What happens when shock humor isn't shocking anymore?
Some of us like comics because they are cynical and use shock humor. But what about when it becomes more frequent? We can’t go back to liking old-school innocent jokes because people like Louis CK and Daniel Tosh set the bar too high.
Are we just going to be that older person that dislikes new comics that emerge because they were never as good as what we were used to?
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I think we can go back. And many of us never left those jokes. We can like more than one type of humor at a time, so shock humor doesn’t have to be the end line for us.
Shock humor is not the be all and end all of humor. What abut comics who make jokes about everyday situations like Jerry Seinfeld, George Carlin, Ellen De Generes?
I have faith that our cultures will always provide for new shock value. Stuff seems to work out that way. I never discount anything new, even if I’ve seen the premise before.
And there’s some stuff that is just timeless, which can be enjoyed without dismissing new stuff that comes out.
It just keeps getting worse and worse and worse as the media pushes the limits further and further in the effort to keep up the shock. In the 60’s there would be things that would be considered utterly scandalous, but would just cause us to yawn today. I just don’t think it’s a good thing.
Hopefully people will come to their senses and realize that humor doesn’t need to be shocking to be good. I think sometime in the late 70’s a few people came around, that weren’t particularly funny, or they just didn’t have the chops or the imagination or talent to be a funny comedian, so they started using foul language and shock techniques. Then other people latched on because they thought it was cool and edgy. It’s still mostly just a lot of angry people trying to show off, because they don’t have any particular talent. A lot of the shocking stuff that you hear, with today’s comedians, is and was considered to be in bad taste, racist and mean, but because they’re comedians (often non-white) comedians, they feel like it’s OK for them to say those kinds of things. If some some white comedian got up there and started spouting off the N word, they’d get booed off the stage. That’s what happened to Michael Richards.
I’m just hoping that some day, soon, people will learn to appreciate talented comedians who don’t use shock humor. You really have to have talent when you don’t use shock humor, so the comedians ought to rise to a new level of talent if they have to compete to be humorous in a non shock era.
My favorite comedian of all time is Bill Engvall. He’s so funny that I’ve spit milk out of my nose. He just talks about the human condition, the funny differences between the sexes, and just silly or odd situations that you see every day and it works. I like Louie Andersen for the same reason and Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen DeGeneres.
Yeah I went on a tangent on the description. I was just wondering what the newest shock humor will be.
You need to step up your game.
South Park was pretty shocking when it first came out, and it seems like every episode they push the envelope just a little further.
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