Comedy is subjective

How subjective?  Here's an example: 

In the early ‘70s I was a Top 40 DJ.  I was Beaver Cleaver (I wanted a name that was memorable and amusing).  My whole act was entertaining and filling my show with comic content.  One liners, crazy voices, outrageous stunts, goofing with callers on the air, making fun of the records, etc. 

All too often my program directors would say “SHUT UP! Just play the damn music.  Stop trying to be funny.  YOU’RE NOT FUNNY!”  (For the record, I thought I was funny… at least sometimes.)  

Eventually I got out of radio and became a TV comedy writer.  Very wise move on my part, wouldn't you say?

Now flash-forward to 1977.  I’m the co-head writer of MASH (along with David Isaacs) and for fun, I’m on the air on TEN-Q, Los Angeles every Saturday night spinning the hits.  

Because I was now a respected TV comedy writer, I was getting huge love from the radio industry.  It helped certainly to be on a happening station in the number two market in the country, but I was finally getting my due.   Radio folk couldn’t stop talking about how fresh and original and funny I was.  

That was very nice to hear.  But here’s the thing:

I was doing the exact same crap I did when program directors told me I sucked.  And now they were taking credit for “discovering” me.

It’s all perception, and like I’ve always said, the only way I ever got respect in radio was to get out it.   Comedy is subjective.

TANGENT: This reminds me of a story Larry Gelbart told.  When he was still a teenager he did a screen-test for director, George Cukor.  He wasn’t very good and didn’t get the role.  At a party years later Larry told him that story and Cukor's response was: “Well, why didn’t you tell me who you were going to become? 

from By Ken Levine