As a best friend and ex SNL Co-starring Chris Rock, a stand-up comedian with plenty of group interaction experiences and former awards show host, David Spade is in a unique position to talk about Will Smith’s slap at the Academy Awards. He defended his friend in the aftermath of the original assault, and now, he’s given some additional, very thoughtful comments about what happened and how much the comedy has changed.
Appearing as a guest in Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson, David Spade was asked for his views on the work of comedy in the era of abolition culture. He said he’s not usually the one who “starts a lot of bullshit” in his situation, but he pointed out guys like Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Bill Burr who really pushed the boundaries. According to him, this was the “real idea” when he first started comedy work. I wanted to “push a little” to make people laugh, but nowadays some people want to tear up comedians if they are offended most of the time “there’s no malice” behind the joke. This is part of his thoughts…
That was really the idea when I walked in. You want to push it a little. You want to make people laugh. You want to hit them with the element of surprise… when people want to come and stop (jokes) and not say “don’t do that” but ruin your life. It’s very hard for me to understand that people want to do this to other people. I know you feel offended. I know you’re hurt, but really taking people down? There’s some thirst for it and it’s hard because people have families and lives. In the world of comedy, you really are in the end, there is no malice behind it. You are just trying to laugh. So if you say something, it doesn’t mean you mean it. You don’t like yelling “That’s what I really believe in” protest. Hey, I’m saying this because you don’t think I’d say it. And that’s funny and then we all laugh.
His answer obviously speaks volumes about society and how people and perceptions have changed since he first started doing stand ups in the ’80s, but it also deals with what happened when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars because he didn’t like a joke about his wife either. It came out more broadly and directly during the podcast conversation. Spade said he likes how quiet rock music is about everything, and said he thinks he doesn’t want to talk about it too much in public because he doesn’t want to feel like he’s “annoying someone.”
Of course it wouldn’t be talk of cancellation culture, without Speed pushing the envelope himself and cracking a risky joke, too. While chatting, the actor had long thought that he would really “help” Rock if there was a more famous slapping incident. He singled out the royal family as a possible option…
We were watching Kate Middleton’s Jubilee with the royal family. Her three-year-old, being kind of a penis, makes faces and I thought, “Chris would help a lot if I slapped the baby.” Because on national television that would be a slap that heard around the world and would take her second now. Because he is the one that everyone remembers. Just get this out of the books
As of press time, there haven’t been any other notable slaps to take some of the heat off Chris Rock. The Queen’s Jubilee proceeded without any major hitches, or at least any notable violence between members of the royal family. But fortunately for Rock, the chaos seems to be fading away, and now that Smith has officially apologized, it may slowly fade into just one of a thousand wild Hollywood stories that are referenced over and over again.
[ad_2]
