Choosing Less, Getting More
10 Reasons I Work Clean (Comedy Mindhacks #112)
Earlier today, I was scrolling through Facebook when a post in a comedy group popped up, taking the view that clean comedy is an affront to the art form. Within minutes, the comments filled up. Some people argued clean comedy is harder. Others took the opposite view. The original post suggested that comedians who only work clean do so because they’re trying to appeal to corporations. This conversation, of course, has been around for years.
What’s interesting is that most people frame the conversation around restrictions, limitations, and boundaries. That’s never been how I’ve experienced it. I’ve never spent much time thinking about what I can’t say and I’ve certainly never thought of limiting another comedian’s speech. Most of my attention has gone toward figuring out what I actually want to say and how to say it better. That distinction may sound small, but I think it’s key because it shows high regard for the art (and science) of comedy; it is, in other words, a creative choice. That said, here are ten reasons I work clean.
It Aligns With My Faith: First and foremost, I’m a Christian. That reality affects far more than what I do on Sunday mornings. It shapes how I think about people, relationships, truth, responsibility, and pretty much everything. Because of that, I’ve never wanted a version of myself on stage that is disconnected from the person I am everywhere else. If my comedy requires me to become somebody different than who I actually am, something feels out of alignment. I don’t want to step out of who I am in Christ to be someone else. Now, that doesn’t mean every set turns into a sermon or that every joke needs a spiritual lesson attached to it or that I give altar calls at the end of my shows. That’s not the case at all. It simply means I care about consistency in my life. I want the person holding the microphone to resemble the person my family, friends, students, and church members know. Working clean helps me maintain that connection between belief and behavior.
It Forces Me To Know Who I Am: One of the unexpected benefits of working clean is that it forces identity work. Lots of identity work! When profanity, shock, and taboo topics aren’t carrying the load, the audience is gets left with my perspective, my stories, my observations, and my view of the world. In many ways, they are left with me. That also gives me fewer places to hide. Every comedian eventually faces the challenge of figuring out what makes them unique. Working clean pushed me into that process earlier and more often than I might have chosen otherwise. The result has been a clearer sense of my persona, the various voices I channel, and a better understanding of what I actually bring to the stage.
It Forces Me To Be A Better Writer: Constraints have a funny way of making people more creative. When I can’t rely on shock value to generate a reaction, the writing itself has to do more work. The setup has to be clearer and the punchline has to be stronger. The surprise has to come from the structure of the joke rather than shocking language surrounding it or holding it up. I’ve found that many of my strongest jokes emerged because I had to keep digging. What I mean is: When the easy version wasn’t available, I had to keep writing until I found something better. That process isn’t always fun in the moment, but it has helped me grow. Every constraint removes one path and forces me to discover another.
It Lets The Comedy Speak For Itself: Years after a show, I want people remembering the experience and the joke rather than the language. When audiences talk about my material, I’d rather hear them describe a premise, a twist, a callback, or a surprise. I want them talking about the idea that caught them by surprise. Put differently, I want the comedy itself to carry the weight because the comedy is the thing I’ve spent the most time building.
It Builds A Different Kind Of Audience: One of the biggest lessons comedy has taught me is that not every audience wants the same thing. Some people want edge, controversy, and provocation. Others want something they can share with a spouse, a coworker, or their kids. Many are parents and professionals and are involved in churches or community organizations. They aren’t necessarily looking for safer comedy, just comedy built on a different foundation and comedy that they can often share with their family and friends in good conscience.
It Respects The Audience: When people buy a ticket, attend a show, or spend time reading my work, they’re giving me something valuable, namely, their attention. I don’t take that lightly because attention is one of the most limited resources any of us have. Once it’s gone, I don’t get it back. Respecting an audience doesn’t mean avoiding difficult topics or pretending life is easy; I don’t do that at all. Respecting the audience just means being intentional about how I approach those topics. I want to challenge people with ideas, observations, and stories. I don’t want to rely on shock simply because it’s available.
It Challenges The Stereotype: I’ve written on this site before about how people assume clean comedy is safe, predictable, watered down, or somehow less capable of producing big laughs. I’ve heard every version of that argument at one point or another. The assumption seems to be that if a comedian isn’t using profanity or explicit material, they must also be avoiding risk. I totally disagree. Some of the smartest comedians I’ve ever watched worked clean and left audiences exhausted from laughing. Every time a clean joke lands hard, it reminds me that great comedy isn’t built on vulgarity; instead, it’s built on surprise, tension, emotional truth, and release.
It Ages Better: Comedy is, in many ways, a time capsule. A joke written today might still be floating around ten or twenty years from now or hundreds of years from now. Cultural references change, trends disappear, and some topics simply don’t travel through time very well at all. I think observations about family, human nature, relationships, frustration, embarrassment, and everyday life tend age better because they’re stable across generations. Working clean doesn’t guarantee longevity, of course, but it often pushes me toward subjects that age more gracefully than the newest and most vulgar sexual acts, for instance.
It Reflects The Kind Of Comedy I Want To Create: At some point every comedian has to decide what kind of contribution they want to make the craft and to the world. For me, the older I get, the more that question always seems to linger. I want to build a body of work that reflects what I believe and what I believe comedy could be. My comedy philosophy, which I’ve mentioned on my website many times, is: Laughter > Outrage. I believe people need more opportunities to laugh together than they need reasons to rage and divide into tribes. I also believe comedy can tell the truth without becoming cruel and that’s something our society desperately needs.
It Opens More Doors: Ironically, the reason many people think about first is probably the reason I think about least. People often assume working clean is a sacrifice that closes opportunities. In reality, my experience has largely been the opposite. Because my material can travel, I’ve been able to perform in comedy clubs, churches, colleges, conferences, corporate events, theaters, and at community events without completely rebuilding my act every time. That flexibility has been incredibly valuable. In the same season, I might perform stand-up in a club, emcee a professional event, teach a workshop or class or camp, and speak at a conference. The opportunities are different, but the material remains rooted in the same voice and perspective. Working clean didn’t create those opportunities by itself, but it certainly made more of them possible.
What’s interesting is that this final point only works because the previous nine came first. If I worked clean merely to expand my market, I probably wouldn’t have lasted very long. The opportunities came because my writing has improved, my audience has become clearer (and still is), my identity has become more fine-tuned (still is), and the work has aligned with who I ultimately want to be in life. The practical benefits have shown up as a byproduct of my deeper commitments.
I’ve never held the view that every comedian must or has to work clean. That’s each person’s choice. Some comedians haven’t worked clean, of course, and they’re exceptionally good at what they do. Comedy is a broad and there’s room for essentially an infinite amount of approaches. For me, then, working clean has made me a better writer, forced me to develop a clearer voice, and created opportunities I never expected when I started. Most importantly, it has helped me build a comedy career that feels consistent with the rest of my life. Looking back, I don’t regret that decision for a second.
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