BY MEGAN LENT
Late last month, I performed at UCLA’s first round of the
Laugh Bowl, which is an annual stand-up comedy competition that culminates in a
final round pitting our comedians against comics from USC. I’d never done
stand-up before, but I’ve been writing for years and people occasionally say
that I’m funny, so I thought it would be a fun challenge.
And it was. I did my silly three-minute set (my best joke was “I’m going to make a movie about a couple who fall in love at a shoe store and call it Sole Mates. Alternatively, I am also going to make a movie about a couple who fall in love in South Korea and call it Seoul Mates”) and went back to my seat. People laughed, and I felt great.
The kid who went on after me told a joke about being issued rape whistles by the ROTC. The gist of the joke was that he’d be at risk of being raped, and of being a rapist, in the military. Normally, I’d be offended, but given that the rest of his set was borderline racist, I ignored it. When he finished, the emcee, who was an established comedian from the Laugh Factory, took the stage.
The emcee pointed me out, and, running with the idea of a rape whistle, suggested that I would need one, before saying something to the effect of, he hoped I wouldn’t get a rape whistle, so that he could tie me up and throw me in the trunk of his car. I was severely uncomfortable. That surge of confidence I’d felt moments previous was totally sucked away.
But what could I do? I couldn’t heckle; that’d make the whole crowd turn on me. It was like I was in a room full of people complicit with this fairly mild permutation of rape culture. Also, I had just put myself in a very vulnerable position, so I wasn’t prepared to defend myself.
What I wanted to say was, “Wow, a rape joke? How original.” I didn’t feel in danger or anything like that, but I did feel semi-helpless. I was there alone, and pretty exposed (stand-up takes a lot out of you; it’s kind of terrifying, to be honest).
Where did this idea come from that joking about rape is “edgy,” and if I don’t like it then I “can’t take a joke?” Isn’t misogyny a few millennia old? And why do comedians get a free pass to offend total strangers, without having any idea that their words could seriously hurt or trigger negative memories and emotions?
What I think is that we instill too much reverence in comedy. Comics treat comedy as a sacred institution, something to never be countered or questioned. This is why people were so quick to defend Woody Allen, despite accusations that he molested his adopted daughter. There’s this idea that comedians, who are generally insecure people as it is, don’t have to have limits. That you can joke about anything.
I’m looking forward to a day where comedians come to the realization that perpetuating rape culture is not a laughing matter – that it’s no joke that an average of more than 200,000 people are victims of sexual assault each year in the United States, or that 97 percent of rapists never see jail time (statistics from the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network). Putting myself in a situation out of my comfort zone, like doing stand-up, is satisfying. Someone taking advantage of that vulnerability is anything but.
I love comedy, and I think it can do a lot in the way of illuminating truths and providing entertainment. But when people pander to the lowest common denominator, resorting to tired, lazy jokes, no one gets anything of value from it.
But, I’m not going to stop doing stand-up. I should be able to go onstage, kill it, and not have to worry about someone in a position of power making some stupid rape jokes about me. As it happens, I made it to the quarterfinals of the Laugh Bowl. Who knows, maybe I’ll go further.
But either way, I’m getting the last laugh here. Because, when it comes down to it, I’m a lot funnier than someone who has to rely on a tired, dated rape joke.
Lent is a third-year comparative literature student.
I don’t necessarily agree that most comics would believe comedy can “never be questioned.” It absolutely can and plenty of comedians do – look at the response to the Michael Richards incident within the comic community. However, a basic principle of comedy is that nothing is safe from humor, as long the context and timing make sense. The rape “joke” (if you can call it that) detailed in this article sounds pointless and entirely unfunny. That doesn’t mean a comedian can NEVER comment on such a subject (or other controversial ones such as homosexuality, religion, etc.). Asking for that type of censorship doesn’t serve anyone – comedians or audiences – well.