FRIDAY May 28, 1993

Seattle's comedy clubs become latest
battleground over political correctness

By Viki Hoyt
Special to the Journal America

Last March, Seattle's Last Laugh comedy club featured well-known Los Angeles comic Emery Emery, who did a bit that has since made comedy history.

It went something like this:

Four years ago, Emery was doing stand-up in the South ("A dangerous thing," he jokes, "if you have an earring and a ponytail"). One night, a Mississippi club owner told him that "what he wanted from his boys (comics) was a good 'nigger' joke, 'cuz down here, we love a good 'nigger' joke

Emery replied, "No, don't know any of those, but how would you like one about guys who paint their necks red and marry their cousins?"

Two days later, Emery was fired from the Last Laugh for using the word "nigger."

EMERY

Stereotypes. Often the staple of stand-up comedy, are increasingly being challenged as 'politically incorrect, while others insist that the glimmers of truth revealed in stereotypes are what make people laugh.

The war of political correctness is heating up in area comedy clubs, too. Stereotypes, often the staple of standup comedy, are increasingly being challenged as "politically incorrect," while others insist that the glimmers of truth revealed in stereotypes are what make people laugh.

Meanwhile, comics, club owners and consumers are being drawn into the fray.

Emery, who introduced the bit into his routine precisely in order to make a point about bigotry, added fuel to the already raging fire by taking his story to a local talk radio show.

"I didn't want to compromise my position on this," he said. "They're (The Last Laugh) living in the 17th century."

Tina Peel, general manager of Seattle's Last Laugh, said that Emery had told the same story at Portland's Last Laugh. Club owner Joe Torez warned Emery not to do the bit in Seattle after receiving a complaint from an African American woman in the audience.

Emery did the bit in Seattle anyway, claiming he thought Torez meant only that he could not do the joke in the Portland club.

"To be honest, I never would have done it," said Emery. "I've had to drop a lot of my 'blue' (racy) act for them (The Last Laugh)."

"The reason this piece was born was to fight racism," said Emery, who believes The Last Laugh "completely handcuffs (their talent) comedically

According to Elizabeth Verseman, Emery's secretary and agent, the general response to the "Emery Emery Story" (as it's become known) has been very good.

"He's making a point about a real situation," she said. "He's saying it (prejudice) is bad."

Seattle comic Ron Reid agreed.

"People just misunderstood ... they heard the word 'nigger' and didn't hear the rest," said Reid.

Peel, whose job includes gauging audience reaction to various comics, disagrees.

"I can't see his story as anything but offensive," said Peel. "It's not a word that people use today. It's degrading. "

Given the current social climate strong reaction to remarks of questionable political correctness is not unusual. No more "welshing" on bets no more sports teams with names like "Redskins," no more "girl" (or babe or chick, for that matter) when referring to a grown woman.

But, despite the effect of PC on "real life," some argue that the comedy stage should remain an open forum for the politically incorrect.

"It's a buyer-beware situation," said Kit Eiffert, former Seattle resident and comedy junkie, who believes that the 'nugget of truth" lodged in every stereotype is what makes people laugh. "It's recognizing that piece of truth in ourselves ... that's what is funny.

"Yeah, I do laugh at some stereotypes, but, you know, it's comedy."

LAURA CROCKER, manager of Seattle's Comedy Underground, feels strongly that comics deserve an open forum in which to express their views.

Ten years ago, she and husband Ron Reid successfully challenged an obscure Liquor Control Board regulation that prohibited the use of profanity in establishments serving alcohol, when they discovered that the board had handed out a citation at the Lacey Inn for "content" of material that contained no profanity.

"They overstepped their bounds," said Reid. "It is not within their province to censor content."

Ironically, Reid, who teaches Drama 153 (the art of stand-up) at Skagit Valley College, insists on setting limits for his students regarding "appropriate" material. He admitted that his attitudes could be considered contradictory.

"I believe in an open forum for comedy, but I tell my students no racist or sexist stereotyping," said Reid, "What it comes down to is: I make the rules."

Peggy Platt, a well-known local comedienne who's been around the comedy circuit for years, has earned a reputation as a politically correct comic, although she feels that the term has been abused.

"It's lost its real meaning ... it's become a joke," said Platt. "Being PC is about respect. It's about people as opposed to categories."

According to Platt, the reason so many comics still rely on stereotypes to get a laugh is because it's easy.

"I don't think in those terms," she said.

Platt does do bits about gender differences - she just doesn't believe that comics have to offend people in order to point them out.

"My girlfriends can call me 'chick' or 'girl,' but men have to call me 'woman' and love it," she jokes. "I can call them 'tits' - you may call them 'Peggy's breasts.' "

She also did a bit about the gay and lesbian March on Washington.

"Me and Jesse Jackson were the lone straight people there," she quipped. "Well, I don't know ... he's pretty sensitive."

PLATT DOESN'T ENDORSE censorship, but she's refused to work with comics whose brand of humor she finds offensive.

"I never liked Sam Kinison... he was cruel, and everything he did for a laugh was at someone's expense," said Platt, who picketed one of his shows to protest Kinison's "humorous" remarks about AIDS and gay lifestyles.

"I defend his right to say it, but I have the right to hold up a sign."

Many comics agree. Without the freedom to express themselves in an open comedy forum, "breaking ground" (as Emery calls it) would be lost. They say an "offend the least" philosophy leads to material without an edge.

But the big guns in the PC war belong to the club owners, whose primary consideration is profit, not politics.

Jerry Bennett, marketing director for Giggles Comedy Nite Club. said that Giggles prides itself on "clean" acts that are not offensive.

"The name of the game is appeal to the masses," he said, agreeing that there is a heightened awareness of PC in the air. ' You can't afford to make too many mistakes."

According to Bennett Giggle's eight-year success is tied to its clean" reputation, which is enhanced by the 'professional" image (jacket-and-tie dress, for example) the comics are encouraged to cultivate onstage.

But he admitted that, by excluding some acts, clubs run the risk of preventing some people from enjoying that material.

"It's tricky," he said.' We try to find that happy medium between artistic expression and offending the audience. "

Larry Harris, owner of The Improv, is less concerned with offending the audience. It's not the job of a comedy club to censor artistic freedom he said. and "shock value" is often what it takes to get people to recognize truth.

"Comedy is based on truth," he said. "If it's not true, it's not funny."

Comics like Platt argue that, just because some people may find the material funny, that's not reason enough to use it.

"Some clubs just pack 'em in," says Platt. "It's greed. They don't care what kinds of things are said."

But Harris says that people come to comedy to relax, and most of them don't think about what's politically correct. Comedy veteran Jan Barrett agrees that club owners have the right to decide what to allow onstage, although she says other comics have accused her of caving in to pressure (she calls it "maximizing her hireability").

"If they (owners) tell me to drop a line, I drop it," she says. 'it's not my job to make value judgments."

The $64,000 question is, whose job is it?

Comedy consumers have thrown in their 2 cents worth.

Michael McCormick, a Seattle resident who's been "doing comedy" for the past 10 years, says he's noticed some comics have cleaned up their routines.

"It's not the job of the club to censor comics in any way," he says. "I think there's an element of truth to all 'pointed' humor -that is, pointed at someone. We've all experienced that."

(Viki Hoyt is a student in the University of Washington School of Communications' News Laboratory.)