The Dark Side of Comedy

I've always been fascinated with comedians. I used to come home from junior high school and watch ComicView on BET or even many years later, memorizing Robin Williams' comedy special, Live on Broadway. It's always seemed like comics had a special eye for society and human behavior. I mean how else do they come up with their jokes, mostly geared towards many of the societal norms we take for granted?

There have been studies trying to quantify the psychology of comics and better understand what both motivates them to do what they do and also what gives them their special talents. Famous comics such as Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, and Ellen Degeneres are often referred to when talking about this special kind of intelligence. They are also often put in the Mental Health/Illness category as well; to which correlations have also been explored. Though most studies find that they are not necessarily more "sick" than non-comedians, most often their personalities come with a high drive for acceptance.

To better understand if anything of this has merit, or to at least attempt to hear it from the horse's mouth; I sat down with my friend, Jojo White to talk about his passion for sharing the connection between Comedy and Depression in what might be the show's most heartfelt episode yet.

Buckle in, this one is going to take you for a ride. I hope you enjoy - Steven.

For show notes, visit: https://stevenfage.com/podcast/episode/the-dark-side-of-comedy/