Comedy at the Edge

The new book Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America by Richard Zoglin profiles the contribution of comedians like Richard Pryor, George Carlin and Lenny Bruce to the cultural revolution of their time. Jian points out that we often see comedians as reflecting change in their commentary more so than we would understand them as activators or agents of change. Zoglin's book suggests the raw racially provocative comedy of the 1970s burst forth at a time when peaceful civil rights demonstrations were giving way to the militant rhetoric of the Black Panther Party.

George Carlin's Seven Dirty Words liberated the language while Richard Pryor freed up the racial politics. These comics existed in a liminal space that saw the transition from the clean shaven, suit wearing Las Vegas comics to the vulgar rebel rousers of the 70s. They made their audience hip.

These comedians remodeled our collective sense of humor by offering us the opportunity to see the world through their eyes. Sound bites of their acts seem tame in 2008. I guess they have themselves to thank for that. As Jian Ghomeshi says, there was more at stake when these comedians were performing.

From the Thursday December 18th edition of Q the program.

Q airs Monday to Friday at 10am and 10pm on CBC Radio 1 93.5