#314 - Clean Comedy Controversy: A Comedian's Battle with Cancel Culture
Jun 19, 2024Episode 314
Benja Welldone
Can clean comedy still offend? Join us as we sit down with a seasoned comedian who faced the ironic twist of being canceled over a joke about cancel culture. Despite his commitment to delivering clean, universally acceptable humor, a recent incident led to his dismissal after offending an audience member. He shares the emotional toll and the challenges of constantly refining his material in today's sensitive environment, illustrating how even the most well-intentioned jokes can backfire.
This episode isn't just about a comedian's struggle; it's a heartfelt exploration of the evolving landscape of humor. Our guest recounts the fateful performance, reflecting on a bit involving giving an audience member $20 to discuss the role of money in happiness. Through this humorous yet poignant narrative, we delve into the perseverance and adaptability required to keep audiences laughing amid an ever-changing world. Whether you're a comedy enthusiast or curious about the behind-the-scenes trials of a comedian's life, this conversation offers both laughs and profound insights.
Can clean comedy still offend? Join us as we sit down with a seasoned comedian who faced the ironic twist of being canceled over a joke about cancel culture. Despite his commitment to delivering clean, universally acceptable humor, a recent incident led to his dismissal after offending an audience member. He shares the emotional toll and the challenges of constantly refining his material in today's sensitive environment, illustrating how even the most well-intentioned jokes can backfire.
This episode isn't just about a comedian's struggle; it's a heartfelt exploration of the evolving landscape of humor. Our guest recounts the fateful performance, reflecting on a bit involving giving an audience member $20 to discuss the role of money in happiness. Through this humorous yet poignant narrative, we delve into the perseverance and adaptability required to keep audiences laughing amid an ever-changing world. Whether you're a comedy enthusiast or curious about the behind-the-scenes trials of a comedian's life, this conversation offers both laughs and profound insights.
Yesterday I did a comedy show and I got fired, just plain and simple. Somebody asked me a question about that after I called them because I told them. So apparently I did something wrong and I offended somebody. But as a comedian that's never my intention, right, and all I do now is I do clean comedy. I do shows that essentially everybody should be able to laugh at and no one should be offended. So the question is, even in what I'm doing like clean comedy, if I still offend somebody like how much can I water down something? Like if I have sugar right and I already have sugar and continue to add water to it, you're not going to be able to tell there's even any sugar in it after a while, right? So it's just a really disappointing feeling because I work and I try so hard to make everybody so happy and I got paid and that's great. But the bigger aspect is that it is my passion, it is who I am and I was on stage.
Speaker 1:
I was supposed to be on stage for like 45 minutes to I think like an hour. They said they'd be kind of flexible with it and around like the 30 minute mark. Uh, I got the signal and and signal and I thought there was a problem. I said, hey, are you serious? You know, and I'm going to try to find out what it is that I did or said or something like that because, uh, obviously I don't want to repeat it, but, man, it's just, it's getting harder and harder and harder and harder and harder not to offend people. You know, what's so ironic is I actually had a joke. I actually had a joke about getting canceled and everybody getting too offended, and that was like the minute 15, around, like minute 15 mark, right, and I actually said that when I'm writing jokes now everyone gets offended so easily that I have to. I'll think of something really funny and I'll write it down and I'll test it out and it'll work great. But if I say it 10 times and somebody's offended by it one time, I traditionally like I take it out of circulation, right? So it's harder and harder to say jokes. Then the joke is I say, yeah, everybody's called a racist for no reason, like it's a crazy thing. And then I say, and, with that being mentioned, if you don't think that I'm funny, you don't have to laugh at any of my jokes if you don't want to, but if you don't, you're racist. So it's just supposed to be super sarcastic, ironic kind of a joke, because I'm setting it up by saying of not getting their way and then I do exactly what I say I don't like. I'm just having fun with words, I'm just having, you know, making fun of the ironic situation, the overarching scenario, right, and I guess I did something, and it's just one of the most.
Speaker 1:
I even had another joke. I even had another joke about um, if I were to have a bad performance, I'd be absolutely devastated because, um, this is my life and this is my passion, it's everything, it's who I am, uh, and I say but, with that being mentioned, I already got paid. So if that does happen, I'll be fine, I'll be, I'll be good because at least I got paid. Now, that's not actually the joke, that's just a setup. The joke itself is, anyway, for what it's worth, I've taken you down this road too far.
Speaker 1:
So I tell someone, I say has anyone ever actually had a bad day and they got paid? Like, during that moment of like, when you're having like a really bad day, somebody just gave you money. And then I say, just out of curiosity, is everybody having a bad day today? And one of the people raised their hands. I said if somebody gave you money, do you think you'd be happy? And the girl was like, yeah. So I walked over and it was part of the joke, it's all part of the joke. I gave her $20 and I said how are you feeling? She was like better. I was like, well, listen, you know. I said how you feeling she was like better? I was like, well, listen, you know, we just witnessed a miracle, you know, because I don't want to say money can't buy happiness, but clearly it can. And the next like five minutes is just talking about that irony. So I actually set it up with some crowd participation. It's really interesting, it's a really cool and everybody loved that part.
Speaker 1:
But at some point I did something that really offended somebody because, uh, somebody complained to the owner um, or maybe it was the owner and he said it was somebody else. But regardless, I got, uh, I got the signal to go off and, um, I'm not upset anybody. I'm actually just upset at, uh, myself and the circumstances of failure, because I know this is like comedy now, is like walking on a tightrope while people are throwing things at you. It's very difficult not to like to please everybody and I didn't intend anything to upset anybody. So I'm just going to have to try to reevaluate and figure things out. But not everything is positive in the world of comedy, this definitely being one of them. Um, but man, it's just, it sucks, it's one of the worst feelings ever. It sucks, it's one of the worst feelings ever. Anyway, nothing good to report.
Speaker 1:
Did I get paid? Yeah, I got paid, but I take pride in what I do A lot of it, and I work really, really hard. I just thought that I would have a great night and I had a not great night at all. So, getting money isn't everything. I know it pays for bills and stuff, but man, just so disappointing. Anyway, kind of feels like a girl broke up with you and you got fired from a job all at once, because it's something that I really care about more than everything else in the world. So, anyway, well, back to the drawing board. I got more shows this week, hopefully, and I'm going. Well, back to the drawing board. I got more shows this week, hopefully, uh, and I'm gonna have to make some adjustments. I'm going to try to figure out what I said or something like that, but you guys have the best day I'm binge. Well done, check me out. Peace.
