Last Laughs

I guess it's fair to say that the people over at the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal don't mind a little controversy. After this month's hearing about Maclean's magazine, I thought the tribunal might lie low for a while. There's been a lot of fallout from the blogosphere and the mainstream press, with writers saying that a human rights tribunal has no right to tell anyone what to think, say, or write.

I misjudged the tribunal. They are so convinced of their authority, that they've quickly come up with another way to silence people. In this case, it's stand-up comedians.

Two days ago, the tribunal released a document saying that they will hear the case of a lesbian woman who was insulted during a comedian's act in Vancouver. The comic is Guy Earle of Toronto, and he says that the women were heckling him, so he heckled them right back. He admits that it got heated, and that he was rude, but he says he's not a bigot.

Anyone who's been to a comedy nightclub knows that it's never a good idea to take on a professional comic. They win every time. Or at least they used to.

The complainant's name is Lorna Pardy. She says that Earle used homophobic and sexist language towards her and her friends. She was offended by these remarks, and filed a complaint with the tribunal, who then agreed to hear the case. As with all human rights hearings, the complainant doesn't have to hire a lawyer, nor do they even have to show up for the proceeding. Their job is pretty much done. It's now up to Earle and the restaurant owner to prove they aren't bigots.

I'm not sure I even recognize Canada much these days. Inside of a month, a psuedo-court of unelected officials has put the fear of litigation into the minds of all writers and now all comedians.

It cannot be said enough that the outcomes of these cases is irrelevant. In a year's time, Guy Earle may be found innocent of thought-crimes by this psuedo-court. That isn't the point. What matters is that a nugget of fear will now be placed into the heads of stage performers who may decide that the gags they've written aren't worth the price of a lawyer and being smeared as a bigot.

Money matters to everybody, but it matters to comics more than most. I've worked with and befriended dozens of comics over the years. Only big name comedians make money, while the rest work the Yuk Yuk's circuit and live in motels. Unless they're getting regular TV work, comics have a meager existence, hoping the gas prices don't spike on their way to Regina. Many may decide that they simply can't afford to "go there" in the humorous sense. They'll start to censor themselves, watering down their work and boring their audiences.

Note that the comedy club itself was also named as a respondent to the complaint. Though the restaurant in the Pardy case has gone out of business, the owner himself is accused of promoting bigotry. This is extremely important: you may think that Earle will ride this controversy to new fame, and you may be right. But will other restaurants and comedy clubs take a chance on future young performers whom they've heard are "outrageous" or "mean?" These clubs may figure that being investigated for crimes against humanity isn't worth it, and tell their comedians to tone it down.

Why are we, as Canadians, allowing this to be done to us? We didn't elect any of these people. None of them ran for office, and yet they feel fit to speak for us all when they muzzle writers and gag comedians. Is this what we now stand for? Proud Canada, my ass. We're sheep, beholden to people that buy their SUVs with the taxpayers' money, while telling those same taxpayers to shut up.

George Carlin, a brilliant comedian, died this week. He rose to fame after he canned the suit-and-tie act, put on a t-shirt, and started railing about the "seven dirty words you can't say on television." Old news. Give the commissions time, and it will be the "seven sacred subjects you can't speak about anywhere."