“You have to know how to be vulgar. Paint with four-letter words.”
― Pablo Picasso
Art is perceived in a thousand ways, dependent on the viewer’s frame of reference, worldview, and even family of origin. I remember after college, making a living as a visual artist. I had several influences, but Picasso was one of the first who knocked me on my ass. His blue period still makes the hair on my arms stand up, as does plenty of his cubism. One man’s masterpiece is another’s ignorance. I remember my dad looking at a coffee-table book I’d purchased of Picasso’s unfathomable body of work and him saying, “Anybody could do that.” God love him, I wish I could say he was drunk, but I’ll chalk it up as a naive understanding of genius.
A long windup to say my take on the Picasso quote is be reckless on the canvas and with life. Break rules, don’t be safe, make a bold statement, all for the right reasons, and possibly maybe, you’ll end up in the history books.
Comedians have a similar mindset. The craft of extracting laughter from an audience consists of an abrupt change in direction from the expected. We laugh because the artist surprised us with his or her verbal dexterity. There’s a fine line between laughter and jaw-dropping shock, and the masters toe the line at daredevil heights. From my vantage, there’s no artistic endeavor as brave as standup comedy. A theater actor often is part of an ensemble, plus the environment is established as a passive audience receiving the performance. Or a band has each other, and even a solo musician has an instrument as a bodyguard. Think about it, all a comedian has for protection from the drunken hordes is their vocabulary and a mic. Maybe a prop or two like Carrot Top and Gallagher, but the the real game is played with words alone.
Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle I’d say are the current Mount Rushmore of the raunch, and I’m a fan of all. They built their foundation on ground-breakers such as Richard Pryor, Joan Rivers and Red Fox. I would watch videos of Richard Pryor for hours, his cadence and rhythms were matchless, still are. There’s also a long list of clean comics such as Leno, Seinfeld and Ellen (nice to be known by one name), and I have mighty respect for their discipline.
The question I’m posing for the day is can a comedian go too far? Let me state upfront I’m a big fan of all four above. Their timing plus ability to weave a yarn and turn on a dime is awe-inspiring. But I often find myself laughing and cringing while watching. There’s a level of guilt I feel, as if mom caught me with my hand in the cookie jar before dinner. The standard rebuttal I hear from all comics is all that matters is the laugh. In other words, there is no line to cross, except one of silence. My inner barometer disagrees. For clarity, I’m not wandering down a freedom of speech debate. Censorship isn’t a win, we need the bad to measure when comedy ― or tweets ― digress to slander and character assassination.
I was relieved to see I’m not quite the old guy in brown socks yelling at those crazy kids to turn down that devilish rock n’ roll. Plenty of critics feel Chappelle crossed the line in “Sticks and Stones.” In a CNBC article, the writer said, “Many of the jokes were perceived as tone-deaf and hurtful, particularly those which used various groups of people as punchlines, such as women, sexual assault victims, Asians and members of the LGBTQ community — transgender people in particular.” Ah, come on sweetie, but I made you laugh, is how most comedians default.
As always, we must turn to something beyond the zeitgeist to test the spirits. Let’s wrestle with one of the most provocative statements in the history of mankind from John 1:1,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
And scene. What this means ― flatly and forcefully ― is words do matter. Specifically, there’s one Word that matters most, with authority over all other words, sentences, documents and books. Yep, that’d be the Bible. We turn to God’s Word as the final jurisdiction on all matters, even above the Constitution. I encourage you to wrestle with the concept, try to dismiss scripture as a centuries-old version of the telephone game. Or kick it to the curb and try your best as a good person minus an absolute litmus test to measure against.
Let’s take a step further to set the foundation of authority. In Genesis 1, the God of the universe “spoke” things into existence,
1:3 “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”
1:6 “And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.”
1:9 “And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.”
1:11 “Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.”
1:24 “And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.”
1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
In other words, the Grand Poobah above all others gave an order, and water, light, dirt, air, flesh and blood said yessir, and hopped. Did this all happen in seven days? Not likely by our clocks, but for damn sure it wasn’t a brainless jackass named evolution working alone in a void.
When I notice these inner turmoils stirring from any content I’m absorbing, I ask what’s happening in my spirit? On the musical side, I have to be cognizant of my frame of mind when listening to Zero 7, Radiohead or Massive Attack. I love ’em, but there’s a tonality that can send me to a dark place. The same diligence is needed when listening to comedians, or any cultural leader for that matter. I have to again turn to the official Word for verses like Ephesians 4:29 and 1 Thessalonians 5:11,
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”
I’m not saying you must cover your ears from all things curse word. After all, a targeted f-bomb serves a purpose. Each person has to make their own assessment of when and how their compass gets pulled off track. Maybe the question before that is what do you use as your guide? If it’s not scripture, it’s something. Your mind is a sponge absorbing data 16 hours a day, and statistically it’s social media, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime.
We’d all be smart to discern what’s our line, who determines it, and how much we can tippy-toe up to or over it. As you do, remember to pepper your Chappelle, Schumer and Rock with the timelessness of Christ.
See ya next time. ML