"I’m a joke and so are you" - A comedian’s take on what makes us human
In the first few minutes of Robin Ince’s talk, I wasn’t sure whether I’d come to the right event. His opening segment involved references to British comedians and actors from the 70s, and impressions of said people that although were going over my head, were making the rest of the room laugh and titter. However, after a false start, Ince broke into his stride, speaking about a wide range of topics from the importance of comedy to mental health and genetics.
After his opening gambit of how his wife never wants him to quit comedy as that means she’ll be stuck with him talking to himself round the house, he switched to a more pensive tone, and asked what is it that makes comedians the way they are? Is it something genetic? He then confessed that he had started seeing a Freudian therapist which he found a fascinating experience. His therapist’s line of belief is that everything is an expression of a mental suppression. He then went on to say how the popular comedian ‘creation story’ is often one of a tragic childhood, of neglect, with audiences providing a form of surrogate love that they always craved. He dispelled this notion quickly, using the death of Robin Williams as an example of a story that tabloids used as an opportunity to propagate this rhetoric of the ‘tragic clown’, when usually the reality is far more complex than that. Williams, for example, suffered from a myriad of health complications at the end of his life, any combination of which would cause a person immense suffering and unhappiness.
What Ince wanted to focus on, instead, is how comedy, although considered a 'low art', is an exceptionally important vehicle for human connection. He spoke about the “honesty of the fool” and how ‘low art’ can allow everyone to share. How comedians when on stage can comment and combat otherwise taboo subjects that one would never want to discuss in other public settings. For Ince, when people can’t communicate, and are isolated, it is one of the most terrifying things, leading too often to depression and eventually suicide. By traversing the line from the socially accepted and public to the intimate and uncomfortable, comedy opens the floor for a moment of relief, for those in the audience who may have felt disconnected or strange for thinking or feeling certain things. Comedy remedies that by thrusting it all into the open, giving it space to breath.
The idea of comedy being a combination of injecting tension into the audience then providing relief reminded me of Hannah Gadsby’s explanation of comedy in ‘Nanette’. That when people laugh in unison in a group, it provides a feeling of connection. In fact, its proven to be easier to laugh in a crowd. You become part of a thing greater than yourself and in a way, forget yourself too.
Ince, however, was also quick to point out the darker sides of this facet of human psychology. He shared his fears that evidence based thinking and critical thinking are disappearing. There has been, in recent years, a monetising of venality and spite and immediate judgement.
In a world that is moving too quickly to gather and consider all the facts, he sees the revival of the angry mob, binary politics, the rise of the Neo-Left and Right. He believes that the study of the arts and humanities are important in rectifying this, they are what makes us more human.By studying the humanities in higher education one learns the importance of critical thinking and analysis. History, English, Philosophy – all these disciplines lend themselves to looking at a situation from a multitude of perspectives, and challenging the status quo.
Ince went on to say how important he believes it is that we try and find as many ways of possible to remove the divide between the humanities and the sciences. To bridge the gap between these binaries and find the joys and merits of harmonising the two. How through all these pursuits, most people who want to create are trying to show someone another picture of the world, as well as a window into a different human mind.
He ended his talk on a touching note, fighting for the belief that underneath it all, most of us have the same ambitions; love and comfort and love for our children. Humanities show the enormity of the picture of what it means to be human and art connects people. If we can find a way to treat ‘low’ and ‘high’ art with the same importance, we can use it all to provide a life belt to make people feel a little less crazy.