Truth in comedy

By Mike VanOuse

Rush Limbaugh once stated that in order for a joke to be funny, there has to be a kernel of truth to it. To bolster his position, he pointed out that no one made jokes about Mother Teresa because she was nothing short of a stellar individual. There was nothing to mock there.

In a quest for comic relief, this author clicked on a random YouTube stand-up video, titled "Offended?," by an Australian-born comedian named Steve Hughes, performed in England. The routine is only 7 minutes and 48 seconds long and well worth the investment in time.

He saunters onto the stage with the visage of a lanky Charles Manson and reassures the crowd, "I'm thinking the same thing about you...freaks!" That broke the ice. Unlike many stand-up routines, this one is absent profanity. He makes mockery of Britain's "Health and Safety" regulations, which are predicated on the assumption that the common citizen is an imbecile.

About halfway through, he transitions to ridiculing "political correctness" (which is an easy target). But during the segue, he rapidly mutters – almost under his breath – the following observation:

And then we have political correctness, which is a joy that is the other side of health and safety: health and safety is the small oppression of our physical movement, and so we can't do anything without permission from the state. And political correctness is the oppression of our intellectual movement, so no one says anything anymore, in case somebody else gets offended.

That has got to be the most succinct, lucid, and accurate estimate of the subliminal totalitarianism that plagues Western civilization this author has ever encountered.

It's encouraging to see that the younger generation has a firm grasp of the oppression that has been foisted upon us as the older generation of Socialist demagogues fades into retirement. There is hope for the future.

Irony is the strong point of his routine, and no spoilers were included in this teaser.