Sacrilege just isn’t as fun as it used to be when I was religious. There’s a certain rush that comes with laughing at the very God you pray to. I miss that. Now, as a nonbeliever, I think the subject of religion is a low-hanging fruit for comics—too ripe for ridicule.
That said, I do occasionally find good stuff. Below are a few of my favorite stand-up bits. They’re not thoughtful. They’re not profound. But they are funny.
For those who like their comedy a tad more offensive, check out David Cross or (especially) Dave Attell.
Cross: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYoZzt8vPsY
Attell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fXxIHmC_Wc
I love the Sky Cake one.
Oh my gosh, I’m dying. Ricky Gervais is sooooo great. I will love him, for all my days.
George Carlin is offensive, highly irreverent, and full of crude language, but hilarious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o
If I want my religion satirized, I go to Monty Python.
I suppose this is sacrilege, but I think Carlin’s humor was incredibly overrated. He always passed himself off as having all kinds of irreverent smarts, but really he was just a smart ass. He passed judgment easily but refused to be judged himself. He is, at the end of the day, the perfect manifestation of the “destructive generation” (the silly sixties).
For an example you need not look further than the linked clip above. What is most telling in his piece above is what he loves about “sun worship” (and so, we can infer, what he hates about traditional religion): “the best thing about the sun is that it never tells me I’m unworthy.” He hates religion because he does not want to be judged. He doesn’t want anybody or anything telling him that any of his desires are disordered. This is what you get from the sixties, a completely disordered – and incredibly juvenile – notion of freedom. Oddly, he says this just after going off on God for creating such a crappy world. So, George, is something in the world broken or not?
People can be religious or not. But people without something like “sin consciousness” (a basic intuition that I and the world are not what they are meant to be) scare the hell out of me.
To be fair, I’ve certainly laughed at some of Carlin’s acts. But at the end of the day he was a cynic, and I don’t think cynicism is all that funny. Cynicism takes things seriously without taking things seriously. The cynic is bitter and usually shallow. Satirists, in my view, can do better than that. Monty Python’s satirical takes on Christianity are funnier because they are deeper, they take it more seriously, and hence make it look all the more ridiculous.
Some examples of what I think is great religious satire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgcSVZoVe5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkgoFHQw6dg&feature=related
Here is another example of Python’s smarts (I could not find a clip). A throw away line at the end of the sermon scene is very sharp. Reg attacks Jesus with Nz, saying “What Jesus fails to appreciate is that the meek are the problem.”
Kleiner,
Very valid points. I’m usually one to defend Carlin as the greatest stand up comic ever, (and his spots in films can be great) especially against those who thought he should be put behind people who were just loud and offensive (at least Martin and Murphy did it with some substance). But true to your point, I think he, like Hicks, became bitter near the end of his life (though with hicks it was more a certain conclusion), and his arguments wavered between good and sometimes just contrarian. His arguments about poor design and suffering for atheism are still kind of funny for me but you are right, they have waned in interest as I’ve grown older and more read. His social commentary for me, sometimes still contradictory, was far better, blasting baby boomers and modern democracy under Nietzschean terms. Also his abortion rants have lost favor with me mostly because they are typical lefty talking points with a few exceptions and that’s nothing to really take seriously. His blasting of “white guys” and American history also bothers me, as its common fare for comedians. (Yeah, what have white guys ever done?) I don’t see the invalidity of people having power without election or dark skin.
I agree with you that some of Python’s stuff resonates better because it doesn’t seek to just tear down, just poke fun at situations in a thoughtful way (Life of Brian isn’t an insult, just a clever character study.)
Good to see someone older who agrees the sixties were a disaster for this nation. Its horribly sad to see a decade of proper racial understanding take place (the sort of dialog of King and Malcom X, the issues given brains and proper judicial treatment) also involve a destruction of sexual understanding and values (way beyond the gay issue), the worth of real tradition and the reality of human place in the world instead of their silly attempts at socialist ‘freedom’ (dodging responsibility under the guise of liberty). Note to Women, your nature and body is not a battlefield to be conquered, it something to be understood.
Bah, more ranting, I’m on a roll!
“…but I think Carlin’s humor was incredibly overrated.”
Agreed. My leaving him out of my list was intentional.
Did you like any of the other clips though, Professor Kleiner?
I have a strong dislike for everything involving Lewis Black. He is like a poor man’s Carlin. The Ricky piece was very good. I found it funny for the reasons I suggested above – it is funny because he takes the text seriously in order that he may satirize it.
I posted a few of my favorites (all from Monty Python life of brian), but the “administrator” is still vetting my post (probably because it has links in it).
I’ve looked around and cannot find any satirical takes on atheism. Is this because it is never fun to satirize the minority? I think, more likely, it is because you can only satirize deep and interesting things and atheism is entirely shallow and uninteresting.
Anyone have any satirical pieces running in that direction?
Kleiner, I must admit to loving Lewis Black. He’s certainly no Dane Cook (only one of those thank every god on our earth, but sadly he LIVES), and while he can be off I love his commentary on Superbowl halftime shows and some social aspects. He’s cynical too but it feels more fun, and his atheism is only brought up briefly so he doesn’t attack it too much.
For anti atheist comedy, I think part of the issue is that so many comedians are terrible, and most atheist, and the few that I’ve heard that are theist tend to mock it anyway without a deep insight (one woman said “being catholic is awesome, you only have to go to Midnight Mass and there’s alcohol then”, lame and stupid). What my point is that comedy tends around common tastes and very few (Gervais, Python etc) go beyond that, so attacking religion is the easy gig because it gets laughs at the bar. Going after atheism is harder because you’d have to unpack the issue in an easy way to get and that’s a lot of blanket statements to even get that far, and do it quickly with energy. Bill Hicks was a christian though he never used it except to close. I could try to come up with stuff along the “modern atheists just want christian benefits without the work” line, but it’d be in the lewis black style probably so Kleiner might not like it (that and I can be terrible at comedy.)
That, and long story short, I agree with your second premise
It seems I’ve killed another thread
but as a contribution, I’ll suggest Eddie Izzard’s bit on Jesus and the Dinosaurs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afsa5gkvmlU
Kleiner didn’t put me in a half nelson for giving it to Dr. Huenemann so I guess its okay
Kleiner–
I checked to see if there were any comments in moderation, but there aren’t. I usually get email notification of comments that get sent for approval, but if you did post a comment with links in it, it must not have gotten fully submitted or something.