Modified On October 11, 2007
After watching The Better Half on Bravo last night (in which Ardie Fuqua and Joe Matarese taught their better halves to do standup comedy), we are pleased to award Joy Behar with the Palme d’Or for Horse Manure!
Behar, who was a judge for the final segment, said, in her assessment of the performance of Matarese’s wife, neuropsychologist Stephanie Cosentino:
“Women have moved beyond self-deprecating humor.”
Where to begin?
First of all, self-deprecating humor is not something that should be or needs to be “moved beyond.” It is one way to approach humor. It is one way to forge a standup persona. It is a time-honored way to present oneself. It is neither inferior nor superior to the multitude of other ways to craft a set, build a character, write a joke.
Behar and others are fond of saying that a comedian should (indeed, must!) reveal something of himself if he is to be considered an artist. Would not self-deprecating humor be revealing something? Foibles? Inadequacies? Insecurities, perhaps?
And what of the revered comedians of the past (and present) who have based nearly their entire identities on self-deprecating humor? Are we to believe that Woody Allen, Rodney Dangerfield, Wendy Liebman, Roseanne or countless other comedians– male or female– are/were incapable of “moving beyond” that mode? Or that they should be/should have expected to if they are to command our respect?
The message is somewhat unsettling. The clumsy combination of blowhardiness and feel-good feminism says that a female comic who approaches the funny by making fun of herself is a hack and is no doubt letting down all of womyn-kind.
To which we say: Horse manure.
We congratulate Cosentino and Matarese. Their collaboration resulted in winning the Better Half $20,000 prize.