John Crist discusses the state of comedy in a culture where everything is ‘across the line’
Crist said COVID spurred an environment where ‘comedy is really at its best’ because all you have to do is ‘question everyday normal things.’
Political polarization and the COVID-19 pandemic have made comedy easier, not more difficult, because there are more off-limit topics and people are more easily offended, comedian John Crist told Fox News Digital.
"Basically all comedy … is just saying things out loud that you're not allowed to say," Crist said. "That's really the whole thing is you just say things that are a little bit across the line."
"Any comic will tell you, that makes comedy so much easier because to say something offensive back in the nineties, you would have to go so far, be so egregious to say something that flabbergasted everybody," Crist said. "But now … you could just question everyday normal things and that is now comedy, because it's across the line."
Crist said comedy ticket sales and video views are through the roof, which he attributes to the pandemic and the "upside down" state the world entered into in 2020.
Crist said the COVID-19 pandemic spurred an "upside down" state in society where people were told they couldn't do or say certain things, which he saw as a boon for comedy. (Photo by Nora Canfield)
"When everything is normal and you're just kind of living in your Pleasantville life, there's nothing funny," he said. "But when people are saying things to you on the Internet and on television and … you're not allowed to think or be critical, that's when comedy is really at its best, that's when comedy in a culture is doing its job."
"Speech wise, when you try to force information on us, that's when we as comics make fun of it," he said.
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While Crist prides himself on being a family-friendly act, he said there are no topics he wouldn't touch on in either his standup or on social media, but when he does to delve into new a subject, he first makes sure it is a joke he will stand by.
Crist said that whenever people are told what to think or say, that's when comics want to poke fun of certain ideas or stances. (Photo by Nora Canfield)
"You just have to make sure it's done well," he said. "I think, right before I press publish on a video or make a joke on stage, I look at myself in the mirror, I go: ‘Do I believe in this? Is this really something that I want to go to bat for?’"
"As a comic that's kind of our job, not to make it more serious than it is but, in the culture … it's important on both sides that freedom of speech is welcomed," he added.
Crist said he can see the cultural pendulum swinging because ultimately when you silence someone or forbid people from saying certain things, people only want to hear it or talk about it more, having the opposite intended effect.
"Freedom of speech is not removing things," he said. "It's just intelligent people sorting things out for themselves and having all the information and not giving attention to ideas that are not wise and not helpful, not the silencing of people. I think the more people can speak, the more we hear it, and they go, 'Okay, yeah, enough of that."
"That's what the left, I think, doesn't understand about Trump really is, the more you try to silence these things, the more people that are in the middle are like, ‘Wait, what? Hold on, I want to hear what he has to say.’"
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Christ said whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, he could make a joke defending both sides, but argued that most people are very well-meaning and moderate in their beliefs.
"Unfortunately, the extremists on either side push the extremists on the other sides," he said. "There's, I would say … 90, 95 percent of us [that] are just these people in the middle that would like to work hard, feed their families, pay their taxes and love this country."
Since January, Crist has been on his "Emotional Support Tour" performing across the country, which he described as a "therapeutic [experience] for everybody" post pandemic.
"When all of this kind of started, I guess in 2020, where the whole perspective shifted in this culture where you can't say things and you're choosing sides … I've gotten so many emails from people that just say, ‘Thank you so much, laughter truly is a good medicine,'" Crist said.
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His fans tell him it's so good to hear other people that they consider very like-minded and reasonable laughing at "just the amount of absurdity that exists in this culture," Crist added. "I will say that for myself, for my own tours and for any other comic across the country, that I would imagine they feel the same."
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