Garbage Comedy

 This comedian has become notorious for picking on other people’s physical flaws to make his audience laugh as if there is no tomorrow. Obviously, this is his brand of comedy which he nurtured during his days at comedy bars, which he carried to his TV shows and concerts. He had a sell-out concert just recently and as usual, his brand of comedy was all over the place. It was indeed successful, but not without a string of criticisms.

Such criticisms stemmed from his barrage of tirades against a highly respected broadcast journalist from a rival station in one of the segments of his concert. This comedian got the ire of the people from the network since their boss was unduly disgraced courtesy of the former’s insensitive remarks about their boss’s weight problem, which the comedian even correlated with the sensitive issue of rape. Why pick on a person whom you don’t know? Why pick on a person who does not belong to your circle? Why the broadcast journalist of all people? Are you close to her?

He has already apologized publicly. But no amount of apology can ever take back what has been said already. He has already uttered those statements of ridicule before his large audience, and video clips of this portion of his concert have gone viral in social media, and constantly being played on You Tube. We all need a good laugh, but not at the expense of others’ physical flaws and disabilities. Entertainment comes from the root word “entertain”, not “ridicule”.

His recent concert was a huge success, but will forever be remembered with an asterisk – the name of the broadcast journalist. He may have brought the entire Araneta Coliseum down when he ridiculed her. But at the end of the day, after much thought and introspection, who do you think outshone the other, the comedian or the multi-awarded media personality? Definitely it was the latter who outshone the other. I apologize for the comparison. We cannot compare class with crass, and vice versa. Right?

Enough of your garbage comedy. Think of other ways to make your audience laugh before it is too late. If you will stick to it, then prepare yourself for its expiry date. But wait, I think it did expire already - during your recent stint at the Araneta Coliseum.