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At least in the comedy world, thats how it feels.
Who was in the right?
Who was in the wrong?
And cant anyone take a joke anymore?
As a queer, liberal-arts-educated, Asian-American stand-up comic who performs at colleges, Im stressed.
Reducing the comic-audience dynamic to us versus them doesnt do live comedy justice.
I disagree with the tendency to describe challenging audiences as sensitive or easily offended.
And I have had awkward, showstopping experiences performing at colleges.
This caused a rousing cheer of They!
from the audience, which was enough to make me feel seen and acknowledged.
I tried to wordlessly indicate Its all good to the students.
After all, I had knowingly volunteered to be misgendered.
The game continued, much to the crowds and my amusement.
After that, the performance was allowed to continue, but the vibe in the room had deflated.
Sometimes people areliterallypolitically correct but then enact that correctness in ways that make people feel weird and bad.
(Maybe the point is that I shouldnt have made an event for students about myself.)
On a political level, I understand how some students found Patels material inappropriate.
NYC comic and writerJay Jurdencalls cutting Patels mic a bit of a knee-jerk reaction.
Im just a queer black man from Mississippi.
At the heart of this debacle is a dearth of communication.
For us, its a one-night gig.
For them, it may be a major event in their lives on campus.
It doesnt have to be this way.
Stand-up comedy is not us versus them.
Both the comic and audience need to be willing to do the work.
