Lucy Dale, Staff Writer–
The Lisska Center for Intellectual Engagement invited Dr. Beck Krefting to the stage on Oct. 22 for a conversation on comedy, culture wars, and the power of laughter.
Krefting is a Professor in the American Studies department and Director of the Center for Leadership, Teaching, and Learning at Skidmore College. She specializes in stand-up comedy studies. She is the former vice president and president of the American Humor Studies Association and one of four co-founders of the Critical Humor Studies Association. Her monograph, “All Joking Aside: American Humor and Its Discontents” (2014), charts the history and economy of charged humor and stand-up comedy in the service of social justice. Krefting also performs stand-up comedy.
Dr. Diana Mafe, a professor in the Black Studies, the International Studies, and the Women’s and Gender Studies departments at Denison, moderated the event. Mafe said Krefting “brings the lens of both an academic and a practitioner to the conversation.”
Mafe and the Lisska Center brought Krefting and her work in critical humor studies to the Denison community as a part of their Minds Wide Open program. Mafe said that “whether stand-up routines or late-night talk shows, comedy provides a window into our national culture and the humor that makes some of us laugh and some of us cringe.”
As a scholar who studies critical humor and analyzes comedy, Krefting said, “a critical humor studies praxis [will consider both] the ways humor operates and how humor reflects power, systems of power, and structures of inequality.”
Jokes can be a medium for testing and challenging social norms, but they can also reinforce prejudices. Krefting shared that she doesn’t believe we must steer clear of subjects as a culture. Instead, we have to be thoughtful and conscientious about how we approach those topics. Comics such as Joe Rogan, Krefting said, “have built an entire empire on celebrating white masculinity and making fun of the weak and dispossessed.”
Some comedy is savvy and provocative but can also be tasteless and offensive. The question of the determining factor in today’s comedic world continues to be battled by opposing sides.
When asked about these arguments present in comedy today, Krefting reported the presence of pro-politically incorrect arguments where some comedians identify comedy as a “special snowflake.”
Krefting continued to explain how these comedians see this form as a way to “suspend the sort of rules, social rules, and protocols we have in place.” Those who reject this argument demand that “you can’t call it a special form, but then use it as a platform to be bigoted.”
Another substantial argument that is “resuscitated and recycled over and over,” as Krefting said, “is this argument about intentionality.” This argument comes to light in the saying, “You don’t understand comedy.”
This idea that what a comedian says on stage is not offensive simply because they are not actually racist, homophobic, sexist, etc., can perpetuate stereotypes for a laugh. Krefting said that those on the other side of this argument believe that “no one cares about comic intent. “It’s about reception. It’s about what people hear and what they internalize.”
While humor is subjective, and what is funny to one person may not be humorous to another, the lingering question stands: when does the joke go too far?
“You are less likely to be misunderstood if your stand-up is ideologically clear and consistent, which decreases misinterpretation by audience members,” Krefting said.
For the argument “you don’t understand comedy” or “you need to have thicker skin,” Krefting said “you only need a thick skin when engaging with comedy as a comedian or a consumer to the degree that you believe that comedy is meant to berate and dehumanize other people.”
Mafe brought up the growing phenomenon of cancel culture. Krefting said that she does not believe losing one’s career is among the consequences for comedians who step out of line. Instead, there seems to be “a temporary mute” for such comedians.
“If you acknowledge that you messed up and publicly apologize, your chances of being accepted back into viewers’ hearts are great.” Krefting said. She also said that some comedians do this, like Aziz Ansari and Louis C.K., among other comedians who say something or are accused of something that crosses the line.
When asked about the notion of “charged humor,” a term coined by Krefting, she said, “I wanted to track the humor that comedians used in the service of social justice.” Krefting continued to say that she didn’t wish to refer to this practice as “social justice humor” because she “could see a pattern that wasn’t just pointing toward societal ills and inequalities.” Charged humor can offer advice for substantive change and what our society can do differently to make a change. Krefting also said that charged humor is “the renegotiation of what a complex and human and deep identity people have that isn’t connected to these superficial, one-dimensional ideas about who people are.”