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A pleasant man (gender is a guess, but correct), with no personal issues, commented on one of my youtube videos that the guest was "about as funny as a burning ophanage but still far far funnier than herring".
Nice for me to be included in this, because these kind of comments are very rarely aimed at white, non-disabled men, I've noticed. When challenged the commentators will recoil at the suggestion they might be racist, sexist or disablist, usually they will get extremely angry about it (more angry than you'd expect someone who wasn't racist, sexist or disablist) but it's weird how so many of them seem driven to give their unsolicited negative comments with certain guests and not others. I guess white, non-disabled men are just objectively funnier. That's the only explanation.
People are free to dislike anyone they want and I don't even really have an issue with them sharing their opinion of social media - as long as they don't @ the person in (if someone is stupid enough to "reality search" themselves - I don't consider it a vanity search as you're mainly going to find negative stuff if you do this- then that's their look-out) - but to seek out someone to tell them you don't like them says more about the poster than the postee.
If someone emails and tweets me to let me know they don't think I am any good that actually makes me happy because a) part of my job is to piss off the kind of people who don't like me and b) I don't want to be liked by the kind of idiot who feels the need to do this. I think "Phew, the kind of person who is screwed up enough to angrily send their subjective opinion to the person they dislike, doesn't like me. I am doing something right." I feel good and actually view their message as a compliment and a kindness. They've done me a great service and thus are good people and so my whole point falls apart and I don't know what to think any more.
I love it though when people employ the x is about as funny as y formula to criticise someone. Partly because what they are doing themselves is making a gruesome joke. So they have immediately shown that there is at least some funniness in cancer or bowel obstructions or burning orphans and undermined themselves. You can make a joke about anything. Often the more serious the subject the funnier the joke. Not in the case of x is about as funny as y example admittedly.
This definite single man's additional comment that someone who is as funny as a burning "ophanage" (I presume he means orphanage, but maybe an ophanage is something else which would be enjoyable to watch burn) is still far, far funnier than me also acknowledges that a burning orphanage must be at least quite funny. You can't be far, far less funny that something that is not funny at all. Once you've got to not funny there's nowhere else to go on the funniness graph. So for me to be considerably less funny than a burning orphanage, that means to the poster, a burning orphanage is pretty funny. Is this whole thing a compliment after all?
I guess a burning orphanage would be funny if you thought all the orphans were in there, but you turned round and they'd all escaped and were standing behind you. You'd laugh in relief. Especially if they'd set fire to the orphanage in order to prank you. And maybe they are pulling funny faces too. I'm feeling less bad about this all the time.
It's still sad that they're orphans though. And that they have nowhere to live. But that's funny too now. They did a prank that sort of backfired. Worth it for the look on my face. And I'd let the orphans come and stay in my annexe until there was a place for them somewhere else. Depending on how many of them there were. I think that could lead to a lot of funny situations too. I'm trying to record a serious podcast but the orphans keep interrupting. We could do a sitcom about it. I'm just spitballing here.
I'm having lots of fun with the idea of a burning orphanage. Could this guy have chosen a worse example? He should have gone with cancer. No one could make jokes about that.
Anyway, if people leave offensive comments on youtube videos I just delete them and ban them from the page. Out of kindness. They seem unable to resist watching work by people they clearly don't like and I like to think they might spend their time finding something they enjoy instead.
I also enjoy watching stuff I don't like. May I remind you of the time I watched all of "How I Met Your Mother" but I have yet to email the cast and crew to tell them how I feel (if you're googling yourself Josh Radnor, that's your own look out - how are you enjoying this reality. Oh you don't really mind because the show was hugely successful and you made loads of money and loads of people still-wrongly- love it and why would you care what a weird, bitter, English guy who can't get his stuff made would think? Touché. Well at least I don't google myself. Because I have set it up that I am emailed whenever I am mentioned online. Two-nil to you Radnor. You're a bad actor. Don't look up the reviews of my acting.)
"Hit a nerve have we?" is the usual response if I bother to reply at any length to anyone making such critiques. I can promise you that you absolutely have not. I do find these people fascinating. What drives them? Who hurt them? Why do they want to hurt others? Do they really think that comedians walk around thinking everyone loves them and that they are delivering some kind of truth missile that will wound them? Are they prepared to turn their sharp analysis on themselves to work out why they behave this way (they never are)? Why is it that they find funny about burning orphanages?
I sometimes email them back to ask them and to tell them if they want to chat things through I am genuinely here to help them. Sadly they'd rather carry on claiming people who aren't white, able-bodied men aren't funny, in spite of the fact that those people perform in front of hundreds of laughing people every night.
And most comedians are self-loathing enough that they will be harder on themselves than you can ever be. Plus they're funny, so their insults to themselves are way better.
The badges for people who successfully get a question on my bonus Ask Richard Herring Anything podcast have arrived. The podcast is free for all golden badgers and above, but anyone can ask a question and if you get yours asked we will send you a badge and the podcast that your question appears on.
I am also doing this stand up gig in July in Oxford in support of the Ukrainian army. It's a great line-up. Come along if you can.
Book here.The poster makes it look like the Ukrainian army are going to eat me, but I am fine with that.
