•Make people laugh

That’s it. There is literally nothing else. A comedian can add things to that if they want. A promoter might have requirements at a specific venue that you’ll need to follow if you want to perform there. But there is NO obligation to be clean, politically correct, sensitive to the needs of others, speak truth to power, or even believe the things that come out of your own mouth. You can do those things, but they are not in the description.

I tend to view comedy from what I call the Patrice O’Neal School Of Thought: Half the audience should be laughing hysterically and the other half should be horrified.

This played out for me perfectly at a show I did free of charge for a non-profit event dealing with recovery from addiction. I have two bits that I almost never do back-to-back, or even in the same show because they are so over the line for most people.

I thought this show would be different, as almost all of the audience had been to jail and about one-third had done prison time. My thinking was, these people are recovering drug addicts (as am I) who have either done or seen it all. They can handle it.

The two bits in question are titled, “Jerkin’ For Jesus” and “Big Pimpin’ JC”. The first bit is exactly what it sounds like. The second is not pimpin’ to describe attitude or fashion; it literally presents Jesus as Mary Magdalene’s pimp, and goes on to explain many major points in the four Christian Gospels in this context and argues that it makes even more sense that way.

This was toward the end of my set and I had been killing (comedian speak for doing extremely well). As I did Jerkin’ For Jesus, half the room grew more and more tepid in their responses. A couple of people left. By the end of Big Pimpin’ JC half the room was gone. Those who stayed gave me a standing ovation. I even got booked on a headlining paid gig because someone who happened to be booking it was in the audience.

While it is something I will always look on fondly (literally playing out the Patrice O’Neal mantra in its most extreme form), I couldn’t help but wonder what those people who walked out must have been thinking. I’m sure most were just offended, and that’s completely understandable. Maybe they feared some eternal retribution if they stayed and listened. But did some think I was doing it because I hated them or their religion? Did they think Jesus can’t laugh at a joke about him? Did any of them think I actually believed the case I was making? I often wonder about just what they thought I was going for other than putting outlandish twists on a subject held sacred, for no other no other reason than because it was funny to me, and (apparently) half the audience.

In another vein, I often get asked about my ethnicity. Some have called me “racially ambiguous” and want to know what my “mix” is. Maybe it’s just curiosity, but I wonder if some of them are trying to figure out if it was okay that they laughed at my jokes. I don’t answer this question other than to say, “I’m whatever you need to think I am for the joke to be okay.” If the joke is funny, it’s funny regardless of the ethnicities of the countless generations of people who hooked up with each other that eventually resulted in me. But it’s all understandable. I don’t expect people who aren’t comedians to understand the job description or the fact that I’ll say it if I think it’s funny.

I also sometimes get people asking about my sexuality for what I suspect are much the same reasons. Maybe someone reading this now is hoping I will answer that question. I don’t have a label that fully describes my sexuality, so I can’t provide one here. It’s quite freeing to not have to worry about it, actually.

Many people expect that you are what you present on stage. I call it the Carroll O’Connor Effect. When he was playing Archie Bunker, people thought he was racist. Many don’t know that he was featured multiple times in Jet Magazine, or that he was honored with two consecutive NAACP Image Awards. While many people did realize he was just playing a funny character, few realized he was using his craft to make fun of racism or illustrate just how hilariously stupid it is.

Maybe sometimes I am trying to say something with my comedy. But most of the time, I’m just sharing things with you that make me laugh. Sometimes I’m working out issues, but it’s always through humor.

My ONLY job is to make people laugh.