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The Lived-In Comedian

When a Comedian Blurs the Lines Between Reality and the Joke

By Matthew BeckerPublished 5 years ago 6 min read
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In order to discuss the lived-in comedian I must first explain the term. Of course it's a brand new term. I tried searching for something that would explain the idea I'm trying to examine, yet there's nothing that quite fits the bill, so I decided to call these performers "lived-in." When I discuss the "lived-in" comedian, I am describing a person who performs comedy (or making something that is perceived as comedy) and yet when not performing, they still seem to remain in their roles. The most famous lived-in comedian is Andy Kaufman, who spent much of his career confusing the masses. Interviews that might begin candidly, eventually veer far in directions of absurdity. Is this real? Is it a joke? Even to this day some people believe he faked his own untimely death and disappeared far from the public eye.

I first really began to think of this idea when I read Dax Flame's memoir, I'm Just Sitting on a Fence. For those who are unfamiliar with Dax Flame, he made a huge collection of short videos on Youtube over a decade ago. Most of which focus around documenting little fragments of his life. Things pertaining to girls and school. He wrote the memoir long after he finished posting videos on Youtube. It was an incredible work that catalogued his thoughts, travels, and experiences throughout his life. Depending on how you perceive Dax his "memoir" very much ventures into metafiction. I knew his videos must have been a joke, right? Videos where he pepper sprayed his family dinner to "season the food a little" make it clear it's all a very well executed joke that highlights his ability to share a story that is saturated with awkwardness that surely can't be real. However, after reading his memoir, it became less and less clear that it was all a joke. The stuff that made him funny, the awkwardness and general demeanor, carry through the entirety of his book. It's as if his entire life was a put on, totally contrived and premeditated, or each of the stories were just blatant lies that never actually happened. Although a cynic might lean towards these sorts of explanations, I firmly believe that he is (largely) genuine, and the character he portrays is very much a part of his natural self. He is a "lived-in" comedian.

Examining him further, he only gets more enigmatic. Just when you think you know who he really is, your belief switches and you're back to where you started. Bo Burnham, for example, catalogued his own fascination with Dax Flame. "I was one hundred percent positive that it was a complete, complete contrived character... because everything he does - every slip up he makes seems so intentional... but if that's true that means he acts this entire time." Or even Andrew Hale of LAHWF who asks Dax if he's in character. If you don't share the same confusion as us after examining Dax's interviews, videos, and written work then you must not be looking deep enough.

To further explore the idea of a "lived-in" comedian, one must examine a modern day Kaufman. Of course if you're a fan of Kaufman you probably already know I'm thinking of Nathan Fielder of the extremely popular television series Nathan For You. It stars Fielder who acts as an awkward business consultant who helps struggling businesses with often hair brained schemes to bolster their profits. It is scripted (it's too perfect to not be), but seems to still depend on the natural reactions from the people Nathan interacts with. The show has only gotten better over the years from the first episode's poop flavored fro-yo to "Finding Francis," Nathan's feature length episode that documents his search for a Bill Gates impersonator's long lost love.

What impresses me more than the show though is just his ability to remain in character off his show. On talk shows he orchestrates a story to get pulled over by police, or brings Susan Sarandon on Conan as a "back-up guest." His persona is always on, the awkwardness always turned up to ten. I've given up on finding a moment where he slips (this is the only break from character I can find). I've just accepted that what you see is what you get. Even his Instagram is carefully curated and never shows any glimpse of a break in character.

A final "lived-in" comedian that I can even think of is Joe Pera, who hosts his own show called Joe Pera Talks With You, where he talks about Iron, Dominoes, and his favorite song "Baba O'Riley." His own brand of humor is based on what it might be like to be a midwestern septuagenarian stuck in a 30-year-olds body. It's a heartwarming humor that very much focuses on seemingly mundane aspects of life. His affect, posture and delivery are all unique to his character and are brilliantly executed. Of course this isn't a discussion about his character itself, but his refusal (or inability) to break it. He talks with Seth Meyers about his desire to try tropical fruits, and brings his co-star, Gene Kelly on to the stage. Gene luckily enough is the cameraman for Seth's show, so he emerged from behind his camera to join them. It's hysterical, and Joe never breaks his character during the entire interview. Much like Nathan he has an Instagram that is curated and shares daily images of tomatoes.

Now, for all I know each of these men are their characters, never fully exiting and living outside of the persons they play for an audience. Dax has his movie rolls, but still portrays his character. Nathan and Joe follow suit and remain largely in their characters. It seems that at the end of the day all of these men found humor in their own personalities and merely amplified it to build the humor. This isn't a very fun way of looking at it though. Believing that they created these roles to live in is much more interesting, and fun to try to catch the moments where they slip out of it. It's not about a matter of sincerity though when they refuse to exit their roles to be candid with their fans. It seems that they are dedicated to the joke and much prefer to entertain even when not obligated to do so. It's hard not to appreciate their commitment to remaining in their performative roles, and it really is impressive that they could even maintain appearances outside of their roles. Perhaps on the fateful day that I meet Joe, I'll get to the bottom of his "lived-in" role.

comedy
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