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First rule of comedy: don't kick downwards. It's essential if we want to collectively get over our intolerance.

oh_sigh 6y ago
That's just something you made up. If you google for the first rule of comedy, the results I see are similar to "be funny", "surprise", "timing", etc.
NewOrderNow 6y ago
Never listen to anyone making rules about comedy. Clearly they don't have any clue what they are talking about.
Der_Einzige 6y ago
I'm not convinced that exclusively "kicking up" does anything to meaningfully solve intolerance
dlivingston 6y ago
Comedians like Dave Chapelle, Louis CK, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, Bill Burr, and many, many others, kick in every direction: up, down, left, right. Policing comedy with a lens of wokeness is a profoundly bad idea.
- selimthegrim 6y ago
  Chappelle has gotten a lot of stick for it lately if you haven’t noticed.
  - dlivingston 6y ago
    They all have, and the world is worse for it. An anecdote: someone like Dave Chappelle is wildly popular on both the left and the right. Several friends of mine on the right devour his specials like a gourmet buffet. So when Chappelle gets up on stage and talks about his experiences with racism, police profiling, and inequality (as he did on yesterday's SNL monologue [0]), those same people on the right listen. They hear him. It moves the needle of justice forward by reaching an audience who otherwise wouldn't necessarily hear these stories. [0]: https://youtu.be/Un_VvR_WqNs https://youtu.be/Un_VvR_WqNs
mdoms 6y ago
This is not and has never been the "first rule of comedy". It's only very recently, since the scourge of wokeness, that people have been turning this shitty line. Comedy is comedy. Lots of different kinds of comedy can be funny. Stop trying to make it rigidly fit your world view.
- darkerside 6y ago
  Yup, first rule of comedy is, it's gotta be funny. That was Ken's actual sin here, and an apology should be all he needs to rectify it.
- hashkb 6y ago
  Depends on the purity of the laugh you're after. Obviously there are roasts, but if comedy had a score it'd be laughs and cheap shots always split the laughs with groans.
darkerside 6y ago
Having a rule like that is itself patronizing and demeaning, is it not?

That's just something you made up. If you google for the first rule of comedy, the results I see are similar to "be funny", "surprise", "timing", etc.

NewOrderNow 6y ago

Never listen to anyone making rules about comedy. Clearly they don't have any clue what they are talking about.

Der_Einzige 6y ago

I'm not convinced that exclusively "kicking up" does anything to meaningfully solve intolerance

dlivingston 6y ago

Comedians like Dave Chapelle, Louis CK, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, Bill Burr, and many, many others, kick in every direction: up, down, left, right. Policing comedy with a lens of wokeness is a profoundly bad idea.

selimthegrim 6y ago
Chappelle has gotten a lot of stick for it lately if you haven’t noticed.
- dlivingston 6y ago
  They all have, and the world is worse for it. An anecdote: someone like Dave Chappelle is wildly popular on both the left and the right. Several friends of mine on the right devour his specials like a gourmet buffet. So when Chappelle gets up on stage and talks about his experiences with racism, police profiling, and inequality (as he did on yesterday's SNL monologue [0]), those same people on the right listen. They hear him. It moves the needle of justice forward by reaching an audience who otherwise wouldn't necessarily hear these stories. [0]: https://youtu.be/Un_VvR_WqNs https://youtu.be/Un_VvR_WqNs

mdoms 6y ago

This is not and has never been the "first rule of comedy". It's only very recently, since the scourge of wokeness, that people have been turning this shitty line. Comedy is comedy. Lots of different kinds of comedy can be funny. Stop trying to make it rigidly fit your world view.

darkerside 6y ago
Yup, first rule of comedy is, it's gotta be funny. That was Ken's actual sin here, and an apology should be all he needs to rectify it.
hashkb 6y ago
Depends on the purity of the laugh you're after. Obviously there are roasts, but if comedy had a score it'd be laughs and cheap shots always split the laughs with groans.

darkerside 6y ago

Having a rule like that is itself patronizing and demeaning, is it not?