In recent days a number of young comics have asked whether they can make jokes about the Sydney Siege. To be fair, they arent at the victims expense or even about the siege itself. My answer is a categoric no. Ive been shot down by experienced comics about this and found myself lost in the debate but Ill try and explain my stance here. A great comic once told me that Comedy equals tragedy plus time. For me, thats some of the greatest comedy advice aside from when Clint Turner told me to smash that meat pie in your face in year 2. Im a firm believer that you can make jokes about anything. Any topic at all! The ancient art of standup began with Jesters being the only people in the kingdom to mock the king. And while we can make jokes about anything, the question here shouldnt be can we make jokes about the Sydney Siege, the question really is should we? In a week where the media told us our way of life was in danger, national security questions were raised and the government has tried to leverage tighter security laws off the back of a complete nutter who used religious fanaticism to cover his nihilistic actions (I realise theres apparent tautology there). A week where the real victory was the solidarity of Australians who said #iwillrodewithyou and showed incredible compassion for the Muslim community. A week where every florist in the CBD sold out of flowers as the outpouring of love, grief and compassion literally overflowed upon the city streets, where the smell of urine on footpaths and bins in need of a change was replaced with wafting scents of these floral tributes. Comedy equals tragedy plus time and I truly look forward to the time when the tragedy is far enough behind us that what you have to say can bring joy to people instead of confusion as we all try and make our way through what has unfolded. I would argue that there isnt an audience in the country who wouldnt find this too raw to delve into and if there is an audience that keen to laugh at this situation with all thats unfolded in the last 7 days, I dont think I wanna be on that bill. Rant over.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 23:34:25 +0000
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