What is a stand-up comedy?

American society seen from the transition May 17, 15:53

The controversial uproar between actor Will Smith and stand-up comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, an American film festival this year.

Smith slapped Rock, who made a teasing statement about his wife's appearance.

Besides making fun of your appearance, violence is even worse.

But what is a "stand-up comedy" in the first place?

I decided to look it up.

(International Department Reporter Genki Kitai)

What is the origin of stand-up comedy?

"Originally, the origin of the stand-up comedy was a special form of theater that'gets

a sense of superiority as a white man'by laughing at black slaves through theater."

I am Professor Tsuyoshi Kobayashi of Kansai University.

It is said that the origin of the stand-up comedy is called "Minstrel Show".

The 19th century when the "Minstrel Show" spread to the United States.

In the United States, black slavery remained.

Under these circumstances, it is said that in the "Minstrel Show", a white actor painted his face black and performed a stereotyped black slave.

According to Professor Kobayashi, the show was performed especially in theaters in the north, and it was also a place to get a sense of superiority by making black people laugh.

A stand-up comedy that has undergone a major transformation

Over time, stand-up comedy has changed from racist content to social satire at the heart of the story.

In the background, the civil rights movement for the elimination of racial discrimination spread from the 1950s, and after that, institutional racial discrimination was gradually eliminated.

At the same time, in American society, overt racial discrimination is gradually being avoided, especially in urban areas, and even in the comedy world, people in a superior position and the majority side make racial discrimination a joke. It seems that people are refraining from "taking laughter with minority as a material".

Under these circumstances, Lenny Bruce, who gained popularity from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, was also described as "raising the stand-up comedy into a" social satire "."

Bruce, who also has Jewish roots, sharply satirized "the contradiction of American society."

He ranged from racism to minority to politics, religion, homosexuality and poverty.

Bruce says he's still legendary in America after his death, including being ranked third in the 2017 article "The 50 Best Stand-Up Comedians" by the culture magazine Rolling Stone. increase.

Black stand-up comedian becomes a star

In addition, in stand-up comedy, black comedians have become popular as stars since the 1980s.

One of them is Eddie Murphy, who is also active as an actor.

Murphy, a black man, took advantage of the black discrimination that persists in American society and made it a source of laughter.

Contrary to the "Minstrel Show," which was a joke about racial discrimination against black people, Murphy also showed off a story about white makeup and white people.

The story was that Murphy, who plays a white man, tries to get a loan at a bank without collateral, but it is funny that the response is different from when he went to the bank as a black man.

Professor Kobayashi explained the background behind the popularity of minority stand-up comedians such as Lenny Bruce and Eddie Murphy.

Professor Go Kobayashi

"In America, a multiethnic society, there are always majority and minority. There are various disparities between the two, such as differences in power, differences between rich and poor, and differences in opportunities. It was established in the stand-up comedy that "weak" people use "strong" people as jokes to dissipate the dissatisfaction and anger of minority people in American society. It's a format. "

A comedy that will change even more as diversity grows.

And now.

Stand-up comedy is said to be showing further changes.

"In America today, it's basically out of the question to make jokes about'things you can't change with your own efforts', such as religion, race, LGBTQ, etc.

" This is Saku Yanagawa, a Japanese who works as a comedian.

Last year, even in Korona-ka, he stood on the stage about 400 times a year.

Mr. Yanagawa points out that the background is the changes that are occurring in American society as diversity continues to grow.

The first thing I mentioned was the movement called "cancellation culture."

"Cancellation culture" is the attempt to exclude or boycott a person because of improper behavior.

According to Yanagawa, even in the stand-up comedy world, there were cases where tweets posted by the person himself had burned up and had to drop the program.

When I looked it up, there were cases where the stand-up comedian's remarks caused a fierce backlash.

According to the American media, in October 2021, popular stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle repeatedly insulted LGBTQ parties in a comedy program distributed by video distribution giant Netflix.

In response, human rights groups and celebrities supporting transgender issued statements that criticized one after another.

Netflix employees held a protest demonstration in front of the head office and demanded that the distribution be canceled.

"The line of" laughter "that changes with the times"

Yanagawa said that there are fewer other jokes that make "appearance".

The reason is that the movement called "body positivity", which emphasizes the idea of ​​"be proud of your appearance and love yourself", has become widespread in the United States.

It is also regarded as an "aggressive joke" to make a story of a race different from your own race, such as "tampering" with race and "accent art" that impersonates the English accent that was once regarded as "iron plate". It seems that it is supposed to be.

On the other hand, in the American comedy world, comedians who show off stories that can be seen in Japan such as "song stories" and "flip arts" that were not seen before, and "clean" that refrains from controversial jokes. It is also said that the number of "comedians" is increasing.

Regarding this series of changes, Yanagawa said:

Mr. Yanagawa

"I think that a stand-up comedian is a job to identify the last-minute line of good and bad jokes. The" last-minute line "changes with the times. To do this, you have to study constantly. It is a sin to go on stage without knowing it. "

"There is no division at the moment of laughing"

A stand-up comedy that has changed to reflect the changes in American society.

Finally, Yanagawa talked about its role.

"I think that stand-up comedy is a catalyst for new awareness, discovery, and dialogue that says,'That's right.' It's natural that the United States has a large population and disagreements. Stand-up comedy theater So it's a place where you can meet people who disagree with you and laugh at them. If everyone can laugh at one joke, I believe there's no division at that moment. "

International Department Reporter

Genki Kitai

Joined in 2014 After working at the Hakodate and Sapporo stations, his

favorite stand-up comedian is Woody Allen, who is also famous as a movie director.