Jo Rosenthal asks her favourite comedians about the art that made them laugh, cry, panic, and feel seen. All images author’s own.
One of the earliest known jokes happens to be a cave painting, which means that, since the dawn of art, comedy existed too. But creating laughter, whether it be through writing, performance, or cinema, is often considered a different art form altogether. There are always exceptions, but that is for the observer to make. Art and comedy have a lot in common in that they are both political, they both send a message, and they both often leave a warm feeling in your tights. So we asked a group of people who live and breathe laughter how they see art, comedy, and the blurry line between them, exploring their relationship to art, inspiration, and the role laughter plays in shaping how we see the world.
Tell me about a moment when a work of art made you laugh, feel unsettled, or react in a way you didn’t expect.
Growing up as an avoidant, angry boy, I always found it hard to get a good cry going. When I was twenty-one, I saw Lilya 4-ever at Brain Dead Studios in LA – it shattered my whole world. I was devastated. I sat in the theater in a layer of my own tears and sweat. I never thought I could cry that hard and feel so panicked just by sitting through a movie. The most tragic McDonald’s commercial I have ever seen in my life. Xander Taylor
I’ve always appreciated art that has a darker feeling. I will never forget my favourite painting from a restaurant we used to go to as kid – of a dog watching a big storm from afar – because it always gave me a sense of peace. Even as a young child, this painting unexpectedly gave me a feeling of safety. I’m not sure why, but I think it made my little brain realise that you can step out of the madness – that you can look at the storms of your life from a different perspective and get outside and away from them. Jill Pavlov
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha by Julia Masli shocked me because it made me realise that clowns can look like anything. Julia demanded the stage and walked around with a prosthetic leg attached to a mic asking audience members, “PROBLEM?” Some audience members said things like, “The venue is too cold.” Julia then supplied a sweater. One audience member said they were hungry and immediately a pizza fell from the sky. There were moments of tenderness where a guy stated that his problem was that he felt his gayness was not approved by his father. Julia then enlisted a random bald man in the audience to assume the role as “father” and direct lines that he is loved and appreciated. This shocked me because I often think of comedy as solitary. You and the screen. You and the mic. You and the audience. Julia turned the performance into a community event, which I thought was lovely. Andy Ward
One time, I had a bad trip after accidentally eating too much mushroom chocolate at a comedian’s apartment in the Upper West Side at 2 p.m. By the time I fled the scene and was transferring from the 1 train to the L train at 14th street. I was certain the universe was folding in on itself and would swallow me whole. That is, until I saw Life Underground – not looked at it, as I’d looked at it many times before – but really saw it for the first time. When I saw it, my bad trip dissipated wholly and instantly. I still don’t quite understand why, but it speaks to the impact of installed public art – sometimes a silly little something to ponder can make all the difference between believing you’re going to die that day and not actually dying. Julia Desmond
I saw the Todd Solondz film Happiness for the first time earlier this year and was surprised by how much it was simultaneously funny and disturbing and sad at the same time. Matthew York
There are a bunch of live Dungeons and Dragons shows on Dropout (Dimension 20) that have made me cry, and it’s just seven improv actors around a table talking about fairies. It’s weird to think this medium of improv talking about a made up world can make you feel such huge emotions. Tom Murphy
Do you think comedians and performers look at art differently from other audiences?
Comedians have similar brains to poets or musicians, wherein they are trying to take all of the stimuli of the world and condense it into their own medium. It’s hard to imagine a world where a comedian stumbles upon The Starry Night and thinks, “I’m gonna write an amazing joke right now.” Comedians are not ingesting art as a much as they should. I think comedians really shine when they talk about the minutiae of our life. Andy
When I see standup comedy I’m often like, “Fuck you, I could do better.” I don’t have this same reaction when I see a painting or listen to a song. Stand-up comics are ego maniacs. You’d be hard pressed to find one that engages with performance art who isn’t also secretly chanting in their heads that they could do it better. Xander
Comedians are a lot more analytical than people give us credit for. We are master observers and are always searching for what makes a moment, story or object funny, but also what makes it human and relatable. We are experts in what makes other people “tick” – because in order to make people laugh, we need to know how to trigger all of their emotions. Jill
I have a notes page titled COMEDY CONTENT and anytime something funny occurs (to me or someone else) I quickly make a note, accompanied by my observations, usually what the “punchline” could be. Since I’ve started writing more consistently, I pay more attention to what people are saying. I notice when people smile or laugh at something I say, noting that it might be worth making into a joke later down the road. Nathalie Gratas
Comedians and performers look at art differently from other audiences. A person’s susceptibility to art and the spirituality around it is a separate entity within them, and it is not influenced by their engagement in performance in any way. People can perform consistently without ever dabbling in artistry, and people can be profoundly in touch with the bit of art in everything without ever making any of their own. It’s all about openness and a lack of judgment. Julia
The vast majority of commercial art needs to be made for the audience. If you can’t make a roomful of strangers laugh then you’re not a good comic. If you are too honest, you alienate. If you pander too much, you’re a hack. This equation is art to me. Speak your truth but make it funny and entertaining. Every other art form does not have the audience opinion so baked into the artistic process. This really sets comedians apart. There’s a part of “walking the edge” that’s people pleasing or being submissive to the audience. Maybe when I get tired of that I’ll walk away from the edge, but for now, I’ll take my chances. Tom
