Comedy and consequence: Penn groups on contentious humor following Charlie Hebdo

The Jan. 7 attacks by Muslim extremists on the satirical Parisian magazine “Charlie Hebdo” triggered discourse around the world about free speech, comedy and their consequences. Two masked gunmen, later identified as belonging to al Qaeda’s Yemen branch, responded to the magazine’s release of an issue depicting the prophet Muhammad on the cover by breaking into the offices and shooting numerous staff members. In light of this event, members of Penn comedy groups shared their perspective and methods on striking a balance between comedy and contention.

“There are certain ways you can talk about certain groups,” said Rosa Escandon, College senior and head writer for Bloomers — an all-female comedy group on campus. “I like to think that all jokes are okay as long as it’s making the joke about society rather than about the victim of society.”

Bloomers members said that they make great efforts to avoid making fun of one particular group excessively in order to preserve the entertainment value of their show.

Bloomers Director and College senior Olivia Route said that the group cannot rely on targeting specific groups in its jokes because “the more niche we get, the more of an audience we risk losing.”

In terms of religion, though, the group admits that it is often difficult to preserve the comedic value of their material without offending someone. Escandon — a 34th Street Lowbrow editor — admits that she has even had small generational disputes with her mother after telling her that Bloomers had performed a skit called “Imperialists Anonymous.”

“My mother heard the words ‘there was someone playing Hitler,’” Escandon said, laughing, “and she was like ‘Oh my God, Rosa, that is not okay.’”

But the expiration date of a joke can even be much shorter than a generation. Political correctness and what people find funny evolve faster than that. “The joke that killed five years ago is a joke about assault,” Escandon said, explaining that certain jokes no longer have a place in the group’s shows.

Jokes that target certain groups might not get a laugh from those unfamiliar with the culture of the groups. Bloomers has a recurring skit, for example, centered around the “Jewish humor” of a mother and daughter. “If you don’t understand the interactions between Jewish mothers and daughters, it’s not very funny,” Escandon said.

“If we had a show that was entirely based around a religion, regardless of what the religion was, it would not be very entertaining,” Route said.

Both Bloomers and the Mask and Wig Club members said their comedy lies within certain boundaries.

“We try to make fun of what we know rather than what we don’t know,” College senior and Mask and Wig Cast Director Joe Miciak said.

“I think the great thing about comedy is that it’s a way to alert or reawaken someone to an idea that is really terrible or really wonderful,” Route said. “If we’re making a joke that’s offensive or inflammatory, we want it to be purposeful.”

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