On comedy, drugs, and Jews (Via Amusing Jews)

I had the privilege of appearing on the Amusing Jews podcast, hosted by Jonathan Friedmann and Joseph Angel-Field (produced by Mike Tomren). The conversation was about my book Can We Laugh at That? Comedy in a Conflicted Age and it has to recommend it a rather long digression on the relation between drug addiction and the arts.

“What drug is Berlinerblau on?” is a question you might ask given that my face is positioned about 2 millimeters from the screen during the discussion and I occasionally look like I’m going to stroke out. But, I assure you, I’m simply high on life and the many questions it raises about comedy that crosses the line.

Some of the issues we cover:

• Classical musicians do beta blockers, fusion jazz drummers do cocaine

• Being like Lenny Bruce is a very dangerous proposition for today’s comedians

• Why comedians may be well-advised to occasionally self-censor

• Insofar as James Madison wasn’t on Instagram, perhaps we should rethink the First Amendment

• What does secular Judaism bring to a discussion about controversial comedy?

I thank J and J for having me on. I was a fun and wide-ranging discussion.