This was a terrific essay! I agree that true comedy is transgressive--that’s why Russian jokes during the Soviet era are particular favorites of mine--and so late-night political comedy just isn’t funny anymore, because it has turned into a slightly snarkier version of what everyone is saying already.
And yes, camping is just miserable. I went on two biking-camping trips organized by the company Backroads when I was in my 20s, and even though this was about as luxurious as camping ever gets (the guides did all the schlepping and cooking, and there were indoor bathrooms with showers), the camping part was just wretched. When you are an insomniac, it turns out that lying on the cold, hard ground does not improve your chances of sleeping!
Thankfully, getting older is easier now in the wonderful era of instant knowledge.
When folks far younger than I use words I do not have within my 78 year old vocabulary, my FireFox browser allows me to highlight the newest word about one fad or another.
I'm then invited to send the word or phrase to a new window where I can become a new age "hip cat."
If you are too young to have never heard the phrase, just highlight the words then ask your browser buddy to find what the words mean.
For example, I know that "bumble" can mean awkward or unsteady either physically or verbally. Or it can be the first word used to talk about a large underground dwelling bee. Unfortunately for internet savants, you often must scroll through a few pages defining "bumble" as a trendy online dating site, if only because the internet is trendy.
My vocabulary is filled with words and phrases so long out of favor that my browser at times suffers a short lived stroke in terms of knowing about what I am searching for.
Thanks to DanT for bringing me to comment on how transitory definitions can bumble through our language.
I used to watch the John Oliver episodes the day they came out. Now I don't watch them at all. I think you're mostly right about them not being transgressive enough, but it personally feels like the factor of humour to depressing reality has changed. The laughs during the episode no longer outweigh walking away feeling like either I'm a bad guy now or society is falling apart at the seams.
2. When we were in Belgium, I spoke French in stores and hotels and stuff. People often responded to me in Dutch (the other Belgian language), which was really awkward because my Dutch was literally guidebook Dutch.
I was really confused why people did that but if English and Dutch accents sound familiar, it makes a lot more sense. I was just vaguely pleased that people didn’t assume I was a jerky American
This was a terrific essay! I agree that true comedy is transgressive--that’s why Russian jokes during the Soviet era are particular favorites of mine--and so late-night political comedy just isn’t funny anymore, because it has turned into a slightly snarkier version of what everyone is saying already.
And yes, camping is just miserable. I went on two biking-camping trips organized by the company Backroads when I was in my 20s, and even though this was about as luxurious as camping ever gets (the guides did all the schlepping and cooking, and there were indoor bathrooms with showers), the camping part was just wretched. When you are an insomniac, it turns out that lying on the cold, hard ground does not improve your chances of sleeping!
That's a good point about people wanting to appear adventurous. A REI store just opened in my town. Yet the state parks are pretty empty.
REI exists for people to buy props to use on their Bumble profiles to seem fun loving and adventurous.
Thankfully, getting older is easier now in the wonderful era of instant knowledge.
When folks far younger than I use words I do not have within my 78 year old vocabulary, my FireFox browser allows me to highlight the newest word about one fad or another.
I'm then invited to send the word or phrase to a new window where I can become a new age "hip cat."
If you are too young to have never heard the phrase, just highlight the words then ask your browser buddy to find what the words mean.
For example, I know that "bumble" can mean awkward or unsteady either physically or verbally. Or it can be the first word used to talk about a large underground dwelling bee. Unfortunately for internet savants, you often must scroll through a few pages defining "bumble" as a trendy online dating site, if only because the internet is trendy.
My vocabulary is filled with words and phrases so long out of favor that my browser at times suffers a short lived stroke in terms of knowing about what I am searching for.
Thanks to DanT for bringing me to comment on how transitory definitions can bumble through our language.
I used to watch the John Oliver episodes the day they came out. Now I don't watch them at all. I think you're mostly right about them not being transgressive enough, but it personally feels like the factor of humour to depressing reality has changed. The laughs during the episode no longer outweigh walking away feeling like either I'm a bad guy now or society is falling apart at the seams.
Right, I don't think transgression is the only reason, but it's one that applies across every comedian in the genre.
I too used to watch every one, and I thought he often did good work. But it's just not funny anymore
Astute.
1. I dislike camping.
2. When we were in Belgium, I spoke French in stores and hotels and stuff. People often responded to me in Dutch (the other Belgian language), which was really awkward because my Dutch was literally guidebook Dutch.
I was really confused why people did that but if English and Dutch accents sound familiar, it makes a lot more sense. I was just vaguely pleased that people didn’t assume I was a jerky American
I think it's specifically American English accents that sound Dutch. They recognized the England-English accent.
I like this anti-camping movement we got in the comments.
This is officially an anti-camping blog