So, why DOES Netflix have a whole category dedicated to stand up comedians? Why do the ratings of comedy shows like Saturday Night Live, Late Night, Conan and the Daily Show surge when tragedy hits? Why are the biggest laughs in movies often in a scene at a funeral?
I remember several weeks after my father, to whom I was very close, died, I was reading an article in a magazine and there was a statement made that looked weird to me. It didn't seem accurate. I wasn't sure I believed it. I sat there for a quick minute and realized that there was one person who would know about the accuracy and so I picked up the phone and started dialing my dad's phone number.
I believe I got about 3 numbers in when I realized what I was doing. I stopped dialing. I hung up the phone and I said aloud, " I don't have that area code." There was a beat. Then I giggled. And I knew my dad would have chuckled as well. But my question is, why didn't I burst into tears? What made me think that bizarre thought and then laugh at it?
Maybe it's because laughter and tears, happy and sad, comedy and tragedy are but 2 sides of 1 coin. Without one, the other isn't as understood.
As this world has seemed to be exploding and imploding, literally and figuratively for about a year, we have, as a society, been turning more and more to our comic entertainers. Colbert has never been more popular. Samantha Bee has soared and SNL hasn't had a season like their last one in YEARS!
But this need to laugh through tears, to find humor in the abysmal isn't a new thing. Bob Hope was successful in his career before WWII, but his legacy that endures will be how he entertained the troops overseas through several wars. How he made GIs laugh in the literal middle of war, with bombs sounding in the background, knowing that many of those young men would never make it back to the U.S.
In my lifetime, I'll never forget Jon Stewart talking to the camera for the first time after the attacks on September 11, 2001. The Daily Show after 9/11
What he said was exactly the answer to my questions. The need to feel after we think we couldn't feel anymore. To feel something better. To feel like there is hope.
Why do we have so many comedians? Because we need them. Especially when it feels like there isn't one reason to smile.
When comedians talk about going back to work after tragedy, they talk about timing. It is a thin line between the "right time" and "too soon." In politics there doesn't seem to be "too soon", but for natural disasters and man-made terror the line is more blurred. For the victims of the hurricanes and earthquakes, it may still be too soon to joke about the storms themselves as they are dealing with the nitty gritty of the aftermath.
But, Conan will still do his "Clueless Gamer" routine, Colbert will drop some "Midnight Confessions", John Oliver will talk about "How is this still a thing?" stuff and Netflix will keep adding to its comedian show catalog. Because we need it. Even if it is temporary. Now more than ever.
I had a chance to see a bit of Comic Relief's Hand in Hand fundraising telethon last night, as it raised money for the victims of the hurricanes, etc. Not a lot of funny, but a lot of good spirit. And we need that too. Music was in abundance. And while we need the comedy, we also just need the arts in general...it keeps us human.
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