Jessica Williams Thinks Of ‘The Bo Burnhams of The World' As Modern Philosophers
Jessica Williams: HBO Max series Love Life
Williams sat down with Interview Magazine recently to discuss where she gets the inspiration for her comedy from, explaining that most of it comes from her grandmother, a woman who, as Williams put it, "the second type" of grandma: "The ones who drink beer and smoke cigarettes and have a hearty laugh. They don't cook shit, and they swear...She had a really good, twisted sense of humor."
Having grown up with those influences in her life, Williams knows better than to think of comedians as just silly joke-tellers there to make us laugh - as anyone who saw Bo Burnham's Inside this year knows, that's definitely not what modern comedy is trying to do. At least, that's not ALL it's trying to do.
It seems counter-intuitive, to think comedians might not be there to make us laugh first and foremost, but as an accomplished comedian herself, Williams has some thoughts on that:
"I think people think of comedians as thinkers now. I know I do. The Bo Burnhams of the world, people like that, we think of them as people who shine a light on different aspects of society. Like, 'have you thought about this?'"
There actually is a word for those kinds of thinkers, and in more ancient times (think Greece and Rome), they were some of the most respected people in their communities: They were called philosophers.
The definition of philosophy (according to Oxford) is "the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline."
Okay, so specials on Netflix aren't exactly an academic discipline, but we still think Williams is definitely onto something here. In a world where we're always go go go, there's very little time to slow down and think about the nature of existence or what's weird about the way we're living - but comedians have a knack for pointing that exact thing out.
Most comedy is funny because it's relatable, and it's relatable because the comedians are paying attention; they're seeing what's so-off-it's-funny about life in general: Bo Burnham sees the good and bad in our addiction to the internet, he sees the irony in being told the world works perfectly as a child, then growing up to find it's not true. Hannah Gadsby sees both what's nonsensical and what's beautiful about the way her autistic mind works.
By posing and explaining these topics to others - especially the ones that are normally uncomfortable or taboo to discuss - comedians ask us to take a closer look at some aspects of life that we take for granted or don't think about, and show us something new about them by first disarming us with laughter. People don't want to be told how to think, but they don't mind being shown, especially when you're also entertaining them.
So good on ya, Jessica Williams, for recognizing the importance of comedy in society, and pointing out how smart comedians are. We'll bet your Grandma would be proud.
You can catch Williams work her own comedy magic on Love Life on HBO Max. Read her full interview here.
