| | |  Entertainment | February 2009 
Why is Racial Humor Funny?
 Desiree Cooper - Freep.com
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We need only to compare the racial rhetoric of people like comedian Chris Rock, reformed radio shock jock Don Imus and "Seinfeld's" Michael Richards to know one thing: Your race determines when, and under what circumstances, you can wield racial humor.
But what if you're the member of more than one racial or ethnic group? What if you're a black comedian who looks white? Who has the right to say what?
"Crossing the Line: Multiracial Comedians" is a provocative look at what's funny when it comes to racial humor, and how multiracial comedians have a unique challenge.
One of the film's producers is Teja Arboleda. He identifies himself as Filipino-Chinese, African American, Native American and German-Danish. To top it off, he was raised overseas and is culturally Japanese.
But nobody asks him what his race is when he steps onto a stage. They make their assumptions just by looking at him - and that's what he counts on as a comedian.
"Race is the first barrier to understanding our similarities," said the Emmy Award-winning director. "Multiethnic and multiracial comedians can challenge our language and stereotypes. They break our biases apart in ways we can understand - and then make light of it."
Compound interest
Multiracial comedians may have a comic edge, but humor can be very parochial; people need to know what to expect in order to be comfortable. For that reason, comedy houses often balk at booking multiracial comics.
"If you look black, for example, it's easier to make jokes about being black," said Arboleda, who lives in Massachusetts. "But if you don't look stereotypically black, then it's more difficult to cross the line."
"Crossing the Line" interviews Rain Pryor, Richard Pryor's African-American Jewish daughter, and Mark Yaffee, who was raised by a Mexican mother and an Irish father. As an adult, Yaffee met his birth mother, a Navajo. He jokingly refers to himself as a "Mexi-jo" or an "adopt-a-jo."
"I try to explain myself straight out of the box," said Yaffee. "People are confused. Mexicans think I'm Indian. A lot of Indians think I'm Asian. Cops think I'm a suspect."
Talking points
Arboleda's work was prominent in the powerful exhibit, "Race: Are We So Different?" which showed in Detroit in 2007.
"We hope that the documentary will open up a discussion about what is appropriate and inappropriate about how we talk about others," he said.
It also points out the futility of trying to pin down race.
"I was standing in the supermarket once when this guy came up to me," said Arboleda. "He said, 'Hey you! Take your pita bread and your hummus and go back to Mexico!' "
Go ahead and laugh. That's so wrong, it's funny.
Contact Desiree Cooper at dcooper(at)freepress.com. |
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