Daniel Tosh is a comedian who has a show on Comedy Central called Tosh.0 and he also does stand up. Tosh's stand up show Completely Serious is a great example of satire. While on stage he acts like an entitled rich celebrity, but is actually down to earth and really smart.
Tosh's comedy is a little twisted and inappropriate, but it does have a purpose. Tosh gets people to look at how stupid some stereotypes are and how outrageous some things people do are. A lot of his skits on Comedy Central dig deeper into problems dealing with the government, race and feminism. It isn't obvious at first, but when you start to read between the lines you can see that Tosh is trying to teach people that stereotypes aren't always true and are usually just hyperbole.
Tosh himself is an example of how unreliable stereotypes are. On his show he hints at being gay, but then hints at being straight. Maybe he is just bisexual, or maybe he is trying to make a point. I think that he is trying to show how people automatically stereotype others even when they do not know the first thing about them.
Tosh is just one of many satirical comedians in today's day and age. Him along with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are paving the way for satirical humor.
You're definitely right in saying modern comics often mock stereotypes more than anything else, especially Tosh. Many people argue, however, that hyperbole to a certain degree ends up being just disrespectful and ignorant of the cultures or people they're poking fun at without any higher purpose. But at the end of the day maybe what many see as ignorant is nothing more than a simple attempt at an even simpler goal: make 'em laugh.
ReplyDelete