Milwaukee native Dobie Maxwell, who has worked as a standup comedian for nearly 20 years, addressed the Michael Richards controversy in his online diary this morning. Look for Maxwell to join the cast of OMC's reader bloggers soon. In the meantime, here is his take on Kramer's meltdown:
"Normally, I don’t use this diary to comment on current events but since it’s such a close to home subject I figured I might as well discuss it from a comic’s point of view. The fact is political correctness is out of control and there’s also a double standard involved. It has really gotten worse since I’ve been a comedian and continues to make situations delicate. The fact is that white males have the biggest problem with it and I am one of those so I’m right in the line of fire. God forbid I even MENTION another ethnicity, people clam up.
I’m not saying what Michael Richards did was right and I don’t condone how it all went down and I’m sure he didn’t expect it to get filmed, that’s for sure. He got himself into an ugly situation and if anyone can relate to getting into an ugly situation unintentionally it’s me. The Bob and Tom fiasco is going to be with me for a while but this will haunt him as long as he lives. I know this is the first day it happened and the story is not over but I sure don’t see how it will all ‘blow over’ and everyone will forget about it. This is a big deal.
The funny thing is, he was never a standup as I recall. He was a comic actor. What was he doing at the Laugh Factory? Standup is NOT easy. Part of me is glad that Mr. Hotshot Actor stuck his foot in his mouth. See? Comedy is a lot harder than everybody thinks it is.
His biggest problem was his choice of words. That word is just not cool to use in public in this day and age. Right or wrong, good or bad, it just isn’t. No matter how much he can try to apologize for it that one is written in indelible ink. There’s another one that has that same nuclear blast effect and it starts with a ‘C’. No, it’s not ‘career-ocide’ but that is the result. Those two words are like Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the career if used on stage in most situations, especially by white male comedians. It just isn’t acceptable to very many.
Personally, neither one of those words or any others bother me at all. Out of respect and also to not kill my own reputation I don’t use them on stage. I’ve dropped a ‘C’ bomb just a very few times but I don’t think I ever said the ‘N’ word on stage ever. I never thought I had a reason to and if I did think I had a reason to I would still think twice about doing it.
I really think another part of the problem is that people allow themselves to get insulted and be upset over a WORD. There isn’t one word that you or anyone else can use that can make me that upset. Honky? Ha. It’s a funny word. I’ll call myself that. Cracker? Fine. To be called a cracker is no big deal at all. Name any of the other white ‘slurs’ and none have any effect on me whatsoever. I don’t care if you call me them and if you do I’ll laugh too.
Black comics can call white people honkies and it gets laughs. Michael Richards does it how he does it and he gets blacklisted. No pun intended. Well, not a big one. Is it fair? No, it sure isn’t but that’s how it is. In this politically correct world public figures tend to be a target so when something like this happens it gets blown WAY out of proportion. I really wonder what is all going to come of this. As far as Michael Richards goes, keep acting."
"Normally, I don’t use this diary to comment on current events but since it’s such a close to home subject I figured I might as well discuss it from a comic’s point of view. The fact is political correctness is out of control and there’s also a double standard involved. It has really gotten worse since I’ve been a comedian and continues to make situations delicate. The fact is that white males have the biggest problem with it and I am one of those so I’m right in the line of fire. God forbid I even MENTION another ethnicity, people clam up.
I’m not saying what Michael Richards did was right and I don’t condone how it all went down and I’m sure he didn’t expect it to get filmed, that’s for sure. He got himself into an ugly situation and if anyone can relate to getting into an ugly situation unintentionally it’s me. The Bob and Tom fiasco is going to be with me for a while but this will haunt him as long as he lives. I know this is the first day it happened and the story is not over but I sure don’t see how it will all ‘blow over’ and everyone will forget about it. This is a big deal.
The funny thing is, he was never a standup as I recall. He was a comic actor. What was he doing at the Laugh Factory? Standup is NOT easy. Part of me is glad that Mr. Hotshot Actor stuck his foot in his mouth. See? Comedy is a lot harder than everybody thinks it is.
His biggest problem was his choice of words. That word is just not cool to use in public in this day and age. Right or wrong, good or bad, it just isn’t. No matter how much he can try to apologize for it that one is written in indelible ink. There’s another one that has that same nuclear blast effect and it starts with a ‘C’. No, it’s not ‘career-ocide’ but that is the result. Those two words are like Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the career if used on stage in most situations, especially by white male comedians. It just isn’t acceptable to very many.
Personally, neither one of those words or any others bother me at all. Out of respect and also to not kill my own reputation I don’t use them on stage. I’ve dropped a ‘C’ bomb just a very few times but I don’t think I ever said the ‘N’ word on stage ever. I never thought I had a reason to and if I did think I had a reason to I would still think twice about doing it.
I really think another part of the problem is that people allow themselves to get insulted and be upset over a WORD. There isn’t one word that you or anyone else can use that can make me that upset. Honky? Ha. It’s a funny word. I’ll call myself that. Cracker? Fine. To be called a cracker is no big deal at all. Name any of the other white ‘slurs’ and none have any effect on me whatsoever. I don’t care if you call me them and if you do I’ll laugh too.
Black comics can call white people honkies and it gets laughs. Michael Richards does it how he does it and he gets blacklisted. No pun intended. Well, not a big one. Is it fair? No, it sure isn’t but that’s how it is. In this politically correct world public figures tend to be a target so when something like this happens it gets blown WAY out of proportion. I really wonder what is all going to come of this. As far as Michael Richards goes, keep acting."
