Stand-Up Comedy Scripts Reviewed for Sensitivity

By Lina Huang, Tina Huang, Tucker Gibbs, Ella Brady and Anvi Bhate

Once every term, the Exeter Standup Comedy Club hosts a showcase exhibiting the talents of student comedians. This year, both the club adviser, Japanese Instructor Kyoko Tazawa, and Student Activities Office reviewed scripts prior to the show to avoid insensitive and inappropriate content.

Previously, the club facilitated a “open-mic” event, in which anyone could tell jokes without prior approval. Last year, a student told several inappropriate jokes in the open format, which prompted the Academy to respond with the instatement of a formal review process in the weeks before the show. 

First, the comedians submit their sets to a co-head, Adith Reddi this year, who then passes the scripts on to Tazawa and Assistant Director of Student Activities Kelly McGahie. For difficult decisions, other adults, including Director of Student Activities Joanne Lembo, are sometimes called upon. 

Most scripts come back unchanged. “It’s not an unusual thing, and it’s not something we think is unfair or that we’d rather not happen,” co-head Blake Simpson said. 

For instance, Tazawa and McGahie decided not to include jokes about this year’s presidential election, since the show was set for Nov. 7, four days after the presidential election. “Making jokes about the election, especially so soon after the projections were finalized, may have (1) just been not funny at all and (2) insensitive to anyone (including other comedians!) who may feel threatened or intimidated by the election and Trump or Biden,” co-head Sava Thurber said. 

McGahie also noted that given Exeter’s tumultuous experience of the 2016 election, these jokes would not be appropriate. “In comedy, sometimes a comedian will say a joke, and people won’t laugh. The comedian will respond, ‘too soon?’ As in, give it a year, let people stop marching in the streets, let’s see if we can get COVID-19 under control,” McGahie said. “Then we can maybe make some jokes that right now feel very tender.”

“I understand why some of the political jokes were taken out,” co-head Jack Quinn said. “However, our political commentary comedy is something that’s not really related to anyone here so we’re not making fun of anybody who’s actually going to be listening to our show.”

Jokes pertaining to Dining Services were also edited from a script. “I think [Ms. Tazawa and I] were on the same page [when we removed the] Dining Hall jokes,” McGahie said. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic. These people are working under very difficult circumstances.”

Jokes centered around topics of divorce and cancer were also banned. “Maybe there are kids whose parents are divorced or divorcing, or kids who know someone with cancer. And that could be a traumatic trigger for them,” Tazawa said.

This review process is not unique to Standup Comedy; other student events have been checked for appropriate material before. “It’s part of the normal course of business. DJs don’t get to get up on stage and perform unedited music. Advisers for clubs are expected to manage that, with help available from Student Activities,” McGahie said. “It isn’t about stifling anyone’s creativity; we just want to make sure that it’s appropriate for the audience.”

The Academy also has a “vetting” process for Assembly comedians, according to Assembly Coordinator Alex Myers. Myers described the preparations for comedian Negin Farsad, who had an Assembly in October. “I was familiar with [Farsad’s] presentations at other schools, and I had talked to her agent about the audience and tone I hoped to achieve,” Myers said. “I wanted Negin to talk about ‘difficult conversations’ and the importance of humor in those conversations. I suggested not a formal lecture and not a standup, but something in between, which I think she mostly did.”

Many students are happy with the current review process. “As students, we must reflect the morals of the school,” Thurber said. “[Having] the adults double-check our scripts is the most efficient way to do that.”

Additionally, several students noted that presenting inappropriate material is not the goal of the club. “We’re not really looking to subvert the school’s administration,” co-head and performer Pedro Coelho said. “Our goal is just to make something that’s funny and inviting to all and something that everyone can laugh at.”

“I do think that having a second set of eyes look at a presentation before it is presented in front of the entire school is a good practice no matter what. With that come suggestions like ‘You may not want to say that, or at least in that particular way’ or ‘Maybe don’t bring that up,” Thurber said. “My experience with this and the Standup Comedy Club has been very helpful as it has made me more mindful of how my actions affect others… Sometimes, just like everything else, it is impossible to know everyone’s situation, which is why we find it important to be careful by submitting our scripts to the co-heads and then to an adult. This is because as comedians, making people uncomfortable is the opposite of what we want to do, so avoiding that at all costs is optimal.”