There have been a ton of hard-hitting items in the news lately: President Barack Obama has pushed forward stem-cell research, the chairman of the Republican National Committee announced that he's pro-choice and Jon Stewart nearly made Jim Cramer wet his pants. That's all well and good, but I want to talk about something that's really been on my mind. Sunday, Comedy Central roasted Daniel Lawrence Whitney - better known as Larry the Cable Guy - and I shed a tear for comedy.
I was OK when they decided to roast Jeff Foxworthy. I don't like his stuff but there's no denying that - more than being popular - he made a contribution to the medium of comedy by opening the door for all this horrible redneck stuff that's out there now a la the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour." I'm not happy about his impact, but the fact remains that he's had one. Larry the Cable Guy, however, has done nothing except march across the country with his admittedly fake accent (look for clips of Whitney on you tube before he invented Larry - he can actually speak English - and shout "git-r-done." Well, that's not entirely fair. He unleashed some unforgivable movies on the public, as well. And his lowest-common-denominator brand of comedy has been devoured by the legions of the unwashed.
Let me make one thing perfectly clear: This is no good-natured ribbing. This is not a continuation of his roast. This is an exhortation for Whitney to retire permanently from the comedic arts and take his alter ego back behind the shed and shoot it - if I had my way, he would have to pay some form of reparations as well.
But really, I don't think this terrible, nonredneck comedian is the problem. I think he's a symptom of what's really at the core of all this: the glorification of his brand of lowest-common-denominator comedy. Two examples besides Whitney stick out in my mind, and they are Carlos Mencia (given name: Ned) and Dane Cook. If I have to listen to Mencia call someone "dee-dee-dee" one more time, I'm going to cry. Cook, the darling of superfans everywhere, is even worse. Most of the time he doesn't even tell a joke - no, jumping around as you illuminate one extended, digression-ridden anecdote doesn't count. Occasionally, he'll include a punch line, but here's a news flash: Cook steals his jokes. He doesn't "borrow," he doesn't "improve upon," he just steals. Get over it.
Stand-up comedy is one of my favorite things. I fell in love with it at a young age when I first saw a "Comedy Central Presents" special for Kathleen Madigan. A whole world of brilliant, ironic, thought-provoking, subversive and, most importantly, hilarious ideas was opened to me. When I see the likes of Cook, Mencia and Whitney selling out shows, I just know that Bill Hicks and George Carlin are turning over in their graves.
I would like to hope that the popularity of these hacks - and that's just what they are - simply comes from a lack of known alternatives. Luckily, there are many. Patton Oswalt, Eugene Mirman and Louis C.K. are all still performing. Give them a chance. They're the future of the comedy tradition the way Carlin, Hicks, Pryor and Rickles were the past.
I want to take this opportunity to ask Comedy Central to stop selling its soul in a Faustian bargain to popular hackdom. It hurts all of us. That's the important thing for the week.
Eric Chianese is an English junior. His column appears weekly.
