Being “funny” is not a quantifiable trait. What one person considers side-splittingly funny, someone else might not laugh at all. How people interact with comedy depends on their positionality and life experiences. But under the white supremacist structure, The United States of America and the rest of the world are built on white cisgender heterosexual (cishet) men who are positioned as neutral and therefore relatable to everyone. White cishet men have dominated the comedy world, but the real question is, are they really funny?
Bo Burnham and John Mulaney (pre-divorce, I’m on Team Anna) are two of my favorite comedians. They are white cishet men from affluent backgrounds who
made it big in stand-up comedy with multiple Netflix Specials. While I find
them funny (which does not mean much since I’m also white), their humor is
undeniably for a white audience. Yet they are positioned as comedians who are
“relatable to everyone,”, especially on the social media app TikTok. Their audios were so popular that there was no escape for many people at one point. With much of their comedian being observational, it was easy to relate. But with their audios becoming so popular, there are audios of other comedians being left behind.
I made a video essay for my Comedy and Gender class at MIT for my final
project. As someone with a lot of experience with podcasting, I thought that
the shift to video essays would not be too hard. I was wrong. Talking into a microphone is accessible regardless of how you look but maintaining continuity
within a video is difficult. Initially I underestimated how long it would take
me to record and edit because I was not considering how the lighting throughout
the day would change or how noticeable it would be if I had a sudden outfit
change in the middle of a clip.
Works Cited
Akana, Anna, and Michelle Macedo. I’ll Never Be as Good as Bo Burnham. YouTube, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYtNNqHb01o.
A-Tribe-Called-Queer. “Everyday I Go on the Internet and Every Day I Am…” 🐛. Tumblr, November 25, 2020. https://a-tribe-called-queer.tumblr.com/post/635734113756872704/everyday-i-go-on-the-internet-and-every-day-i-am.
Bo Burnham. “Bezos I.” YouTube, June 9, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_EeCkHs-e0.
Colpean, Michelle, and Meg Tully. “Not just a joke: Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, and the weak reflexivity of white feminist comedy.” Women’s Studies in Communication 42, no. 2 (2019): 161-180.
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Hannah Gadsby on Being a Woman in a Man’s World. YouTube. Netflix Is A Joke, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuoTAkn-0DQ.
Kirk, Cameron (@cameron_kirk) 2021. “Guess this aged well… (sound: #johnmulaney) #comedy #wife #BeBold #usa #uk #british” TikTok, September 27, 2021. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8vV5Jac/.
Maurine, Kailin (@kailinbobailin). 2021. “Capital Hill Riot as a John Mulaney quote. #Capitalhill #capitalhillriot #impeachment #impreachtrump #bidenharris2020 #johnmulaney#fyp#foryoupage” Tiktok, January 17, 2021. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8v4oHRB/.
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Ogbogu, Stephanie. “Tiktok Admits to Suppressing Videos from Disabled, Fat …” Afro Tech, February 13, 2020. https://afrotech.com/tiktok-suppressing-disabled-fat-queer-creators.
Sam I Am (@sernewtsky). 2021. “@raiseupfor15 I will be taking no questions at this time #boburbham #minimumwage #amazon #jeffbezos.” TikTok, July 3, 2021. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8vbatYb/.
Shaneassadzandi (@shaneassadzandi). 2021. “#greenscreen #bexos #boburnham #boburnhaminside #billionaires #incomeinequality #amazon #fyp #foryoupage” Tiktok, July 17, 2021. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8vVLbfQ/.
spacingout. “So Many Stars In The Sky.” Tumblr, June 3, 2021. https://spacingout.tumblr.com/post/653002577097654272/i-havent-fucking-watched-it-yet-and-the-audios.
Tyler, Zoe (@zoediackiller). 2021. “No not argue with sidogynists in the comments. Ignoring them is much more effective. #fyp #foryou #funnywomen #notallmenbutenough.” Tiktok, February 22, 2021. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8Vv1s9X/.
White People Can’t Clean – Sydnee Washington – Ilana Glazer Presents Comedy on Earth: NYC 2020-2021. YouTube. Comedy Central Stand-up, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14MjqnR72Qw.
Zack, Naomi. “Black Female Crossover Comedy: Freedom, Liberty, and Minstrelsy.” Philosophical Feminism and Popular Culture (2012): 37-50.
Sara Schmieder 