doesn’t understand why it was such a big deal because The Muppets are 70 years old and have definitely seen some shit throughout the years.
It brings up a good point because why is it so important to create a bubble of clean comedy when in fact we live in a world where swearing and explicit stories are apart of life? Now in the context of Mike Birbiglia’s story, he was in front of a kid-friendly audience while dropping the f-bomb, which I do not condone, but it also makes the story that much funnier. Comedians use explicit stories because it’s there link to the audience. They give their audience relatable, everyday stories in which they’re able to make humorous and the use of inappropriate language is part of that strategy to get the audience on their side. I mean who doesn’t appreciate a well time cuss word?
While doing a stand up, comedians always have to understand that wherever they are, there is a line that they can not cross. But, they want tip toe along this line as much as possible and this tightrope walk along the line of morality becomes the essence of their act. Louis C.K. and Dave Chappelle have become masters of picking controversial topics and twisting them in ways where they are able to rationalize their extreme point of view without turning the audience against them. Yet, controversial topics are part of the subjectivity of the term “clean.” Louis C.K. crossed the line on many of his jokes and most famously made a joke concerning rape a few years ago in which he upset his entire audience and had to dig himself out of a hole after realizing he made a grave mistake.
In order to fully appreciate the stand up experience, the audience must have an open mind as to easily assimilate themselves to character in which, said comedian, is presenting which in turn allows the audience to see the humor in every joke or story. That is definition of context and it’s what every stand up comedian must achieve before diving into a topic of controversy. For example, my grandparents thought Rickles worked a clean act and appreciated his humor because it was easy for them to assimilate to Rickles’ character thus appreciating the humor more. If you’re able to use that strategy even for comics in which you find very difficult to assimilate to, then you end up appreciating the jokes even more.
I apologize for the rant but it upsets me when people complain about there being no clean comics anymore. Comedy is so subjective that “clean” can be taken in so many different ways. It’s also unfair to ask comedians to pull from real-world examples but keep it clean for the kids. The world is a profane and explicit place and it helps nobody to act ignorant to that fact. I will forever appreciate how these artists can help me find the humor in what sometimes can be a fucked up world.
With that being said, Netflix recently realized they can corner the stand up market by buying out these comedians’ acts for big money contracts and then releasing them for unlimited streams on it’s site. That’s why in 2017, we have seen big name comedians sell their specials to Netflix instead of HBO because not only are they being offered more money but Netflix remains the easier streaming site to access, which means more viewers for stand ups. I have watched a couple of the stand up specials released in 2017 and decided to grade them giving you mini-guide to the Netflix Stand Up world. Expect more of these to come because there are many that I did not get to. These specials are all different and are graded based on the jokes set within context and not how explicit the topics are.
Dave Chappelle- Age of Spin and In the Heart of Texas. B+
Chappelle is back in the limelight after stepping out of the game for ten years and gives his viewers some interesting perspective into his life as a superstar. He released two episodes and a third is coming out but both are extremely entertaining and continues to make audience cry of laughter by telling a three part story about his interactions with famed criminal, O.J Simpson.
Jim Gaffigan- Cinco. B-
More of the same from Gaffigan who plays the role of lazy, pale father of five who can’t stop eating. He still can bring a laugh but I’m knocking off points for lack of creativity throughout the years.
Mike Birbiglia – Thank God for Jokes. A
One of the Best story tellers of the modern age and has the ability to tell a series of random life experiences while keeping the same overarching narrative. It’s a fresh twist on the typical stand up formula and revives my faith in the future of stand up, hoping more people follow the path of comedy he has paved. (Also, as promised, shout out to ‘Rick for taking my suggestion and watching this)
Bill Burr- Walk Your Way Out. C+
The king of cynical continues to be play the old man shouting at everyone to get off his lawn. I appreciate his humor because I relate to it all to well but Burr began to talk in circles and found himself in a thematic bubble like Gaffigan that he can’t get out of.
The Pretentious Prophet 
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