Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K., and Joan Rivers are a few of the stand-up comedians that come to mind. Woody Allen's movies and Donald Glover's TV show also contain elements of this so-called existentialism. So why do so many comedians channel this philosophy of thinking?
Comedy is a coping mechanism. Humor comes from tragedy. People use comedy as a tool for coming to terms with the disorder of life. The same can be said of existentialism.
I really like your connection to comedians. Atlanta is a great example of existentialism. Comedy would have been nice to have in The Stranger.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very great observation on existentialism, and it is very true. Many comedians only seem to look at life from a lens of what may be funny to them, or may be dumb to them. And this disconnects them from real feeling and their experiences truly are not real. -Riley T
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good way of explaining such a complex topic! By taking existentialism down to its most basic form and comparing it to something that all of us can understand (comedy), it suddenly makes a lot more sense. It also relates it much closer to ourselves. While not all of us spend our days reading up on the history and philosophy of existentialism, it is quite common for us to catch up on a video of one of our favorite comedians.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great connection. People use humor to cope with hard situations and an existential crisis is definitely something we need to cope with.
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