West's joke fell flat because it was neither. But that barb best be sharp, and it better be well-placed. Nothing quite delivers a memento mori like a well-placed barb. Humor has a role in public life, obviously, and comedians make valuable contributions to our understanding by casting a light on our hypocrisies and self-righteousness. He was sorry if anyone was offended, but he still thought it was funny. Wrong character, wrong scene, wrong everything - especially the audience, which included the parents of the victim and the people whose sympathies West was trying to enjoin.Īfter much criticism, West sort of apologized for his lapse in judgment. When a defense attorney plays a comedian at a murder trial, our sense of verisimilitude is thrown off kilter. When a comedian is funny, we never forget that he is primarily a comedian. But time and place are as important as the punch line. Who wants to be the straight man when the funny guys get all the girls? Not, as funnyman Dave Barry would say, that there's anything wrong with that.Įver since Jon Stewart told CNN's "Crossfire" hosts in 2004 that their left-right political slugfest was bad for America (and then-CNN president Jon Klein soon after killed the show), the power of the comedian has surged past the serious commentators. Indeed, as more and more people turn to "Comedy Central" for news, comedians have become among the most influential arbiters of current events. Comedy, rather than providing relief from our too-serious times, has become the currency of choice.
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Why tell it?īecause everyone is a comedian these days. He even asked forgiveness in advance just in case they found the joke inappropriate (his word) and to hold it against him, not his client.Īt this point in a comedy club, never mind a courtroom, anyone listening would be squirming in vicarious embarrassment for what was to come and was surely going to be a very bad/unfunny/inappropriate joke. Before launching into The Joke, he warned jurors that they might not think it's funny under the circumstances.
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We know because he said so in a lengthy, disclaiming preamble that would have killed even a funny joke. West's opening-day thud may have seemed amusing over coffee in his own kitchen, but even he knew it was inappropriate.