Where Are All The Conservative Comics?

In my first year in college, I had very few record albums, three or four. I left most of my collection at home, like Isaac Hayes, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, The Carpenters, etc.

Comedy is not supposed to work this way, but I listened to Dick Gregory repeatedly, and it never got old. That’s because of Gregory’s transcendence.

The following year I had the unique joy of seeing Dick Gregory live in Oxnard, California. Frail as my self-awareness was, battered by years of white-centered programming in school, he presented himself as a comedian who was profoundly connected to his people. His mind is one of the reasons I skipped (illegally) draft enrollment. 

In high school, I was a true Bill Cosby fan. Cosby strategically avoided controversy in true Michael Jordan fashion and, while a contemporary of Gregory’s, went on to have an illustrious breakthrough career in show business.

As I moved toward adulthood, I wanted to know more about the world. Performers that energized me included Sly and the Family Stone, Gil Scott-Heron, and The Last Poets, but no one more than Gregory. He spent much of his career as a guest on political talk programs and touring university campuses, not unlike Malcolm X.

Much comedy is satire, which usually means laughing at power, especially its abuse. Because of the sense of social entitlement they foster, the conservative politician provides ample material for comics, and in recent years, boy, have we needed the jokes.

We have to laugh to keep from crying! Thus, we are looking for a humorous point of view that is not conservative. Many of us are not even fully satisfied with progressive perspectives like those we can find each night at 11:30 pm. 

I have an appetite for the work of Amanda Seales, Margaret Cho, Jenny Hagel, and the amazing Amber Ruffin, also Chris Rock.

I need something refreshingly radical.