Eric Idle was recently on a TV show and he was asked about "cancel culture"…
Asked about Dave Chappelle's complaints that he is being silenced for his controversial jokes, Idle responded: "Where does he say it? On SNL? Well, you're not being that much cancelled, are you? If you were in your room complaining, I'd have a lot more sympathy.
"I didn't like it when Bill Maher complains about the audience for not laughing. They're telling you they don't find it funny. You shouldn't moan about the audience. There's nothing wrong with the audience. If they don't laugh at your jokes, there's something wrong with your jokes. I'm not terribly sympathetic to that sort of attitude, to be honest."
Chappelle and Maher are both hit-'n'-miss with me…sometimes brilliant, sometimes not. I don't buy that the "not" times are all because the audience (of which I'm a member) is not hip enough, too uptight on certain subjects, too "woke," whatever. It is possible for even the best comedian to aim, fire and miss; for the material to just not strike that particular audience as funny. A lot of comedians don't like to admit fallibility so they blame the audience.
I remember a comedian I saw once at the Improv and spoke with later out in the street as we were leaving. No, let me correct that: I remember his act, not his name, and I don't think I've seen the guy since. I suspect no one has.
This was around the time Obama was newly-installed as Prez and the comic's jokes, which did not go over well in the room, were all based on the premise that Obama was stupid. So many were built on that premise that I suspect the guy was trying to recycle his old George W. Bush jokes by just changing the name. If you're going to be a topical comedian, you need to pay careful attention to the expiration dates on your material.
The audience didn't laugh. They just didn't buy the basic premise…didn't hear any underlying truth coming from the stage. I don't think even most of those who hated the Obama presidency thought the guy was dumb. Barack Obama was a tough guy to make jokes about, especially compared to the guys before and after him…and it's never been a matter of Democrat vs. Republican. The first of the two President George Bushes was a tough guy to make jokes about, whereas Bill Clinton was the easiest ever until Trump came along.
Still, this comedian's excuse for the non-laughter during his set that night was that the audience was too "tightass" about their beloved Barack. It couldn't possibly have been that the jokes misfired…or even that he simply did a bad job of reading the room. If you were hired to entertain a roomful of octogenarians at a retirement home and you bombed with 20 minutes of dick jokes, whose fault is that?
And like I said, I haven't seen that comedian since that night at the Improv and, honest-to-Lenny-Bruce, I don't recall his name. If he's still on this planet, he's probably working tiny clubs or maybe a whole other profession, bitching constantly that he's not getting work as a comedian because he's too controversial and he's been "canceled."
I'm against shunning people just because they say something that rubs people the wrong way…but people do have the right to feel rubbed the wrong way. They even have the right to decide they don't think you're funny and that they don't want to pay money to see you.