Why Did Aziz Ansari Use Comedy

1645 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Stereotypes in comedy

Aziz Ansari Uses Comedy to Sensitize People About the Plight of Young Immigrant Americans

Comedy is a very powerful tool that skilled performers can use to motivate discourse among their audiences. Whether inadvertently or intentionally, comedians today, especially the younger generation, are increasingly becoming sources of controversy as they address the issues that face people in everyday life through their comic performances. Aziz Ansari is one such controversial contemporary comedian. Ansari has grown from a likeable television star into one of the most popular comedians of recent times. He has gained a cult following, particularly among young audiences who his comedy often appeals to.

Nosheen Iqbal explains that besides Ansari, only George Carlin and Eddie Murphy have held comedy shows that sold out the famous Madison Square Garden (Ansari). In fact, Ansari sold out the venue twice in the same night, a feat that has seen him arguably usurp established comedians as the most popular contemporary comic performer of the modern age. Ansari’s astonishing popularity emanates from his unique and …show more content…

John Walker of Fusion Magazine explains that some critics of the show felt that women of color should have been given more significant roles than they were allocated by Ansari (Walker). However, Ansari defended his casting decisions for the comedy show and explained that they were not influenced in any way by prejudices of any kind. Furthermore, for a show based on his own life, it would be inappropriate for Ansari to force female characters into the story simply to fulfill the expectations of feminist critics. Ansari’s self-representation of his Indian immigrant minority group in the United States remains accurate, evidential and uncompromising even under

Show More
Related

  • Rebecca Krefting's Making Connections

    279 Words  | 1 Pages

    Rebecca Krefting (2014), “an Associate Professor of American Studies, affiliate faculty to Gender Studies, and Director of the Media and Film Studies Program” (Skidmore), wrote an article called “Making Connections.” Krefting (2014) explains the connections between comedy and people, listing the reasons the world can build “Cultural Citizenship” through “charged humor” (p. 17-18)

    Read More

  • Taking Bill Maher's Religulous Apart

    1254 Words  | 3 Pages

    practical wisdom as a comedian Maher has made tons of controversial films over the years this

    Read More

  • Bernie Mac's Second Def Comedy Jam Special

    2364 Words  | 5 Pages

    Bernie Mac’s second Def Comedy Jam special, “I Ain’t Scared of You Motherfuckers” is a comedic work that has always made me laugh uncontrollably. Even when I was too young to fully understand most of the jokes in that particular standup routine, his physical motions, use of curses and taboo sex phrases, as well as his urban Chicago colloquialisms were enough to have tears dripping from my eyes and a boisterous sound of laughter coming from my mouth, loud enough that it would cause my mother to come into my room and investigate what all the fuss was about. Despite the obvious comedic subject matter of works of comedy done by comedians such as Bernie Mac, there are numerous underlying reasons that attribute to the humor that is expressed through our laugher and enjoyment. Through his lively stage presences and sociological motifs, Bernie Mac was able to enlighten the world on the various cultural aspects of urban life by his use of social and psychological cues that capture our attention, giving us directions on how to react, providing us with an increased social awareness though satirical methods, and making light of taboo topics regarding the themes of sex and gender roles.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Satirical Humor

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, the comedy shows The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon expresses satirical humor concerning politics. His show also demonstrates political satire by telling jokes and even impersonating political figures for the audience. He creates humor through sarcasm that focuses on real issues. His sarcastic humor causes others to feel more confident in their criticism toward politicians. For example, “Jimmy Fallon expresses his humor about Donald Trump, impersonating his appearance and imitating his voice while talking about politics. He uses his humor by impersonating Donald Trump and his sweeping generalizations with Madea (Rogo).” Jimmy Fallon shows people his views through humor and it creates a sense of community to express their agreeable and disagreeable views. As we discussed some ideas about satirical humor that affects political changes, it was important to reveal their feelings about changes in life and drove them to look upon their society or government more

    Read More

  • Humor of South Park

    1985 Words  | 4 Pages

    Manbearpig: Half Man, Half Bear, Half Pig, but All Global Warming? South Park is a popular animated comedy series written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. While the episodes of South Park are always humorous on the surface, each show usually has a deeper, much more profound meaning and moral. One episode of South Park entitled Manbearpig, named after the monster in the episode, has a particularly potent deeper meaning. On the surface, the episode pokes fun at monster stories, politics, and specifically Al Gore. Deeper down, however, this monster story can be read as a national allegory alluding to the dangers of global warming, the problems with the politics behind global warming, and the eventual doom we will all face

    Read More

  • Video Analysis of Color Adjustment

    1952 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...writers of all races and every ethnicity could be shown this video to learn about stereotypes to avoid in their screenplays. Television and movie producers could benefit from hearing other producers such as Hal Kanter and David Wolper talk about their experiences with African-American representation in their shows.

    Read More

  • African American Humor Research Paper

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    For years’ black comedians have been stereotyped by black humor using racial slurs in their jokes to communicate with audience an about the social and political issues in the black communities. Although a diverse audience might catch on to most of the contents in a joke that have black humor, some people in American may take it in a harmful and unintended way to avoid controversy with the audience so people need to understand how to identify what is humorous and what is offensive in racial and ethnic humor. I will attempt to prove that living in such a diverse society with the freedom of speech it does not always mean using the word Nigga is a racist thing to say in comedy.

    Read More

  • George Carlin Influence

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    Large numbers of comedians began adopting the styles that Carlin is said to have pioneered, from his political rants shadowed by Lewis Black, his observational comedy and word play used by Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld in a posthumous article said "You could certainly say that George downright invented modern American stand-up comedy in many ways. Every comedian does a little George." Seinfeld goes onto say while chatting with other comedians about joke ideas they would say “Carlin does it.” or “Carlin already did it,” and “Carlin did it eight years ago.” Another disciple in the University of Carlin's is Louis Székely known to us as Louis C.K. Louis honored George in a post-obit tribute in 2010 at the New York Public Library by saying that Carlin had a far-reaching effect on his career when at the time C.K. has been in place where he felt his comedy was going nowhere. C.K. said in a moment where he felt like nothing was going right he heard a George Carlin interview and that Carlin mentioned his method of starting every year with a blank slate and that it caused him to become more introspective. C.K. then took that concept and ran with it and is now one of the most popular and revered standup comedians of today. "Anything that happens to me that is good is due to this guy(Carlin), I can tell you because I do what he

    Read More

  • Jerry Seinfeld

    424 Words  | 1 Pages

    performances. Jerry used a form of comedy that no one had ever seen before. He

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Status Anxiety By Alain De Botton

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many politically based talk shows focus on controversial topics. Their shows aim to cause discussion over many politically controversial topics. The shows cause people from both sides of politics to argue over topics that usually both sides strongly believe in their opinion. The shows begin to turn into a screaming fest, where one side, of the argument, tries to talk over the other side, while the other does the same thing. It shows that without humor or something else being there to lighten the mood a small debate can turn into a fully heated argument. This shows the power of context and diction. Through the use of a humorful tone, when used in the right time and place, people are able to calmly talk about topics that without it would be a full on argument. Through a comedian’s humorful word choice, he is able to make his points usually without completely enraging his audience. Those who don’t use humor or something else to lighten the mood, end up creating an argument that just grows and grows until both sides are screaming at and denying everything the other side says. However, eventually something is said that lightens the mood. This is usually something somewhat comical that both sides can relate to. Whatever it was that was said becomes the thing that both sides can agrees on, and as a result makes the argument

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Minstrel Shows

    1629 Words  | 4 Pages

    The shows play a major role in developing the comedic basis for African American entertainers even today. As referred to in the modern day, “Black Comedy” is extremely favored by the populus. Famous black comedian Dave Chappelle, once played a role as a “racial pixie”. Chappelle performed as an oddly dressed pixie on the shoulders of African Americans and sang, danced, and encouraged the individual to give into the stereotypes of society (4).

    Read More

  • Unraveling Stereotypes: Asian Americans in Media

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the first influx of Asian immigrants to the United States, Asian Americans were never treated as an integral part of the American population. Accounting for five percent of the US demographic, often times, they are still portrayed by provincial people as outsiders who do not belong in society. Over the years, this negative mentality has transformed into the way Asian Americans are viewed in media. Though there are many attempts of reversing the trend such as diversifying the cast members, stereotypical personalities such as “the human calculator” or “undesirable partner” are still utilized for writers to infuse racial slurs into comedy skits. However, in reality especially now that many Asian Americans are second generation, none of these stereotypes pertains to all them. As a result, directors and script writers have an ethical responsibility to best portray Asian Americans as human beings who can function normally without putting negative stereotypes as the primary focus of Asian characters’ personas.

    Read More

  • The Bondocks Analysis

    478 Words  | 1 Pages

    It uses humor to get viewers to think and understand black oppression, specifically during the Civil Rights Era. Laird argues “that this type of humor in fact cleverly subverts the status quo” (Laird, 2010, p. 2). The author makes use of examples and informed opinions to get his argument across, hoping to influence viewers to view black comedies from a different standpoint.

    Read More

  • Interview Paper

    1933 Words  | 4 Pages

    The study with Race, Ethnicity and Intercultural Communication takes place within Canada. Although it takes place in Canada, one can still see just how much this information is valuable within race and ethnicity and public health. Faiza Hirji, the author of this article, studies how the issue of humor and race fall within race and ethnicity. He looks at the comedian Russell Peters as an outlet for humor within racism. During both of my interviews, they did not mention humor and comedies, but I feel as if this would have been a good topic to see their views and see whether or not they would believe this as a form of communication in racism. “Comedians who incorporate race and ethnicity into their acts can be alternately popular and offensive” (Hirji, 2009, pg 544). Who would have ever thought that comedians would incorporate race and ethnicity in their comedy routines? It just shows how communication in different forms such as comedy will still get their points across when it comes to race and

    Read More

  • A Brief Note On Stardom

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    The nature of comedy has always left it somewhat resistant to critical analysis, and to some extent the same can be said for comedic actors. The class-clowns of Hollywood like Will Ferrell are often times constructed as being nothing more than amusing, so they seem lik...

    Read More

More about Why Did Aziz Ansari Use Comedy

Open Document