We can all agree that comedy nerds are the Internet-era equivalent of being really into Monty Python, right?
Like, having strong opinions about stand-up comics is what people who took AP classes do instead of quote Anchorman.
Last night I replied to this by saying “there goes my thousand-word piece on the meaning of w. kamau bell,” which I grant is pretty incoherent, but it was late and I’m at my worst when trying to make a joke that also shows off how cool I am.
(For the record, I like W. Kamau Bell and think he’s an important voice in modern comedy, and almost nobody has ever heard of him, and that’s fine.)
But thinking it over a day later, I’m still puzzled by what point Mike was trying to make. People who are into niche forms of comedy are a lot like people who were into niche forms of comedy thirty to fifteen years ago? Okay, sure. People who fancy themselves smartypants are drawn to forms of expression that they think are a cut above populist entertainment? See also, every music thread on the internet ever.
I mainly don’t understand what the dichotomy he’s setting up is supposed to accomplish. I guess “comedy nerds” are being set against “comedy regular people” who watch funny TV and funny movies and don’t have to seek out specialized kinds of comedy because, dude, our entire culture is marinating in comedy, wait fifteen minutes and your buddy will send you a link to a Youtube video that will make you shit your pants laughing, bro. Or something. I wouldn’t know, I don’t have friends that send me emails like that, probably because I’m a humorless dick. (Cf. this whole post.)
Which makes me, pretty self-evidently, a comedy nerd. And yeah, I was into Monty Python before the Internet, and I’ve never seen Anchorman because I was kind of a snob when it came out and I haven’t cared enough since. (When I finish writing this, I’m going back to watching an episode of QI, is how nerdy I am.) And so in accordance with venerable nerd tradition, I felt kind of threatened by Mike’s formulation and wanted to dispute it but also wanted to protect myself from being one of those dreadful uncool smartypants who takes his entertainment so seriously that he can’t be taken seriously by us normals who tell each other we just threw up in our mouths a little bit to indicate that we’re revolted and shout “LOUD NOISES” when people are yelling. (I’ve seen clips. I’m not, like, subhuman.)
Not being taken seriously is a longstanding nerd nightmare, of course, so it was probably inevitable that my “the Internet is supposed to be a safe space for my kind! how did the bullies cool kids find me here!?” reflex kicked in. But having talked my way through all of this, I have to agree with Mike. Yes, comedy nerds are the people who analyze comedy and their own response to it instead of using it socially, as music nerds are the people who analyze music and their own response to it instead of using it socially. I could have written “instead of (or in addition to),” but let’s be honest; we’re nerds. We don’t do anything socially.
Except bitch on the Internet! We’re pretty good at that.
