The Meat of the Matter

The Color of Comedy

And here is the part where Jim risks being called a racist. For a Christmas present, my girlfriend bought me an awesome stereo for my car that plays XM Radio. Yeah! Lately, as things have been a little tough for me at work, I've been needing a laugh during my commute, so I've been tuning into the comedy channels on XM. (Parents take note: This stuff is NOT for kids!) I've noticed a curious thing. From among the sample of stand-up routines that I've vbeen hearing on XM Comedy, I've noticed that almost ALL of the routines delivered by black comics have to do with "being black." And these routines are just not that funny, either. Here's my advice to black comics: I don't care what color you are. Make me laugh, dammit! You're a comic, not Martin Luther King. You don't need to "represent" when it's your job to purely and simply make me laugh. Now, if you make fun of me for being white--that's cool, as long as it's funny! If a joke or two has to do with you being black--that's cool, as long as it's funny! But to give your entire stand-up routine about the "black issue" is counter-productive to funniness. Racism isn't funny. In fact, if you make us laugh about those issues that are common to all people, black or white, you will possibly make some in-roads into those thick-skulled neanderthals we affectionately call racists. That is all.