Humor that is dark and/or subversive has long appealed to me. That explains why my list of favorite stand-up comedians includes Anthony Jeselnik, Don Rickles and Norm Macdonald.
Mind you, it’s not the only brand of humor I enjoy. I’m also a big fan of Brian Regan and Tim Hawkins. And I love Dad jokes and groan-inducing puns.
Funny is funny.
But I think it’s important that we’re able to find humor in the darker corners of this life and this world. NPR once dubbed Jeselnik “The Dark Prince of Comedy,” because so much of his routine deals with violence and tragedy and death.
Jeselnik, who performs next week in San Diego, said that when he was a kid, his parents bought a gun so they could protect their five children. The punchline: “Of course, they eventually got rid of it … to protect their four children.”
The thing about Jeselnik — and most comedians — is their jokes are best heard in their own voice. Each has his or her own style of delivery. Even when telling his darkest jokes, Jeselnik wears a wry smirk and sounds almost bored, which is part of why the jokes work.
He told NPR a couple of years ago, “If something made me uncomfortable, I would take it as a challenge to try and make a joke about that. That’s my only goal: to find things that you shouldn’t joke about, and find a way to make a joke.”
I’m familiar enough with the comedic form that if someone telegraphs a punchline, I can probably figure out what it is before they say it. Even after watching him extensively, I can’t do that with Jeselnik.
For instance: “My mom and dad once made me smoke an entire pack of cigarettes. An entire pack of cigarettes in one sitting. Just to teach me an important lesson — about brand loyalty.”
No subject is taboo for Jeselnik, who caught his break doing celebrity roasts. Rickles, of course, is the all-time king of roasters. If you can make someone laugh at themselves the way he did, then you are a master.
Before Rickles hit it big, one of the first people he roasted was Frank Sinatra, who at the time was a chart-topping crooner with an ill temper and alleged ties to the mob.
It was 1957, and Sinatra walked into a restaurant where Rickles was performing. Rickles: “Hey, Frank, make yourself at home. Hit somebody!”
Who says comedians can’t be brave? The two soon became fast friends.
Macdonald, who passed away in 2021, was possibly the most underappreciated comedian of our time, although his profile has seen a resurgence in recent years. He was the sharp-tongued host of the Weekend Update segment on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1990s, and he wouldn’t shy away from any news topic, be it O.J. Simpson or Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
An example: “Last week during his latest trial on charges of assisted suicide, Dr. Jack Kevorkian startled a Michigan courtroom when he stood up and shouted, ‘This is a lynching!’ Everyone turned to look, and sure enough, he’d just lynched some old guy.”
On O.J.: “It was revealed this week that defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran once abused his first wife. In his defense, Cochran said, ‘Hey, at least I didn’t kill her like some people I know.’”
It’s dark, but it’s funny, and it’s hard to articulate why. But I love it.
Anthony Jeselnik — Bones and All Tour
When: 9:30 p.m. Dec. 15
Where: Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., downtown
Tickets: Limited availability
Online: sandiegotheatres.org
Locke writes for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.