Jerry Seinfeld talked concerning the altering local weather of comedy and a few gags he may not get away with on his iconic NBC comedy.
In an interview with The New Yorker, the 70-year-old comic criticized “P.C.” tradition for hurting comedy and cited some examples.
“[In decades past, people] simply anticipated there’ll be some humorous stuff we are able to watch on TV tonight,” Seinfeld stated. “Properly, guess what — the place is it? That is the results of the acute left and P.C. crap, and folks worrying a lot about offending different individuals. Now they’re going to see stand-up comics as a result of we aren’t policed by anybody. The viewers polices us. We all know once we’re off observe. We all know immediately and we regulate to it immediately. However while you write a script and it goes into 4 or 5 completely different palms, committees, teams — ‘Right here’s our considered this joke.’ Properly, that’s the top of your comedy.”
Seinfeld famous his Seinfeld co-creator, 76-year-old Larry David, was capable of get away some edgy content material on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm by advantage of being “grandfathered in.” However he argued that a few of those self same jokes wouldn’t fly if David was youthful and attempting to create a brand new comedy sequence.
“We did an episode of [Seinfeld] the place Kramer decides to start out a enterprise of getting homeless individuals pull rickshaws as a result of, as he says, ‘They’re outdoors anyway,’” Seinfeld stated. “Do you suppose I may get that episode on the air at present? … We’d write a special joke with Kramer and the rickshaw at present. We wouldn’t try this joke. We’d provide you with one other joke.”
Seinfeld continues: “If Larry was 35, he couldn’t get away with watermelon stuff and Palestinian hen … and HBO is aware of that’s what individuals come right here for, however they’re not good sufficient to determine, ‘How can we do that now? Will we take the warmth, or simply not be humorous?’ And what they’ve determined to be is, ‘Properly, we’re not going to do comedies anymore.’ There have been no sitcoms picked up on the autumn season of all 4 networks. Not one. No new sitcoms.”
To Seinfeld’s level, the stay comedy circuit is certainly booming (one research popping out of the pandemic discovered a 127 % improve in comedy touring from 2019 to 2022). There are additionally extra stand-up specials discovering distribution lately than ever earlier than (Netflix alone has aired greater than 350 comedy specials up to now 10 years). So it’s most likely correct to say the favored comedy panorama has shifted from films and scripted comedies to comedy podcasts and stand-up, each in-person and as recorded specials.
Seinfeld added that he thinks cultural sensitivity is “barely” reducing.
“I see a slight motion,” he stated. “With sure comedians now, individuals are having enjoyable with them stepping over the road and us all laughing about it. However, once more, it’s the stand-ups that basically have the liberty to do it as a result of nobody else will get the blame if it doesn’t go down properly. She or he can take all of the blame themself.”