It’s not as bad as it used to be. It seems like only yesterday that I couldn’t walk down the street without seeing companies advertising their allegiance to BLM, Palestine, Pride, Transgenderism, or, God help us, some combination of all of them posted on their windows.
For some reason, every company decided that its job was to preach to me or tell me about its politics. They apparently forgot that I’m trying to buy something from them and that maybe they should focus on giving me the best product they can. I realize it’s complicated, but when I pop into a Starbucks for a coffee, I’m there to buy a coffee.
I don’t care if the green-haired, nose-ringed, fruit loop making my drink thinks trans rights are the bomb (that’s still a thing, right?), I don’t care if the beans are “ethically sourced” using state-of-the-art sustainable growth practices, and that they participate in “fair trade,” all I want to know is that the they/them serving me knows which end of the machine to put the beans in and which end the coffee comes out of. Zer can even get my name wrong, I don’t care!
Ok, that was a little more “ranty” than I planned.
This is all to just say that I’ve started a new Substack. Instead of politics, I’ll be focused on humor.
Why?
A couple of reasons. One, writing humor is a lot more fun. No research is necessary, and I end up in a better mood than when I started writing. This never happens when I write about politics. Which leads to reason two: I need a break from politics. Not a permanent break, I’m still going to be writing about politics for Wrong Speak and Hoist the Black Flag. However, from now on, once a week, I’m going to write about things that make me – and hopefully you - laugh.
I’m bringing this to your attention because… well, I’m not going to lie, I’d like you to read what I write. There is, however, a less selfish reason for doing this: I don’t like what I’m seeing in the world of humor. While it appears that businesses have returned to their core purpose, selling us stuff, comedians and humorists have not.
Humor is Subjective
I was out perusing Substack’s “Rising in Humor” section the other day, looking for people to connect to, and was surprised by what I found. Specifically, I have a different definition of “humor” than most people on Substack. I’ve known this for a while, of course. I watched the first season of The White Lotus because so many people raved about it, only to find that I hated it. I don’t think schadenfreude is funny, but if you do, knock yourself out. Humor is subjective.
There’s one thing I’m sure of, though, and it’s that when I’m looking for a laugh, I’m not looking for a lecture. I don’t care what your politics are, just make me laugh. I understand the political humor is a sub-genre, and that’s fine, but does everything have to be political?
My sense of humor tends towards the ridiculous. Monty Python type stuff. Off the top of my head, here are five skits, guaranteed to make me chuckle regardless of how many times I’ve seen them:
Amazon Echo – SNL
Mr. Garvey The Substitute Teacher | Key & Peele
Celebrity Trial Jury Selection – Dave Chappelle
Even the recently cancelled Stephen Colbert is capable of being funny, as he proved here in one of the funniest music videos of all time. And yes, politics can be funny too, when it’s done correctly, as demonstrated byan excerpt from Monty Python and The Holy Grail:
ARTHUR: I am your king!
WOMAN: Well, I didn’t vote for you.
ARTHUR: You don’t vote for kings.
WOMAN: Well, ‘ow did you become king then?
ARTHUR: The Lady of the Lake,
[angels sing] her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. [singing stops]
That is why I am your king!
DENNIS: Listen -- strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
ARTHUR: Be quiet!
DENNIS: Well, you can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just ‘cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: I mean, if I went around sayin’ I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!
ARTHUR: Shut up! Will you shut up!
DENNIS: Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! HELP! HELP! I’m being repressed!
ARTHUR: Bloody peasant!
DENNIS: Oh, what a give away. Did you hear that, did you hear that, eh? That’s what I’m on about -- did you see him repressing me, you saw it didn’t you?
Some Things are Objectively Bad
While humor is subjective, some things are objectively not funny.
This was the top note in my “humor” feed the other day.
Substack has a problem. And so do we.
Substack’s problem – as if they only have one – is that they let people choose their own categories, which leads to guys like this being categorized as humorists:
“Our” problem is that too many of us think politics is all there is in the world.
It’s bad when citizens think this way, as it leads to a belief that there are only two groups of people, “us” and “them.”
It’s arguably worse when comedians and humorists do it, as it feeds this lie and eliminates a respite from the political world. Comedy should make us laugh. It should bring us together and make us forget our troubles for a few minutes. When comedians see everything as political, it leads to a world in which mocking our political adversaries is seen as humor instead of what it is: mocking our political adversaries.
Political humor can be funny, but only when it isn’t mean-spirited and ideally when we can’t tell the bias of the performers. SNL used to do this very well, most famously in a 1992 Presidential Debate Cold Open which featured Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton and Dana Carvey as both George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot.
Making fun of people is easy. Being funny is hard. I know, I’m trying the latter.
I plan on avoiding politics in my humor writing, but I will leave you with this one political joke:
A Democratic Politician and a Republican politician walk into a bar.
They both suck
It’s funny because it’s true.
Phil is a freelance writer, Canadian Navy veteran, and classical liberal. He has lived and worked in both Canada and the United States and currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia where he writes on politics, individual rights, free speech, and anything else that catches his fancy.
As you may have picked up from this article, he’s now trying his hand at humor. You can find some of what he finds funny here.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing your thoughts in the comments, subscribing, or even buying him a coffee if you’re feeling generous and feel that this was a particularly enjoyable article. Your attention, participation, and support really make a difference to us.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
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Schrodinger’s Chicken does have nice legs…let’s hope the humor is as good.
I remember when Drag Queen shows were hilarious holding up a mirror to society so we could laugh at ourselves. And then they went after kids and were no longer so. They were something to be feared. Make-up stores admonished customers to check their thoughts before entering. Like so many other brands, they forgot they were in the biz of selling. But for Woke ideology already beating us down before 2020, I don't think the Covid lockdowns/censorship would have occured. Your fellow Canadian, Jordan Peterson had wrongly hypothesized that conservatives couldn't be funny. This has turned out to woefully untrue because they use truth for humor. Just like the Drag Queens of old introduced inconvenient truths and were funny, Babylon Bee and others have taken that space.