Ask A Genius 651: Sirius XM
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/12/08
[Recording Start]
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Go ahead.
Rick Rosner: You asked about the future of comedy. We’ve talked about this before. Since I’ve been driving my wife’s car with Sirius XM, which has several comedy channels, I’ve been listening to nothing but comedy bits. The difference between comedy now and a hundred years ago is that we’ve heard thousands of jokes, while people back then had heard just a few hundred. We’re familiar with the tropes. Classic comedy, like from Stiller and Meara or Milton Berle, can be boring because we’ve heard it all before.
There’s also this really messed-up, beyond-comedy type that comedians use to entertain other comedians. It’s more perverse and fucked up, catering to those who are jaded by their profession. The big data aspect is that we’re all big data people now regarding entertainment. We’re familiar with it, and basic forms of entertainment can bore and frustrate us. For instance, network TV shows are simplistic and appealing to certain demographics, like older people or those who can’t afford cable. CBS, for example, is the old person network. Their shows follow well-established formulas, like murder investigations in CSI or NCIS, which are easily understood by older viewers.
In contrast, streaming shows assume a high level of knowledge and sophistication. They don’t explain things to viewers. Watching them requires a trained eye, like following the action in a superhero movie. Comedy, like all entertainment, will continue to assume a high level of knowledge and sophistication. The most profound comedic insights come from jokes that reveal basic truths in a novel way.
Good comedy routines are similar to the reading comprehension section on the SAT. They argue a point and expect the audience to understand the style of argument. For example, a comedian talked about the awkwardness of performing in front of their parents and ended with a joke about a queef, revealing a deeper truth about parents’ awareness of taboo subjects.
We can expect comedy to continue revealing knowledge, especially taboo knowledge. As we move into the future, comedy will evolve alongside information processing. It’ll be powerful, hilarious, and maybe inscrutable to us but understandable to the big data-augmented folks of the future. The future will continue to be filthy and foolish, contrary to sanitized versions of the future like in Star Trek and Star Wars. The end.
[Recording End]
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