I keep shaking my head when I hear comedians lamenting the idea of political correctness. They are worried about being cancelled for coming up with a joke that is not politically correct. Note also that political correctness comes from a spot of authority and that these comedians are punching up whenever they lambaste political correctness. So they can punch up if they want to.
Punching down has been done for millennia and is rarely novel or even nice. Punching down is something someone who fancies himself as a wit would do. Not only that but this method of comedy has basically been mined out. Jokes like this are just minor variations on the same old themes. I don’t know why some comedians see this as a now forbidden gold mine for jokes.
So how do these comedians punch up? Political cartoons have been anti authority for many years. Some of it is indeed punching down. But the majority is anti politician, or those who have real power, and is punching up.
Chris Rock does a wonderful job of punching up when he takes on the old “There’s just a few bad apples in policing” line. He basically says we don’t tolerate a few bad apples in piloting airplanes. You can view the original video here. That’s an excellent example of punching up and being funny while doing it. Punching up may have just as much comedy gold as punching down ever did.
Plus you can also try to punch sideways and maybe get some of your peers. Warning, they may try to get you back. That’s the thing about your peers.
And what about comedy where no one is punched. Uranus may be tired of being the butt of all jokes about the solar system, but really, Uranus could care less and will continue to function just the same as always.
