Lol, now you can't even be funny in peace... If you're too funny, you might be diagnosed as depressed... smh. Tough crowd. :p
Yeah, sad is a loaded word too.
Sad clown paradox
31–40 of 130 posts
Re: Sad clown paradox
#32Well balls.
Re: Sad clown paradox
#33Nick Mullen comes to mind
[insert Nick Mullen quote]. Not many of them I can easily repeat on Orange site
Re: Sad clown paradox
#34This whole thing is pretty damn well-argued, paints a compelling picture. I see myself in it, but it could be in a horoscope / med student way. Humour is definitely a way to de-fang the world, and smooth over difficult situations. The "making other people" laugh bit is interesting, considering the smile / bared teeth dichotomy.
Disarm you with a smile...
Re: Sad clown paradox
#35Almost all comedians are fucked up emotionally, it's kind of a truism. Only the most desperate for approval go through as much work, practice and humiliation it takes to occasionally get laughs
Re: Sad clown paradox
#36Re: Sad clown paradox
#37So, reading the comments.. there seem to be an internal and an external explanations to the paradox.
Internal explanations are that people who want to do comedy tend to be somehow messed up somehow.
External explanations are that the world itself is messed up, and if you want to do comedy, you have to understand it, and that makes you sad.
I think to determine which one is true, we should look at people curious about the world who don't do comedy, for example, scientists or activists. Are these often sad too?
Re: Sad clown paradox
#38So, reading the comments.. there seem to be an internal and an external explanations to the paradox. Internal explanations are that people who want to do comedy tend to be somehow messed up somehow. External explanations are that the world itself is messed up, and if you want to do comedy, you have to understand it, and that makes you sad. I think to determine which one is true, we should look at people curious about…
Comedians typically were in sad environments and coped by making people (and themselves) laugh.
But laughter is transitory. And jokes grow stale.
So it’s chasing a high. A type of hedonic treadmill.
Re: Sad clown paradox
#39Lol, now you can't even be funny in peace... If you're too funny, you might be diagnosed as depressed... smh. Tough crowd. :p
Professional comedians are…. Well known to have issues. It’s not a type of direction someone takes if they’re able to get what they need from a normal life.
Just being funny != being a professional comedian.
Re: Sad clown paradox
#40...or perhaps, Robin Williams syndrome?
Having just read the Matthew Perry memoir, this one fits perfectly too.