“But comedy has been liberal for so long,” Di Paolo says. “There’s a point of view that is so politically correct that the audience clams up — and laughter is contagious.”
Indeed, the Laughing Liberally show’s young comedians seem to be struggling with the mutable demands of political correctness: Which rules are funny to break and which aren’t?
With her heavy Upper West Side accent and frequent references to Zabar’s, comedian Katie Halper often stuns the audience by giving voice to the Palestinian plight — as a Jewish liberal.
“You’ve heard about the movie ‘Miral’ opening, right?” Halper asks the audience, referring to the recently released film about an orphaned Palestinian girl who finds herself drawn into the conflict.
“Like we really need yet another movie that looks at the conflict from a Palestinian perspective? Way to shatter the stereotype that Hollywood is run by Palestinians. And Palestinian women, specifically,” Halper exhales sarcastically. “Because there are so many Palestinians running Hollywood.”
Some in the audience laugh. But some clearly experience what Halper, a Laughing Liberally co-founder, calls the “PEP Phenomenon,” or Progressive Except on Palestine.
Dean Obeidallah, a boyish-looking Palestinian Italian comic, sees Laughing Liberally as part of a rich American tradition in which performers such as Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce were able to raise sensitive issues such as race and sex.
Obeidallah is also the co-creator of Comedy Central’s Internet series “The Watch List,” which features a cast of Middle Eastern American comedians. Dressed in jeans, sneakers and a hipster-pink plaid shirt, he’s an angsty Arab Chris Rock.
“One of the benefits of having a Muslim name in the U.S. is that you are immune to identity theft,” Obeidallah tells the audience. “I have an Arab American friend whose first name is Osama — he can leave his driver’s license and credit cards in a crack house and no one will pretend to be him.”
Many of the evening’s laughs are uneasy, but a central premise soon emerges: When in doubt, make fun of the tea party.
Comic Jamie Jackson flutters onstage in drag — faux Chanel suit, mousy brown bouffant wig — as Lady Margo Barnesly Farnsworth, a visiting Brit struggling to understand tea party politics.
A friend patiently explains to her that guns don’t actually kill people, and she launches into a bring-down-the-house ditty called “Guns Don’t Kill People. People Kill People.”
“It’s wonderful logic, isn’t it?” Lady Farnsworth croons. “So, let’s keep going.” And the audience claps and sings along.
Loading...
Comments