The Role Of Stereotypes In Contemporary Comedy

In contemporary comedy, comedians usually use their own identity to produce jokes that either emphasize or challenge stereotypes projected onto them. Sampson McCormick says that “[Disclosing my sexuality on stage] allowed me to finally create material from an authentic point of view,” (par 1) this emphasizes the fact that by introducing new identities to the realm of comedy, the horizon of funny and coverable material increases drastically. If women, LGBT community members and other minorities (when compared to the heterosexual white male) are cut off from performing, we lose some genius comedic minds because venues and shows “Just don’t think [their] viewers are ready for that,” (par 5). These exact and diverse comedic minds are revolutionary
and glass-ceiling shattering because they bring in subject matter that goes against the stereotypes projected onto them. Whether it be Lenny Bruce’s identity (albeit he is a heterosexual white male) of a very blunt and obscene comedian that gave way for a change in the freedom of speech in entertainment, or Richard Pryor’s identity as a black male that changed the way the world viewed black humor as he destroyed the concept of ‘two-ness’ by introducing only black personalities on stage; the repression of identities encourage reform and revolution. When Dave Chappelle puts on his ‘heterosexual white male’ voice, or Chelsea Peretti gives her ogre-like representation of male sexual advances (by using a microphone as a penis), they are using their status as a minority to provide new perspectives on the stereotypical heterosexual white male. This flips the role of the heterosexual white male on its head as they are now the butt of the joke. When McCormick says “[Seinfeld is] a white man, and has never had to face the “being seen” obstacle,” (par 7) he identifies a key point that makes the identity so dominant in the comedic circuit (and culture itself). White heterosexual males are allowed “free passes on rape jokes, bro references and shit humor,” (par 10) because they never get to know what it’s like being the minority and having something brought down upon them. This is partly why Louis C.K’s ‘faggot’ bit is so controversial, because he thinks it is perfectly alright to say what he wants because he has never been repressed using the word faggot legitimately. Solomon Georgio introduces to his audience the idea that white culture and its history (regarding heterosexual white males) is mostly a façade consisting of smoke and mirrors.
In Georgio’s joke regarding his name, Solomon Georgio, he introduces atrocities such as civil war, famine and military occupation that reflect a different version of white history than what the audience is used to. In another one of Georgio’s jokes that challenge heterosexual white males, he tells the actual story (abridged) of Pocahontas and how she was essentially a sex slave when she was 12 years old to John Smith and his men. This, as Georgio outs Disney’s scheme, shows that history is distorted in a way that appeals to white culture. Georgio uses his identity as a well-spoken and ethnic individual, as well as stereotypes placed upon, him as a springboard for his jokes. He assumes that his audience knows these stereotypes, such as the joke about working in a fine dining restaurant which draws upon his identity as a gay man from Ethiopia. Much like a shy Hari Kondabulu, Georgio’s jokes base themselves off of mocking the dominant culture (high-culture itself), however, unlike Kondabulu, Georgio doesn’t directly attack the heterosexual white male. Instead, Georgio allows his audience (presumably white) to give in to knowing the stereotypes placed upon his minority status, such as Ethiopians being so hungry they eat cats. Georgio’s comedy goes directly against the two-ness that is applied onto blacks, because he says, straight out, that he is homosexual and he embraces this identity to bring upon humor in his real-life events pertaining to that
identity.