The Esoteric Art Stand-Up Comedy

What collective laughter reveals about reality

I’ve noticed something.

Comedians, right?

They get on stage, they make some jokes, and people laugh.

Seems pretty straightforward.

But if you strip away all the elements that make a comedian’s joke “funny” — the tone, the timing, the body language and the tension — then the joke is no longer a joke.

It’s just an observation.

Every time I watch a stand-up artist doing observational comedy, even as I’m laughing, I can’t shake the overpowering awareness that all the comedian did was accurately describe reality.

And the more universally relatable their observation is, the more people laugh.

The implications of this are staggering to consider.

What does this mean about our reality?

Does this mean that, the more True something is, the funnier it is?

Does it mean that reality itself is, fundamentally, a joke?

And if so, are comedians actually revealers of this Truth?

^ If you have a few minutes, check out this act by Moses Storm. It’s gotta be one of the most “meta” stand-up acts I’ve ever seen. He uses stand-up comedy to describe stand-up comedy — and within that, he manages to throw light on a number of other absurd modern phenomena, like “instagram butt models,” pornography, and self-driving cars.

The crowd is laughing, as they tend to do at comedy shows.

But take away all his sarcasm and shenanigans, and it becomes clear: He’s merely sharing what he’s noticed.

So what’s the actual joke here?
Is it modern life?
Human behavior?
Existence itself?

If you don’t have time to watch the video, that’s fine, because you can actually do this with any observational comedy routine. Next time you’re watching comedy, detach from the joke and think about what’s actually being said. Just consider the actual words being used — the thing being described.

Is it still funny?

Maybe, maybe not. But the fact that it was funny under certain conditions, means it might just be funny at its core.

And the comedians, bless their perceptive souls, are “in” on this universal joke.

A comedian’s humorous observations reveal the bliss at the heart of existence. Maybe it’s all a joke — even our suffering. Maybe it’s all funny — even the things that make us cry. (Interesting, too, how “crying” and “laughing” often co-occur!)

And perhaps the only reason we don’t feel that Universal Bliss is because we need a perspective shift.

That’s where the comedian comes in and — with just a few masterful turns of phrase, tone and timing — is able to shift our perspective enough to glimpse behind the Veil and see reality for what it is: an absolute joy ride.

Nothing to fear, nothing to cry about, and nothing to get too attached to.