A fine fine line in humor

If by ‘loser,’ you’re referring to a man who’s greeted eight times a week by 1,000 people that stand as one, applauding until their hands are raw, cheering until their voices are spent, whispering, ‘He’s so much better looking in person,’ and laughing until their faces are contorted in an anguished mask that can best be described as a sort of Bell’s palsy.” – Larry David, presenting at the 2015 Tony Awards

Sigh. It happened again last night, that fine fine line between humor and being an asshole making jokes about people with serious medical conditions.
I have a sense of humor, sometimes a black sense of humor. I’m not immune to making fun of myself or my situation… but in no way is talking in terms of “anguished masks” funny or frankly acceptable.

But people laughed. And because people laughed, the roughly six million people watching at home think it’s okay. And it’s not.

Selfishly I am annoyed because theater is my happy escapist place (even if my favorite playwrights and lyricists write about heavy stuff) and I don’t like real life crap like this to intrude.

We’re slowly getting there with being less accepting of this kind of stuff, but it’s not happening fast enough… especially when it hits too close to home.

(and yes: title is an Avenue Q reference, proving that I do have a sense of humor!)