On August 29, 2016, legendary comedian and actor Gene Wilder passed away from complications of Alzheimer’s. Ever since I was a young child and I was shown films like "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and "Blazing Saddles," I always noticed Gene Wilder. To me he always seemed like the kind of guy who gave a lot of energy to his performances and only focused on making people laugh. You could always tell that he loved what he was doing and for that he will forever and always be known as a comedy legend, mastering something like the comedic pause, literally making nothing funny. And of course, Gene Wilder will always be a part of my childhood and saying he will be missed is an understatement.
Not only him, but we also lost comedic legend Robin Williams, who was not only one of my idols, but everyones idol. Everyone grew up with Robin Williams and even though he suffered a lot, he still had a huge heart to make everyone around him laugh so they wouldn’t have to suffer themselves.
I don’t only mention these 2 because we recently lost them. I mention them mainly because people tend to forget how important comedy and laughter actually is. Even though nowadays it feels as though comedians have to watch what they say even if they are saying the absolute truth, because god forbid somebody gets offended.
Comedy is important because it can help us during the darkest time in our lives. We live in a time where most people are experiencing some sort of depression and they feel like nothing can ever break that. But comedy tries to and for the most part it really does help. Comedy makes us forget about the bad times we may have and it reminds us that the things in our lives are actually hilarious.
Like I said before though, comedy nowadays is becoming almost censored. It’s very hard to tell a joke now without someone getting offended. Are there comedians who only try to offend and not actually make a joke? Of course, and those comedians usually don’t work. Because the point of comedy is to laugh at our problems not laugh AT people with those problems. You’re trying to hurt someone and mental pain is just cruel. But, if you look at people like Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who clearly use offensive humor, you’ll see that they do it differently. They use it to make a moral and give their two sense. They’re not trying to hurt anyones feelings but they really don’t care who gets offended.
We need comedy to challenge its audience or else the jokes would honestly be kind of boring. George Carlin once said “comedy doesn’t work unless somebody is getting offended." This is so true in many ways because the whole point in comedy is to laugh at life. We all face problems, we all face challenges, but you know what? That’s life. Sometimes you have to laugh it off because in a matter of time it won’t matter anymore.
But of course comedy doesn’t always have to be offensive.
Comedians like Jim Carrey, Chris Farley and The Three Stooges work as physical comedy because they want you to realize that pain, while not pleasant, is also a part of life. The pain makes us laugh because of the build up to it. Maybe they had it coming or maybe it’s just unexpected or maybe they were just being stupid. It’s possible.
We also have smart witty humor, which is my favorite. Comedians like Woody Allen, Steven Wright, Bill Murray, and my personal favorite modern comedian Demetri Martin are all examples and masters at this kind of humor. Witty humor works because it causes you to laugh at something that you may have never thought of before. The kind of humor that “goes over your head” as they say. It’s a reminder that comedy is all about timing and nothing is funnier than quickness.
Yeah, I probably should’ve explained those better but you get my point.
More people should be proud that we have the comedians that we do. You don’t understand how hard it is to actually make someone laugh on your own for the amount of time they have. Comedians like Gene Wilder and Robin Williams were masters at comedy and not only that, in real life they were good people with big hearts. Even if they could get offensive or dirty with their humor. But they weren’t trying to offend they were just trying to make you feel good. And they succeeded. That’s why they’re pretty much household names now.
Comedy shouldn’t be something that we look down upon it should still be worshipped by everyone. No matter what kind of humor it is.
