Politics
WATCH: Jerry Seinfeld Unloads On Liberals For Ruining Comedy
Comedy isn’t what it used to be, according to Jerry Seinfeld.
The legendary comedian lit into the “extreme left” for pushing “[politically correct] crap” that he claims has ruined stand-up. The comments came as part of an interview with the New Yorker, the Daily Caller reports.
Speaking with host David Remnick on “The New Yorker Radio Hour,” the “Seinfeld” artist broke from discussing his new movie “Unfrosted” to comment on the “serious aspects of the world” and how they affect the ability of comedians to make audiences laugh.
“Nothing really affects comedy. People always need it, they need it so badly and they don’t get it. It used to be you would go home at the end of the day. Most people would go, ‘Oh, ‘Cheers’ is on,’ ‘Oh, ‘M*A*S*H’ is on,’ ‘Oh, Mary Tyler Moore is on,’ ”All in the Family’ is on.’ You just expected, ‘There’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight.’ Well, guess what? Where is it? Where is it?” Seinfeld questioned.
“This is the result of the extreme Left, PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.
“Now they’re going to see stand-up comics because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we’re off-track, we know instantly and we adjust to it instantly. But when you write a script, and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups, ‘Here’s our thought about this joke,’ well, that’s the end of your comedy.”
Comparing the ever-shifting standards of acceptable comedy to Olympic skiing, Seinfeld said the gates are being moved by studios that are warier than ever of protests and calls for cancellation over the slightest of offenses. He cited a joke during a 1990s episode of “Seinfeld” in which the character Kramer comes up with an idea to hire homeless people to push rickshaws.
WATCH:
Comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld finally goes FULL BLAST on Left’s destruction of comedy:
“This is the result of the extreme left, and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”
This moment is powerful.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 29, 2024
“We did an episode, of the series in the 90s, where Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless pull rickshaws, because as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway.’ Do you think I could get that episode on the air today?” Seinfeld responded.
“We would write a different joke with Kramer and the rickshaw today, we wouldn’t do that joke. We’d come up with another joke. They moved the gates — like in skiing — the gates are moving. Your job is to be agile and clever enough that wherever they put the gates, I’m going to make the gate.”
Citing Larry David of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Seinfeld said his colleague was “grandfathered in” and would be held to a different standard if he were, say, 35 years old today.
“If Larry was 35 he couldn’t get away with his watermelon stuff, Palestinian chicken and you know. And HBO knows that’s what people come here for, but they’re not smart enough to figure out, ‘How do we do this now? Do we take the heat or just not be funny?’ Seinfeld stated.
Despite the clampdown on sensitive topics, Seinfeld said he is hopeful that up-and-coming comedians will be able to reestablish their independence through individual projects rather than a reliance on networks.
Some well-established comedians, including Dave Chappelle and Michael Rapaport, have enough of a following to speak their minds. Netflix has famously stood behind Chappelle to maintain control over stand-up specials that skewer transgender activists as part of a contract worth upwards of $60 million.
