I see that it was waaaay back in 2011 that I posted about an interview in which the normally happy looking comedian Alan Davies explained that he had in fact been in psychotherapy for years as a result of an unhappy childhood, with the main problem being that his Mum died when he was 6, and his controlling father kept him from saying "goodbye", and the funeral, or even the grave.
Now, it turns out, he says he was sexually assaulted by his Dad, who is still alive but with dementia.
I'm a bit surprised by this, because I have watched on TV some of a stand up show he was doing (as usual, I didn't like it much), and he did reference some boys at his boarding school and their enthusiasm for, um, demonstrative masturbation. I find this a little hard to imagine in an Australian context, but yes, this is in England, where "boarding school" and "sexually inappropriate behaviour" go together in what seems to be a peculiarly national tradition. So it's a bit odd to me that he would be getting laughs out of that when sexually abused at home. Not saying it didn't happen, just surprised.
But anyway, once again I ask: what percentage of comedians actually come from a happy family background, no great disasters in personal relationships, and no addiction or bouts of depression? Seems like it must like 2 or 3% of them. (Jerry Seinfeld being the stellar example of "nope, everything's been pretty good for me, really.")
PS: while I am having a day of just saying what I do and don't like - have I mentioned before that I can't stand English comedian Jimmy Carr, who turns up on SBS ads for his unfunny panel show all the time? Don't find him funny, or likeable, at all.
* not referencing a technique.
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But anyway, once again I ask: what percentage of comedians actually come from a happy family background, no great disasters in personal relationships, and no addiction or bouts of depression? Seems like it must like 2 or 3% of them.
I think it was Mel Brooks who said that his lot do well at comedy because it is a form of therapy for those from troubled backgrounds and trauma.
Indigenous activists love to invoke intergenerational trauma so perhaps they should learn to laugh more rather than constantly lamenting the past.
Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma
By Tirzah Firestone
Humor helps when dealing with a legacy of tragedy and persecution. "Just look at Jewish history," said comedian Mel Brooks. "Unrelieved lamenting would be intolerable. So, for every ten Jews beating their breasts, God designated one of us to be crazy, so we can amuse the breast-beaters. By the time I was five, I knew I was that one.
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