Is a story just a story? In my own opinion stories are powerful; and power must be used responsibly. Comedy has a particular context (anything for a laugh), but where is the line on what is appropriate, even for comedy? Does it depend on the audience, the context, the evening, the mood? Perhaps we should leave comedy in the comedy club, and create forums for real discussion and information exchange rather than sensationalist media where the context is anything that will hook us emotionally and keep us reading, watching, clicking. Where is the line between media to keep us informed and media just to get ratings?
Out of Context?
Every storyteller has a context. Daniel Sloss makes the point that the comedian often says things in that particular audience on that particular night with that particular mood in the room … just to get a laugh. While I don’t believe that comedians should have full license to be offensive, he does have a point that the media will then take the joke out of context.
The media brings it to someone who would be offended (outside of the context of where the story or joke was told) to get a reaction, or they just present it to the public at large so that we can get offended “for” the target of the joke. While I am not a fan of “shock comedy” (there are other ways to achieve humor), I am also not a fan of “shock media” for blowing things out of proportion creating a world of anger and anxiety. Still neither one is going to be extinct anytime soon, so the best we can do is just understand the context from which our stories come and where they should remain. Comedy should remain in the comedy club, and real news should perhaps come from other sources.
Why we tell stories?
In the context of the comedy club, the comedian tells jokes, anecdotes, and stories in a desperate attempt to make us laugh, a desperate attempt to make us like them. For the ones who tell stories, some stories are true, some not so true, many completely ridiculous. All are told just to get a reaction out of us, a laugh.
For the sensationalist media, stories are told to get an emotional reaction out of us, to get us hooked, to keep us reading or watching or clicking.
I’m a storytelling performer. I tell stories that convey the wisdom of experience for the entertainment value. The more entertaining the story, the more likely you are to listen. Even if you don’t agree, you will be left thinking. That’s all I ask of my stories.
We all tell stories. We all have different reasons.
Why do you tell stories?