I Guess I Hate You All

And not even in the normal, America-Hating-Liberal way. Imagine my surprise when I found out that, according to Washing Post writer Stephen Hunter, the simple fact that I'm a comedian who enjoys the odd dick joke indicates that I hate and fear anyone who isn't in showbiz. Imagine my suprise.

Oh! And by the way, jokes are now WMD's, according to the shrewd Mr. Hunter, who takes the traditional "Comedians are all crying on the inside" bit, and extends it to the point of absurdity. Dig this:

What you see here isn't so much sexual neurosis but career neurosis. You see the entertainer's fear and loathing of that regular place most of us would call the world. He hates the square ideas that are the foundation of such a place: the family structure of parents nurturing kids in healthy, loving relationships; the economic underpinning known as a job, attended regularly rain or shine, sickness or health, out of a sense of obligation; the slow socialization of children so that they can ultimately survive in that same world.

Now, I don't speak for the comics in the film, but most of the folks I know in the business HAVE families, kids, houses, etc. Some of them even have dayjobs. So what the fuh is Mr. Hunter talking about? I like being a comic because I like it, that's all. This has nothing to do with fear and loathing of normal society. I live in a suburb, my daughter is an A student, my girlfriend works in the public sector, and her daughter is a typical 4-year-old who loves pizza and Blue's Clues and her grandparents, probably in that order. Do I have a particular take on family life and politics and society in my act? Yes, I do. But I live in it and function in it just the same. I have no desire to tear the whole thing down, even if certain elements of it drive me nuts once in a while. Watching a movie about comics sharing an inside joke gives no more of an insight into what comics love and hate and fear than watching a porno gives you an insight into good hygene.

Note to Stephen Hunter: Sometimes a dick joke is just a cigar, jackass.