Its 3:30 am here. I just got back from an improv jam and read this. On my phone so forgive spelling/grammar errors until tomorrow.

This post is right. It's so right. Its so absolutely positively right.

I hate it. People who beat these jokes to death are the Michael Scott of comedy. This includes but is not limited to

-"I'm not racist, I hate everybody"

-Old Chris Rock joke that idiots use to reinforce their own bigotry.

-"Detroit" jokes that are dog whistling for racist attitudes.

- "I don't get why liking watermelon and fried chicken are black stereotypes they are delicious"

Seriously people don't get it. Louis CK gets it because he seems to be very self aware, you person who saw a comedy special on Netflix don't get it because the joke to you is equivalent to a put down on the play ground.

But I'll regress in the hope that I won't dissect a joke to death. Instead I'll make a further note that Dave Chappelle worked closely with Neal Brennan, who wrote many of the white people sketches on Chappelles show. This is because like Louis, Brennan is painfully aware.

Which brings me here. You aren't allowed to say this stuff to people in polite company. Social rules that nobody really agreed to says that you should chuckle quietly and move on with your day. But if a joke puts someone down or is just "funny" because it's offensive, it's not a joke, it is just a shitty attitude that you decide to share with someone.

But that sucks too, Because I want people to expose themselves to different viewpoints and go beyond superficial white people appropriations. I want to explore why they say what they say. I want other people to understand they are funny and weird and great and don't have to put other people down to show it.

Having said that the best comedy in my mind comes from two ( maybe 3 or 4 depending on how much longer I can write) places:

- The power is being fought or speaking truth to power

" The Koch brothers today have announced a name change fearing that they might be considered something other than a corporate entity."

- The power is incompetent

" The Bush family was spotted hunting eggs after Jeb mistakenly pushed the calendar to Easter Sunday."

- The power has no power

" after two centuries an ancient roman coin has been found, economists say its value is immeasurable, my grandma says it will make a nice edition to my coin collection "

Not great jokes, granted but they are just illustrations of patterns.

Luckily there is an upside. I learned that if you kill a puppy on stage, it better be a satans puppy or similar. The power of a joke is that it gives the speaker the ability to level the playing field, if you are already at the top of mount "rich powerful people" the joke you've appropriated, is not funny. Just by default, you have nobody to speak truth to power to. The Pope can be a funny guy, but the Dali Lama has a lot more material.

In closing blah. I love you all and my thumbs are tired.