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Have you seen the list of nominees for Best Comedy Series for the 2023 Emmy Awards? (Why not, you got a hobby or something?)
While reading through them, I felt more deflated than a long-forgotten whoopee cushion. Because while these shows are great – Bill Hader deserves all the accolades – it reminded me that too many comedy shows have one thing in common: they’re smart.
There’s nothing like a pie in the face to momentarily distract us from the horror of existence.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
I can’t be the only one who, when choosing a comedy to watch, expects to laugh. The Bear features a stressed-out chef grieving his brother who took his own life, and as a mentally-ill person who’s worked in hospitality, you’d think I’d gobble this up. And I do, like a little piggie, but not when I want comedy.
And while workplace narratives and political satire are fun, they don’t offer the specific hahaha of something… less smart. By that, I mean goofy, silly, playful, maybe even a bit wackadoo! Increasingly, I’m seeking entertainment to give me an escape from the heartburn-inducing news available 24/7, not a rehashing of it. As Succession went on, it became too real for me to enjoy. This type of dramedy doesn’t make me feel relief, solidarity or joy, and it doesn’t make me laugh.
A common, if cliched, intent of some artists is to hold a mirror up to society. Sure, okay. But have these artists ever considered that we don’t always want a mirror held up in front of us? Not because we’re in denial of social and political woes, but because we already freaking know about them. You can’t do a hokey-pokey without bumping into at least three social and political woes. Grim news is everywhere – we’re living it – so I know exactly what’s lurking inside that mirror: it’s a middle-aged woman (yucky) wearing a propeller hat, sick of thinking.
We need a separation of church and state when it comes to world atrocities and laughing. I want my news news-y and my comedy joke-y, dang it. Less biting political satire and more people falling down, please. Too much media of late has endless smug winks to the camera when I’d rather that person get hit in the face with a banana cream pie. Or maybe they bend over and their trousers split at the seam? Ooh, and then one of their feet can get stuck in a bucket! Good thing this is written down because these ideas are gold.
Need some silly? Netflix’s I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson has you covered.Credit: Netflix
For centuries audiences have appreciated silly, goofy entertainment that has no subtext; the silly goofiness is the text. From I Love Lucy to Taskmaster, there’s nothing like a pure and playful bit to momentarily distract us from the horror of existence. Enjoying dumb humour doesn’t mean we’re dum-dums: one of our most brilliant satirists Shaun Micallef created the unparalleled clown that is Milo Kerrigan. Funny for fun’s sake is hard to come by on television. What am I supposed to do, go outside and support my local improv troupe? Yes, and… I’d rather stay home.
The funny thing is that when I was a child, I hated children’s movies with their slapstick comedy and gross jokes. In primary school when they’d wheel out the big TV/VCR to watch Mouse Trap or Home Alone, I’d quietly read a book (still can’t figure out why I was bullied). But now, decades later? Hoo baby, I can’t get enough of it. “More silly voices!” I scream at my television set. “More goofy gags!” Is that dog gagging on something? Hilarious. I wonder if it’ll throw up!
We’re all exhausted from the horrors of the world and maybe that’s why some of us are regressing with our tastes. We spend so much time in our heads stressing about everything that when we need a laugh, it’s only logical we don’t want to have to think too much. The pure glee of laughing at something deeply stupid and silly is a joy I shan’t continue to be robbed of.
And if you need one, there are three seasons of I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson now streaming on Netflix. It’s mainly yelling, falling down and irrational crying. Not a mirror in sight.
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