Native American Comedy

So I just realized that in all my ranting and raving the other day about American culture and its lack of appreciation for and ability to coexist with other cultures, I forgot to comment on the Native comedy, which I did enjoy. Therefore, I am going to comment on that in my second post for the week and share more examples of that comedy.

First of all, I want to say that I have always thought of comedy as one of the greatest aspects of humanity; along with music, they are perhaps my two favorite creations of human wit and creativity.  Like the music I enjoy most, I also favor socially conscious comedy as well. Among my favorite comedians are Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Joe Rogan, John Stewart, and Stephen Colbert. Like a Shakespeare play, where the fool seems to be the only person who can speak the truth without repercussion, as long as his truth is spoken as a joke, it would seem that the court jesters of today hold similar positions in our world. I have always been amazed by their ability to highlight or poke fun at aspects of our world, our societies, and even ourselves that are perhaps not funny at all and sometimes even quite depressing, all while making us think and laugh at the same time.

The Native comedians exemplified this same ability. Another aspect of comedy that amazes me is the ability of the comedian to poke fun at themselves, their situations, and the situations of those who share in their particular struggles, thus creating a kind of unity out of struggle that is manifest in the common laughter of a those beset by similar circumstances. For example, JR Redwater’s joke about Hollywood executives asking where his braids were, thus eliciting a round of laughter from a crowd who obviously understands that kind of stereotypical racism. Or, his joke about his name, the “white” people in the crowd who were taken aback by the pronunciation of the name, and the punch line of the joke about his father crafting the name with the help of a bowl of alphabet soup! Haha. Ah, comedic genius at its best. This ability to poke fun at stereotypes and racism in general is what makes comedy so special, and in my opinion necessary, because it allows us to laugh at ourselves, at humanity in general, and the absurdity of it all. Jim Ruel starts his routine off in a similar vein, joking, “I hope you guys enjoy my act… and the land… and the guilt… that was for the white people here.” Charlie Hill starts off strong too, joking about “white” people not knowing that Natives had a sense of humor, then delivering the punch line, “We never thought you were too funny either.” His joke about people asking him if he can speak “Indian” was hilarious as well, with him commenting that asking a Native  person if they can speak “Indian” is like asking a “white” person if they can speak “Caucasian.” His joking about the pilgrims as “illegal aliens” was great, especially when he says that they use to call them “white-backs.” This adds an extra element as well, by taking contemporary issues, like immigration, and presenting it from a different perspective, again poking fun at the ridiculous absurdity of it all.

In conclusion, I just wanted to share a preview clip from the “Going Native; The American Indian Comedy Slam: No Reservations Needed,” which was a comedy tour that featured seven Native American comedians, all of whom are previewed in this clip. Some of it may be repetitive, such as JR Redwater’s preview, which utilizes a bit from the video we already saw of him, but most of it is different and there are four comedians featured that we have not seen. So enjoy!