Page 17 - Lamplight Magazine (1)

K
J
GIVEN THAT COMEDY IS OFTEN A REFLECTION WHAT MAKES IT ALL WORTHWHILE?
OF – AND A COMMENTARY ON – SOCIETAL W ha t makes it w orth whi le is the oc casional e xp e rienc e
ATTITUDES AND SHIFTING POLITIC S, WHAT DO of ca p turi ng the a tt en tion of over a hundred p eople a t
YOU THINK THE ROLE O F CO MEDY IS IN DEALING
WITH THE CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE? the sam e tim e a nd havi ng them all laugh i n unison. It’s
beautiful. It’s be tt e r than any drug I’ve ever tri ed, or
I n p rincip le, i t i s no t a c om edia n’s re s p on si bili ty t o
eve r wi ll. I a lso love the m omen ts alon e in my ki t c he n,
p rovi de c om m en tary on p oli tic s. F i r st and forem ost, it
laughing a t som e dumb line I j ust though t of. It’s a
i s i mp ortan t t o be funny. Ho w eve r, i f you have a la r g e
gre a t w ay t o under stand human though t a nd
follo wi ng, you do nee d t o rec o gnise tha t you have a
c onne ction: using vi vi d languag e a nd a wi ld im agina tion
loud voi c e a nd people will a dop t your p oin t of vie w,
t o break do wn an e xp e rienc e i n an ap proacha ble,
eve n if you don’t believe it your se lf. C om edia ns don’t
rela table w ay. O f c our se, li ke anyone , I g e t in t o ruts
nec e ssarily be li eve wha t they are saying onsta g e ; they
f rom tim e t o tim e . W hen tha t ha p p e ns, i t’s im p ortan t t o
beli eve wha t they are sayi ng i s f unny. If you’re a
still value w ha t you m ake, eve n i f you think it’s
p op ular c om e di an wi th a hug e follo wi ng, you ne ed t o
t errible . It’s s till part of your artistic gro wth. It he lps
unde r stand tha t som e peop le c onsi der you the ir ne w s
tha t my frie nds are incre dibly sup p ortive of wha t I do
sourc e, eve n i f sa tire i s your ma in form of c om e dy. T his
and my pare n ts a re g e tting on board as w ell.
i s why Jon St e w art had t o ke e p re mi nding eve ryone
tha t T he D ail y S ho w w a s a c om e dy sho w, no t a ne w s DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM

outle t. W ha t I w ould li ke t o remi nd p eop le is tha t FROM YOUR FIRST YEAR AND A HALF OF
PUR SUING AN ARTISTIC CAREER?
c om edia ns are no t p oli tici ans or journali sts; they
D on’t list e n t o anyone you don’t kno w and trust. Ma ny
should no t be c onsidered a sourc e of ne w s, but sinc e
p eop le will use the le ngth of tim e you’ve done
tha t is no w t o som e e xt en t w ha t people w an t out of
some thi ng as the princi p le barom e t e r for your a bilitie s
c om edy, c ome di ans need t o be a w are of tha t a nd
and use it t o j ustif y thei r c onde sc ension and di sbe lie f.
ackno wle dg e the role they p lay in p e op le’s op i ni ons. A
D on’t list e n t o them. Make your o wn op p ortunitie s.
w ay I’ve see n this p lay out posi tively i s i n J i m Je fferi e s ’
Rea ch out t o eve ryone. Fac ing the strug gle of be ing
stand-up routine about gun c on trol. T h e routine w e n t
one of thousands of p e op le try ing t o ma ke thei r mark
vir a l an d w as a ctually sho wn i n s om e c olle g e s around
m ea ns you h ave t o be c omp le t ely i n love wi th your
the c oun try. He ma de m any obvi ous p oi n ts about why
cr a ft t o kee p g oing. It is re a lly ha rd. Havin g a close
w e ne ed gun c on trol in a highly e n t e rtai ni ng and
ne tw ork of p eop le in your life tha t love a nd sup p ort
e ffe c tive manner, but I don’t think he w ould eve r cla im
you g oe s a long w ay. Havi ng a close ne tw ork of p eop le
t o be ‘ poli tica l’ or ‘p hilosop hical.’
w ithin your artis tic p ur sui t he lp s, t oo; those p e op le

IF YOU COULD OPEN F OR ANY COMIC , keep you sa ne, unde r stand the strug gle, and care a bout
WHO WOULD IT B E AND WHY? you be fore your cr a ft. O h, and don’t be a n a sshole. I
didn’t think p e op le ne e de d tha t rem i nder, but as i t
D oug Stanhop e. Favouri t e c omi c by f ar. He has a
turns out (s urpri se , s urprise), the re is a lo t of e g o i n
br a z e n hone sty tha t i s absolut ely a ddictive a nd those
c om edy and some p e op le se riously nee d t o c he ck
w ho have di sc ove re d h im have bee n tre a t e d t o his se ts
them selves. Re m ind your se lf why you’re doin g thi s and
evolving f rom a drunke n stupor, t o a r an t, t o a p ure
i f it’s for f am e and fortune, you’re on a de structive
m ode rn p hilosopher. He can turn a ny t op i c i n t o a
p a th. B e thankf ul for the opp ortuni tie s you g e t a nd for
p unchli ne f unnie r than anythi ng I se e on ta lk sho w s or
the p eop le tha t help you a long the w ay.
i n c omedy clubs. Li st e ning t o hi m insp i res m e t o p ush
boundari es tha t he is a lre ady li gh t yea r s beyond; I
Are you an a spiring st a nd-u p comedian? O r a re you in terested in
don’t be li eve he even c onc ep tuali ses ‘p ushi ng
hea ring abou t Kari’s experiences more generally ? Fe el fre e to
boundari es ’ the w ay the re st of us do.
con t act her at karijohnsoncomedy@gmai l. com o r
face book. com/Ka ri. johns on.144 ; sh e’s h appy to con tinue t he
conver sation !