A bunch of LOL-ing stock
Everything is not funny but everybody is. If this isn’t true for the real (read: offline) world, then it certainly is for the online version. While growing up, we learnt something indisputable: not all of us can make others laugh. It’s a rare gift. Quite a lot of us end up believing that our sense of humour isn’t rad enough. So, it was natural for quite a lot of us to discover our hilarious chops after logging in on social media. For obvious reasons. Unlike the real world where time and space decide the outcome of a joke — or the mere attempt at joke — one gets to control both the elements on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. You can edit your jox as many times as you like before hitting the post button. No constraints. Hell what, you can even delete and repost it. That’s the gravitas of virtual world. The offline version of ourselves don’t get to enjoy these many chances. If you fail to drop the bon mot at the precise moment, it’s gone. You’d be far from dropping the proverbial mic.
There are many factors common to those who tend to spend a considerable number of hours online, scrolling their apps, caught in a staring contest with their phones… but the most significant one has to be the manner we give in to the gallery. Once online, there isn’t a clear distinction between public and private. ABC talks to MNO while the rest of the letters are reading their conversation. It’s not exactly private. It’s not exactly public either. Because of an ultra-voyeuristic system in place, nobody seems to realize the extent of pressure at play. A thin-veiled performance anxiety, if you may.
Rest assured, we’ll continue the LOL game for as long as social media remains cool. The problem arises when we run out of templates and start sucking the marrow out of a hitherto popular meme. That’s also when it becomes stark how unfunny we really are. Granted that one doesn’t have to be a professional to crack jokes, it’s also incumbent on us to accept that online world is not very different from the offline one. A small group of people are genuinely hilarious, keeping things original; they are the trendsetters. They create joke formats which the rest of the herd blindly follow.
Comedy is all around us. Tragedy, at best, is misinterpreted comedy. If one stands and stares, every sentient being is probably a tool of nature to make us laugh. But who are we kidding? Those who want to be seen as ‘funny’ tend to carry an invisible burden whereas those are naturally funny don’t. This surrogates some worrisome questions: Has the emphasis magically shifted from laughing to making others laugh? How many times do we read a tweet or watch a video clip and throw our head back to soak the humour? If a person posts hilarious content online, do they have to personify the same ability offline? Where does it end? With a multi-million dollar book deal the way David Thorne had? How long before one realizes that the LOLs aren’t worth the chase (but Bitcoins are)? Or that comedy is an art form and is best left to the comedians?
Luckily, in our country, the sprouting talents from the stand-up arena are very promising although almost all of them are prototyping the set structure from their American counterparts as well as legends. But thanks to our desi folks, topics—especially the uncomfortable ones we’d rather not discuss otherwise — are getting trampolined in a manner that makes the janta think later. And that’s a worthy triumph. In the coming years, we’ll be seeing more and more of such young voices on various platforms. It’s a gradual as well as an immediate process. Gradual because mainstreaming takes time, immediate because anything can (and does) go viral. A good example of ‘mainstreaming’ happened not so long ago when Amazon signed up 14 Indian comedians. Interestingly, all of them were men. The producers apparently couldn’t find one female comedian from the country to fill the spot. The very fact that this choice was questioned tells you that we are on the right track vis-à-vis comedy. Of course, the producers could have counter-argued that it’s their money as well as the risk and they can choose whoever they like. For all that matters, they could have chosen 6 Labradors, 3 Persian cats, 4 cows and a gau rakshak for their show. If it made sound business sense, why not? Welcome to capitalism. But we saw mature discussions on how the system is pretty sexist. Can’t deny that, after all.
We are living in existing times. So much is going on as we trudge towards a world that would be devoid of humanistic impulses. Wonder how it’d be like with all the non-human robots doing everything for us. Can’t comply? Your smartphone is nothing less than a robot that dictates how you spend your day. This is just the beginning for all we know. Not to scaremonger but we are in dire need of all the laughters to continue the momentum of our so-called progress.
Lastly, ask yourself whether you’re a fun person or a funny person? If you think they are one and the same, you are a fun person.
