Sex Talk and Foul Language — On Speakers Working Blue
In standup comedy, the expression “working blue” refers to using language and imagery (and sometimes, if rarely, props) that can offend a more sensitive audience, and which is particularly unsuitable for children. Wikipedia helpfully defines it as “comedy that is off-color, risqué, indecent or profane, largely about sex”, or as some would call it, good comedy. In the business, there is often a fairly clear separation between blue comics, clean comics, and comics who can work both blue and clean. Many of the greatest standup heroes have been blue comics, with icons such as Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, and George Carlin (as well as Moms Mabley, Red Foxx, and many more) primarily remembered for their raunchy material. Today, quite a few of the top comedians like Frankie Boyle and Sarah Silverman (just to mention two of my favorites) primarily work blue. However, this does not mean that working blue is the only thing people in the business respect. Quite the contrary. Comedians who only work clean, such as Jim Gaffigan and Jerry Seinfeld, are held in very high regard, even by most blue comics. To some, having success whilst only working clean can even be seen as the greater accomplishment, as one loses a lot of potential material when one consciously avoids a number of topics and tropes. In other words, in standup comedy there exists a deep and full insight into these two different modes of working, and both are respected.
The keynote and speaking business has never been as developed as standup comedy when it comes to analyzing such matters. Now, you might say that this is because public speaking should always avoid raunchy or salacious material, and there is a modicum of truth to this. Speakers cannot be as frank and edgy as a standup comic can, for various reasons. First, there is a different expectation in play. With comics, the audience is at the very least aware that there might be some surprises in store. Second, speakers have a different kind of audience. With speakers, the audience has not implicitly accepted the risk of being shocked. Third, comedy and public speaking have a different approach to the audience. In comedy, you’re not all that bothered about pleasing everyone. In fact, having some people in the audience who feel that you’re overstepping the line is a good thing, as this means that you’re pushing people’s buttons. In public speaking, the default expectation is that you’ll present something that is palatable for 100% of the audience, and speakers gear their talks to this.
It is however interesting to note that this used to be the expectation in comedy as well, and many, many decennia ago, standup comedians shied away from any material that might turn the more conservative people in the audience against them. Then the counter-culture happened. There had been comedians that worked blue before this, such as some celebrated stars on the “Chitlin’ Circuit” (the predominantly black entertainment circuit that included the Eastern, Southern, and upper Midwestern areas of the US), such as the aforementioned Moms Mabley. All this changed when comedians such as Richard Pryor (a veteran of the Chitlin’ Circuit) broke through to the mainstream in the late 1960s. They brought a new, edgier voice to standup comedy, one that included working blue and challenging expectations.
In fact, the rise of modern standup comedy can be traced back to a number of comedians who dared to bring working blue into the mainstream — people like Pryor, George Carlin, and the inimitable Lenny Bruce. There were always people who worked clean, as well as performers like Don Rickles who worked well in both formats (even though he primarily was an insult comic), but the sea-change in the field occurred in the early 1970s as working blue became accepted, even (sometimes) on TV. Norm-breaking and challenging performances redefined what comedy could be, and audiences responded. Sometimes negatively, but often with uproarious laughter and unending applause. The industry noticed, and comedy evolved. Today, Pryor and Carlin seem quite tame, and Eddie Murphy’s Delirious and Raw seem quite outdated, but they all were part of making modern standup comedy possible. Today, there are few taboos that aren’t routinely broken on stage, and many of the most popular comedians in the world perform material that would have gotten them fined if not jailed 75 years ago.
In the speaking business, the same development hasn’t really occurred. Public speaking never had their “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television”-moment (named after the wonderful set by George Carlin, available here). Where comedy always tried to explore boundaries and barriers, and managed to overstep these with gusto once the Zeitgeist was right, the business of keynotes has stayed stuck in the pre-challenge era. This may well be why standup comedy has developed into the very diverse art form it is, and public speaking hasn’t.
Now, I do not here want to say that keynote speakers should pepper their speeches with the seven words you couldn’t say on TV (which in case you were wondering were “shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits” — you’re welcome). What I am trying to intimate is that standup comedy has for a very long time been able to handle this tension and that there are lessons to be learned here. If the art of public speaking is to develop, we need to think about working blue, working with challenges, working in ways that may not be beloved by all audiences. As things stand, keynote speaking is still in baby shoes. Our big brother, standup comedy, has learned to deal with working blue. Why can’t we?
