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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Jerry Seinfeld says he no longer thinks the ‘extreme left’ has
broken comedy
By Rosa Rahimi, CNN
Updated:
6:55 AM EDT, Wed October 16, 2024
Source: CNN
says he “officially” takes back his claim that the “extreme
left” is suppressing the art of comedy.
In an interview with earlier this year, the comedian reminisced about
how comedy once was – and spoke out against the current cultural
climate.
“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,” he told The New Yorker in April.
“Well, guess what – where is it? This is the result of the extreme
left and P.C. crap, and people worrying so much about offending other
people,” he said.
Now, Seinfeld says he regrets those comments and takes them back.
Speaking to comedian Tom Papa on Tuesday’s episode of the , Seinfeld
admitted that he “got it wrong” and it is “not true” that the
extreme left has inhibited the art of comedy. He also denied reports
that he does not play gigs at colleges because students are too
politically correct. “Not true… I never said it… I play colleges
all the time.”
Comedians, Seinfeld explained, must respond to changes in the culture
like how champion skiers have to make the gates on a mountain.
“If you’re Lindsey Vonn, if you’re a champion skier, you can put
the gates anywhere you want on the mountain – she’s gonna make the
gate. That’s comedy,” said Seinfeld.
“Whatever the culture is, we make the gate. You don’t make the
gate, you’re out of the game. The game is, ‘Where is the gate, how
do I make the gate and get down the hill the way I want to?’”
“Does culture change? And are there things I used to say that I
can’t say?… Yeah. But that’s the biggest, easiest target, you
know – you can’t say certain words, whatever they are, versus about
groups, so what? The accuracy of your observation has to be a hundred
times finer than that to just be a comedian.”
Seinfeld added that it doesn’t matter whether comedians like these
cultural changes or not, saying their only job is to “play the
game” according to what is acceptable.
“I don’t think the … extreme left has done anything to inhibit
the art of comedy. I’m taking that back now officially. They have
not. Do you like it? Maybe, maybe not – it’s not my business to
like or not like where the culture is at,” he said. “It’s my
business to make the gate, to stay with my skiing analogy… you make
the gate or you’re out.”
It may be hard, but so is making good comedy, according to the
“Unfrosted” star.,
“Comedy is hard. Big, giant period … You want to make a fabulous
living making people giggle? That sure sounds great – it’s gonna
take a lot.”
Seinfeld also set the record straight on another set of comments that
earlier this year, when he lamented the loss of “dominant
masculinity” in the United States.
In Tuesday’s podcast he said his choice of words was “probably not
the greatest phrase for what I was really saying,” and clarified that
what he meant was that he missed the “big personalities” of the
past, like Muhammad Ali and Sean Connery.
“These were all the people I wanted to be like as a kid… I wanted
to have that kind of authority and style, it was really a style thing.
Everyone conforms more to not offend… I thought it was a great
flavour in my youth. That made a headline the next day that I was
calling for toxic masculinity to come back.”
“We don’t need the toxic part, but the big personalities are
fun.”
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