As mainstream comedy expands to encompass more and more diverse comedic voices (here’s hoping), comics and audience members alike may find themselves pondering the question, “Hmm, is this joke not funny, or is this joke simply not funny to me?" While some people might hesitate to dig into the nitty gritty of what appears funny through a kaleidoscope of different social perspectives, Chris Rock is not one of them, tackling the question head-on at the Producer's Guild Produced by: New York conference on Saturday. Variety reports that after praising Tropic Thunder, Dodgeball, and Donald Glover's Atlanta, the comedian offered up Full Frontal With Samantha Bee as an example of humor not intended for an all–Chris Rock audience, but rather for the Samantha Bees of the world.
“Some people aren’t making comedy for me,” Rock said, recalling his experience watching the TBS late-night show. “Okay, this is not for me particularly. This is for a certain group of women, and I gotta kind of defer. I think people should be funny to the people who look like them first. If you can’t be funny to the people who look like you, something’s wrong.”
Rock also pointed out that, as the director of Amy Schumer's stand-up special Amy Schumer: Live At The Apollo, he left in “all the stuff that I don’t know,” which, fortunately for him, includes a deep, personal understanding of yeast infections. All of which is going to make Chris Rock's inevitable Full Frontal interview great TV everyone can enjoy.
Watch Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on SBS2 at 8pm on Tuesday nights. Or watch it on SBS On Demand: