In a day and age where free speech is edited, controlled, and regulated, one can only expect every profession to adhere to more and more ridiculous acts of “inclusivity”. At some point however, forced inclusivity makes the world a far less genuine place. At some point you can go so far beyond “inclusivity” that it actual resembles the same structure as racism.
Arguably, a person shouldn’t be chosen for their abilities based upon their skin color. Arguably that is considered a definition of racism. This expands to every field, from Entertainment to Airline Pilots. May the best person win.
Nick Dixon, a British comic who has appeared on ‘Comedy Central at the Comedy Store’ to writing jokes for a new Disney movie with Will Smith. He has toured Dubai and Doha twice. All of this is attributed to his skill which could be enjoyed without even observing his ethnicity or skin color. That’s the beauty of comedy. It’s entertainment.
Nick was suggested for a gig via text message, and the response from the Venue was shocking. The Venue’s reply was reposted on Dixon’s Twitter account, highlighting an issue that has begun effecting comics even here in America.
The response from the Venue reads:
Venue: “I kind of have a million billion really good white, straight, able bodied male comedians that I can call on. I’m trying to find more of the opposite. When I say opposite I don’t necessarily mean a black gay woman in a wheelchair, but I’ve seen how hard it is for female acts, black acts ect to get on good bills,”
This might sound progressive and to some exactly what the world needs, but it is misplaced in an area where fans of comedy do not care what the comedian looks like. When you laugh hard enough your eyes water and you can’t see the performer anyways. When you listen to a comedian podcast you [hopefully] aren’t thinking about the race of them or their guest at any point.
“The point of it is not to make us laugh, but to lecture us about what we should believe.” Dixon stated.
During an interview with the UK’s talkRADIO, Nick Dixon expanded upon his views surrounding free speech and comedic subject matter.
Other Comedians such as Ricky Gervais, Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese, Adam Carolla, Bill Burr, Joe Rogan, and even Dave Chapelle have voiced similar responses for years to “woke-ism” and censorship and their impact on Comedy and entertainment.
True Comedy is something that shouldn’t require censorship or editing. In fact, the more offensive the joke the more shock value it adds to the delivery. After all, if jokes worried about other people’s feelings they would not be jokes, but insults.
That being said, to suggest someone who is white is less funny than someone who is another race, is completely outrageous. Suggesting that we should avoid booking funny comics to have better political optics, is directly the same thing as having a Black or Asian friend to virtue signal to society that you care. If the venue wants to book a black performer over a white performer, the reason should be because of their skillset, not as a charity. It makes the entire process feel less deserved. Corporate businesses may follow this optics technique, but that doesn’t mean entertainment needs to. In a day and age where there is no escape from woke-ism, it’s disheartening to see it creeping into every area of our lives. This causes a greater divide among our country, even when it has to do with international comics. It just shows a side of people many would describe as discriminatory. If you truly love all races and ethnicities, choose another reason to suggest a better skilled alternative, not just the way they look. We all need to do better, that includes knowing the difference between pure entertainment and racial inequality.
JMBK.NEWS 