Is My Stand-Up Routine Racist?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I don’t think it is, but I could do with more opinions.

Basically, I’ve got a show on tuesday, and I’m trying new material. It’s edgy, and i don’t want to get chased out of the building.

Basically, it involves discussing how often on the news you see people in the Middle east protesting on the street, burning flags and effigies of hated politicians, and how said effigies are often crude scarecrows,

“More often than not, its just a grain sack with a smilie face on it”,

I go on to say how I’ve got this million dollar idea, to open a chain of shops selling

“High Quality, Highly Recognisable, Highly Flammable Effigies of Hated People”,

and how the radio ad might sound;

“Effigies R Us, Basra and Fallujah; Sale Now On! We’ve got the effigies you want at LOW LOW prices! George W Bush, only 14 Dinar! Tony Blair, 15 Dinar! And While stocks last, we’ve got this years must-burn effigy, Barack Obama, only twenty five Dinar!”

Now, why people would want to burn Obama, is neither here nor there; “K” sounding words = teh funny. It’s scientific fact.

I then go on to compare a Barack Obama Effigie to a Buzz Lightyear doll, or a Nintendo Wii, with Irate radicals searching branches to find an Obama, and being met with slack-jawed staff who suggest that they “try the branch in haditha”.

From there, I sympathise with the hard-working people in the middle east, and how tough it must be to get a days work done when there’s so much flag burning going on. Like last year, when India went nuts over Richard Gere kissing Shilpa Shetti on TV;

“Guys, where are you going? We have deliveries to do!”

or how tough it must have been to live a normal life when the danish-cartoon controversy hit a few years ago;

“listen, I agree; it offends our religion and our culture, but c’mon! I was hoping to get a haircut during my lunchbreak!”

From there, I wrap up by hoping that effigy-burning protests don’t catch on over here (ireland)…

“the irish generally aren’t an easily offended people, but if it meant we could take a half day off work whenever we felt like it, we’d become some sensitive motherfuckers”.

Am I gonna be lynched?

2

I’d guess not. I believe (maybe mistakenly) that somebody seeking out a comedy club is generally less sensitive than maybe the dudes at a NCLU meeting.

Are you going to do the appropriate accents?

t

3

Well, are you doing the routine in Basra? :wink:

If you keep the focus on making fun of just the rioters, I think this is pretty good. I particularly like the idea of them inconveniencing everybody else. You could probably do even more with that. Are there some guys who go to every riot? Maybe just to meet women?

The flip side is that you haven’t really included your transitions and you’re going to need to choose your words carefully. If you make it sound like you think you’re talking about all Muslims, stony silence is definitely possible. So you have to choose your language carefully here. I’d suggest ditching the Richard Gere thing. It happened in India, not the Middle East, and the offended people were Hindus and not Muslims.

4

Only do this if you are of middle-eastern origin yourself.

5

Oh yeah, the one bit I was worried about…
“I’m sorry sir, we seem to be out of Barack Obama at the moment… perhaps I could get a guy in the warehouse to put a suit on a Will Smith?”

6

Meh. I don’t think it’s racist, but I also don’t think it’s especially funny. You being lynched is probably pretty low on the list of things you should be worried about with that shtick.

7

I don’t think it’s racist. Also I like it.

What I find is the most amusing aspect of the subject, though, is the inherent irony.
Real headline from back then: “Muslims, Angry Over Violent Cartoon of Mohammed, Burn Danish Consulate.”
It’s like “Russians, angry over portrayal as cold-hearted, kick child in the face”, or something.

8

It’s making me laugh. Of course, I’m a Canadian, and we’re known for our sick senses of humor, so take it for what it’s worth.

9

I found it funny. Done right on stage, I’d probably have a ball.

Of course, it’s not a “safe” thing to do unless you look middle-eastern yourself. (Carlos Mencia syndrome, I s’pose) But then, George Carlin hasn’t been assassinated yet.

Of course, it depends a lot on how prominent this is with your other material and how much you rag on the theme. If all people see is a racist having found another venue to spread it . . .

You might also do a variation of the George Carlin "See? It made you uncomfortable to laugh about that, didn’t it? I see half the faces twisting in laughter and the other half twisting in trying to hide that laugh, thinking Oh God, Oh God, I might as well place a pre-order of an effigy in my own image. "

Carlin went on, of course, riffing that this is part of what’s Wrong With America[tm], this Political Correctness of ours. It worked. Some felt he played it safe, though.

10

I think there’s some funny bits in there, and so long as you don’t try to do a stereotypical ME accent, I don’t think it’s offensive.

11

I like it - you’re doing stand-up; it’s your duty to push the envelope.

You could try adding that there’s a special on Hilary Clinton effigies because you’re overstocked…

12

It was cut for time!! :stuck_out_tongue:

So was another bit about how if business was slow, you could just go into a crowd and incite hatred towards a particular person whose effigy you had overstocked…

Also, the “Deluxe Combo Deal”; One Effigy, One Medium Flag, and a Medium Lighter Fluid, now only 15 Dinar!

I dont even know if that’s a currency.

13

Dinar is correct. And I like the idea of making up an enemy to ditch the extra effigies. Skip the Hillary jokes, though - there’s nothing new to say about her at this point and I think everybody’s sick of hearing about her.

14

Well, Obama has said that he’d like Will Smith to play him because of the ears.

15

I came up with a product idea once – self-igniting flags. You buy a bunch of of those little flags on sticks like you see at parades, flags about the size of a 3x5 index card; and you tape a Bic lighter to each stick, and sell the combination.

I still think they would sell by the million.

16

I thought it was funny, in a Carlos Mencia sort of way. (That’s a compliment in my book, BTW.) I agree with those who said to make sure you’re not generalizing on Muslims. Unless, of course, you want to go the Mencia route, and make fun of everybody, in which case it’s okay.

Good luck with your show!

17

How did it go?

18

I have a sick sense of humor and I was trying not to giggle reading the routine as written.

I would actually link the burning to Americans, too, if you don’t mind mocking us? Perfect for those people who get all spazzy when people burn the flag, now they can be more specific about who they hate. Burn the flag and people think you might be protesting anything. You could be protesting McCain, Obama, prayer in schools, prayer NOT in schools, gay marraige acceptance, gay people, straight people, transsexual comedians. You could be protesting flag burning by burning a flag. Instead, if people actually burn images of who they’re angry at it could be ever so much clearer.

It could also be a real way for people to come together over the issues. We might not agree about much, but we can agree about what to burn!