Navigating Mental Illness With Dark Comedy For A Compass

Seeing the humor in everything is the gift of a curse at times or a cynical type of optimism. I grew up watching stand up comedians perform on ComicView, Comedy Central, and every so often (when we had it) an HBO special or Def Comedy Jam episode. I’m always fascinated with the steps comedians use to craft and execute a joke. The differences in the ways a story is told in order for it to be funny. The evolution of these steps, how they have changed or been reinvented through the years. Laughter is a universal language, right? We recognize laughter through any language barriers so comedy has been around forever. But I just think it’s funny how in our current era, some (comedians, performers, fans) believe that “Everyone [America] is too sensitive now” and the climate is too politically correct for comedy to thrive. *High pitched “ehhhhhhhhhhh”* It’s hard for me to buy stock in that.

If you’re good, you evolve with the times. If you’re punching down and legit making fun of marginalized groups, that shit is tired and, as we’ve seen, doesn’t age well. In a way, it’s ironic how some want the luxury privilege freedom of being able to say whatever was said back in the day, as compared to comedians and performers who are in comedy today talking about the things that were shunned or not spoken of in major prominence like mental health issues. You gotta be strong to talk about that night in and night out, especially if you live with it or grew up around it. I’m hard-pressed to say fol…