Wonderful film-makers like Wes Anderson & David O'Russel have enabled me to understand the brilliance of comedy. Far from the whimsical, mindless entertainment that I used to incline suspect of its substance, it has a rather complex usage which the above-mentioned great minds have utilised in the makings of some superb films.
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums and I Heart Huckabees are some excellent examples of comedy's great voice. "Some people say that you talk about the serious stuff and then you put in comedy to make it go down easier. But no, they’re one and the same." Russell is one of the rare few who understands too well the interconnectivity between life's most vital questions and laughter. He says that a Zen monk once told him that if one cannot find amusement in something, one never quite understood it.
And to help along this understanding of comedy came the introduction to Bill Hicks. I've always wondered about stand-up comedians... what their purpose is besides making people laugh. It is too simple to just want to communicate laughter and nothing else at all, and find this fulfilling for an artistic outlet. To me, everything must link to the greater picture of life. If it doesn't, it ain't a complete thought. Bill Hicks became for me the comedian I had idealised. I realised that the only way being a stand-up comedian could be something thoroughly worthwhile is when the role is truly used as a form of expression and says something with the power of its medium, provoking and stimulating, within the boundaries of its art, thereby creating a masterpiece.
When you laugh at something comical, the message that came with it went across. You really do understand what's funny about it because it is presented in that light. And then you comprehend that light better. Not as an alternate perceptive world to dreariness and sadness, but a balanced, peaceful realm of detached observation. Which is what our busy minds seek... a meditative state of real control. And then comedy is a choice. To seek that colourful world of simplicity where every seemingly profound subject is second nature, and everybody is tripping on an acid pill. ;)
