Status Anxiety: A Humorist Analysis

America is a culture that enjoys having some time away from the reality of political issues within society. Comedic entertainment has found ways to also inform its audience about important political statements that is used to “refer to any act or nonverbal form of communication that is intended to influence a decision to be made for or by a political party”( Wikipedia), or ideas through a comedic point of view. Comical news is what brings our attention with ease because listening to straight political debates can lead a person to not want to sit and become informed on latest political topics. The culture that society has developed into became accustomed to finding it better to have a laugh about serious news because through humor an audience

The author compares the traditional political prank of “the Rhinoceros Party of Canada” to the present day of Calvert’s online hit. The comparison allows the reader to infer that the accessibility of the internet has allowed political satire to grow rapidly, as uploading a video online takes minimal effort in contrast to assembling an illegitimate political party. Despite their distinct techniques on representing their political ideologies, humor entitles the public to think about mainstream politics through their individual

“Theories of humor often suggest that humor requires a perceived violation, or something that disrupts people’s sense of how the world ought to be” (McGraw and Warren 2010).

As seen in the Chappelle’s show, it was shown that the stereotypes that the media portrays, can actually have a lasting effect on America’s multitude of sub cultures. The Chappelle’s Show was a comedy skit show created by Dave Chappelle. In the show, Chappelle would play out events and real life stories of black members of society in a comedic

Although not recognized easily, humor is an effective tool that can influence the society. As Alain de Botton argues in his book Status Anxiety, humorists serve a vital function in that they satirize the social problems without offending any particular groups. They identify the troubles, exaggerate through humor, and effectively deliver the messages they have intended. The position of humorists can be recognized simply through media that people encounter everyday. Dave Barry’s The Ugly Truth about Beauty and Jon Stewart on The Daily Show reveals how humorists' indirect criticisms through wit can change the world by acknowledging people about the problems that are embedded in themselves.

Through the years many politicians had objected political entertainment and satire, and argued it is subversive. Satire usually differs from political protest and speech because it does not carry an agenda or seek to influence politics. I would like to introduce two cases in which politicians took a strong resistance to satire on television:

Humour, though less ruthless than its cousin ‘ridicule’, by its very nature (often subtle and deceptively benign) can unintentionally backfire if too ‘close to the bone’.

He asserts that these difficult topics, the ones that most people veer away from because it induces an uncomfortably they are unable to cope with, can be used as tools in comedy to help others see corruption or unfairness, or to address the fact of the embarrassing differences we feel that we have and it makes us feel connected, and not so alone. But, when our expression of these ideas is monitored, is it really, true expression? Censorship plagues the comedy industry. “Celestino starts this well-organized analysis of how comedy has reached the stage that folks with unduly sensitive natures regarding some topics are ruining it for the rest of us with a discussion of vaudeville and early films” (Nelson). Celestino mentions the top three comedians of all time listed as George Carlin, Richard

Society is a labyrinth of flaws, where limitations and failings obscure behind walls and individuals struggle to escape. In society today where mistakes are locked behind passwords, and imperfections are easily concealed with Photoshop, satire provides a clear reflection of the truth, and essentially the flaws. Satire, as an instrument of humour exposes and criticises the flaws of society and intends to raise awareness of issues and improve humanity. However, the abundance of pride and vanity in society discourages the acceptance of imperfections.

Furthermore, this behavior, exploiting and teasing others, only provokes and places both the satirist and innocent people in harm’s way, as encountered in France. The fact of the matter is, we live in a world consisting of , whom are willing to inflict pain and death upon others to force others to respect their

During this unit, my understanding of humor in literature evolved from believing that it was simply comic relief to grasping that humor is an entertaining method of conveying a universal truth through many different methods. Comedy comes in countless shapes and sizes, which all have different purposes and appeal to a variety of audiences. However, although the forms of humor are diverse, Springboard Activity 4.3 expresses that they can be categorized as either low comedy, which is "straightforward and generally easy to follow and understand"(1) or high comedy, which "can take a bit of reflection to realize the humorous intent"(4). Naturally, high and low comedy have different purposes in comedic literature. An author might use high comedy to

Stuart Jeffries wrote an article entitled, “The Science of Comedy: can humour make the world a better place?” In this article, he discusses how “Thinking about comedy is becoming a big academic industry” and this is true, it is also important. The founder of the Centre for Comedy Studies Research, Dr. Sharon Lockyer, studies how comedy can be socially beneficial. She says, “The media fixates on comedy controversies where comedy has been deemed to be problematic or offensive”. Much of comedy seems to be at the expense of someone else, but not all comedy has to be that way.

For example, a comedian’s bit about the Holocaust may be totally innocuous on paper, but may carry an insidious undertone in it’s delivery or performance. The reverse may also apply, where something on paper is inflammatory or offensive, but in performance, is accepted by the audience, a specific style that the comedian Louis C.K. is known for. Imagining a “joke” as a multifaceted “comedic event” rather than a person reciting lines from a piece of paper also opens a window to misinterpretation. Often times, many of those expressing outrage online about a comedian’s statements have often times not read the source material in question, and they will proudly admit it themselves.

How can comedy be employed to make serious critiques of societies? Is it an effective method of highlighting serious issues? Answer in relation to Peepli Live.

We both researched for a suitable academic piece of disgusting in the seminar on the topic of satire. The “limits of satire” was the academic piece we selected to build our seminar discussion around. We gave the seminar the title of “ Satire does it help the audience engage with social issues or is it a bit of fun” with the aim to trigger a meaningful and balanced discussion about satire been a form of protest delivered via creative media methods.