Nancy Goldman discusses the power of comedy to tackle the shadows of life. Read full article HERE
Today, there are a variety of voices using humor to bring equally varied issues to our attention. Trevor Noah is a mixed race comic, born to an African mother and Swiss father during the era of apartheid. The first African comedian to appear on The Tonight Show, Noah is uniquely poised to tackle issues of racial identity. Sarah Silverman’s sharp edge has long been pushing the boundaries regarding religion and race and, some would say, good taste. She was recently the center of a firestorm discussion about gender stereotypes when Variety critic Brian Lowry criticized her for being “as dirty as the guys”. Russell Brand uses his sense of humor to diffuse tension around his argument for government reform. And up-and-coming filmmaker Jessie Kahnweiler found a way to do the seemingly impossible – to demonstrate humor in coping with rape – in her short film, “Meet My Rapist.”
These are just a few examples of how humor is an important social force. As Winston Churchill said, “A joke is a very serious thing.”
