Not So Musical Monday: Red State Blue State
Spoiler warning: The below contains spoilers from Colin Quinn’s Red State Blue State. Be advised.
Painting with the broadest of brushes, I think comedy works in one of two ways. Either you laugh because something is relatable or you laugh because something subverts expectations. The former is why so much of comedy can be so subjective to the lived experience of a person or perhaps be loved by certain demographics and met with a general indifference by others. The latter is why I am usually annoyed with most political humor—unless it is something incredibly unique than I’ve heard it before, it feels tired. Refreshing takes are always welcome, but even political humor when I agree with the underlying point often annoys me. It was with this known bias that I went to see Colin Quinn’s Off-Broadway political show Red State Blue State.
The premise of Mr. Quinn’s show is that he will be taking both sides to task—red state conservatives and blue state liberals. That is true—he did make jokes about what he argued was the left’s hatred of free speech. He also made jokes about Donald Trump being the furthest thing that has ever walked the earth from a Christian yet being loved by Christians. Some of the jokes he made were genuinely funny—he told us that the problem with equality is that the guy at work who taps you on one shoulder only to move behind the other one gets a vote the same as everyone else. He also made a joke that hit close to home that he calls North Carolina and South Carolina “the Carolinas” because he knows it makes people from North Carolina mad. There were definite funny moments. I also appreciated that his Donald Trump impression didn’t focus on trying to hit the voice of Donald Trump exactly, which has been done by approximately every comedian in the world, but rather just did talk in a rambling nonsensical way. It was a fun approach to it.
The downside to the comedy is what I was expecting coming into the show. Complaining you can’t make jokes about whatever you want any longer is a weak take that is almost always a lazy take. I am a firm believer that anything can be joked about—the issue is whether or not the joke is actually funny. Being lazy in making racist or sexist jokes doesn’t make society worse when people don’t laugh. I want to say that this isn’t the point Mr. Quinn made. He is a much more intelligent comedian than that lazy take, but I think even his more nuanced point that racism hasn’t ended because we ended ethnic humor wasn’t one of his strongest points. Other points about the differences between conservatives and liberals were intelligent takes on points, but very few of the jokes felt like they were new in anyway.
Overall, I do think Mr. Quinn is intelligent, and that will make a lot of people enjoy his take. It does feel novel that the comedian attempts to take on everyone. He peppers the performance with some clever jokes and different takes than are often heard in this realm, but ultimately, it is another take on the current state of our country and politics. With the absolute abundance of political commentary, humor, satire, and other options to consume, it is difficult to find a take that feels completely fresh. I’ll give Mr. Quinn credit—he at least gives it a try.