Punch Up, Down, or ... Sideways?
Many argue that comedy must only punch up, but what if a comic aims slightly lower?
The discussion about who or what can be made fun of feels like it’s been going on forever. And the safe answer in that debate has been punching up is ok while the opposite is frowned upon.
Under this assumption, one can joke about someone or a group who is doing better or retains more privilege than the person doing the joking (punching up). In contrast, someone cannot mock a person or group that society would deem to be in a more challenging position than the person doing the joking (punching down).
But, this view leaves out one important direction. Sideways.
Enter stand-up comedian Chris Fleming, who not only throws a jab straight ahead in his joke “Hot and Bi” but follows it with a cross.
This is because in their joke, they not only address mental illness using a “sideways punch” but also the way another comedian addresses the same subject and how they perceive audiences consume that other comic’s approach.
Punch Up, Down, or ... Sideways?
Joking about mental illness can be tricky for obvious reasons. However, Fleming uses their own “strange and macabre” mental health experiences to punch sideways at those facing more common emotional challenges.
Here’s how they set it up.
It is good that we’re talking about mental illness more these days. But are we really? I do think that people are only comfortable talking about their mental illness just as long as it makes them seem hot and bi.
They explain this further by saying:
Why aren’t people talking about having Munchausen by proxy? You’re not hearing those stories. I feel like people are less painting an accurate picture of themselves and more just painting a picture of them moping in a leather skirt, with like a bass nearby.
Again, this is a bold premise. Standing on stage knowingly mocking common mental illness issues is quite a challenge, given that many, if not most, audience members will have faced some of these.
So, how does Fleming land the plane and get the audience on their side? By punching sideways and using their own slightly elevated experience with mental illness.
My mental illness doesn’t fall into those parameters. One summer, I couldn’t piss until I sang the first verse of Lou Bega’s Mambo No. 5. That’s neither hot nor bi. That’s strange and macabre.
Here’s another one:
I sleepwalk a lot and one night in 2018 I went missing in the night and I was found on all fours drinking out of my dog’s water dish. That’s just kind of vaguely German if anything.
Clearly, Fleming is making the point that normalizing only certain types of mental illness alienates those with others. They are arguing that we as a society might not be doing enough if we’re only highlighting a handful of specific mental illnesses issues deemed acceptable to have. And while that’s valid, it seems that punching up or down wouldn’t work to make this point.
Now for the cross (or second sideways punch).
One way he explores this controversial take is by pointing to another comic who recently had a wildly successful special about mental health. That person being Bo Burnham with the special Inside.
While I’m sure that Fleming would be the first to say that he’s punching up at Burnham and not sideways, I’d argue that taking a shot comic-to-comic is sideways.
Here is the sideways punch at Bo:
You’re not going to see that in a boy genius lyric. You’re not going to see Bo Burnham bitching about that in his backhouse about having interspecies confusion.
Overall, making fun of something from an equal playing field is a necessary concept to interject into the eternal question of who or what is “allowed” to be made fun of. In a world of black and white, up or down, why not try punching sideways?