In
Podgorica, these days, in the framework of the event "Podgorica Cultural
Summer" was held the first stand-up comedy festival "Instatnt Ex YU."
For all those who do not know, stand-up comedy is a form of drama performances
which is characterized by direct contact with the audience. What is also
typical of stand-up comedy is that comedians themselves devise, directed and
say the lines. It is usually performed in clubs, theaters and different
festivals.
Since
"Podgorica Cultural Summer" is announced as an event, which I quote,
"provides pleasant spiritual moments" accidentally I decided to
spiritually enrich myself and visit the festival. Site of event - Castle
Petrovic in Krusevac. At the beginning everything looked promising, so, even
exciting. Attendance by the Podgorica audience at an enviable level, there were
no vacancies. Because, as the old saying goes, "If it’s free
and God is pleased," so it seems that in these times when money lacks we
rush towards everything that is free and at hand. What was particularly interesting
is that the audience was mostly made of young people. Yes, it seems that they
shortly logged out of their facebook and twitter profile and decided to, as I
did, spiritually enrich their life. The first festival evening performances were
comedians from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatian. Motley crew, once
again looked promising, but...
After
a few spoken sentences, in which the majority of the audience reacted with
laughter, I wasn’t giving any reaction. I
thought - okay, maybe I did not get what's the deal. Joke after joke continues,
the audience now with a smile treated comedians with applause. I still do not
react. More specifically I reacted to, but instead of laughter I feel uneasy.
"Transfer of shame", as we young people today call that discomfort,
has expanded to me. I get it that there is nothing comical to me in
"jokes" who is who and who is what in the Balkans, as well as various
sexist "jokes". But I notice that the others found it very, very
funny. I guess it's the "healthy" humor that appeals to the body.
Because of the huge amounts of that "transfer of shame" I left that
first night of the festival before the end and remained culturally not
spiritualized.
The
following night, I went again to the cultural uplift. But the same target and
the same distance. With that, next to the jokes from yesterday, this evening sexist
quips were far ahead. Why women are poorer than men in traffic? Why don’t they
perform the same job in the same way as men? Why women are more complicated
than men are just some of the questions to which stand-up comedians gave
"comical" answers, thus showing clear position of women in these
areas. And the audience? Audience laughs and applauds as much as possible. And
that night, I went early and was left without spiritualized feeling.
I
tried to understand what in these "jokes" was really comical. Do we
really need such humor after the events that took place at the end of last
century? Humor in which we elevate ourselves and our own, and everybody else’s
is smirked upon and exposed to ridicule. Do we really, as a society, which is
located in the transitional period, the society rushing towards
"democratization and Europeanization" (as many non-governmental
organizations have named it) ready to forget all the divisions and draw a
lesson from it? And most importantly, will our stereotypes, sexism, nationalism
and prejudice in the "healthy humor" get rid of all those divisions
to Serbs, Montenegrins, Muslims, Croats, Gypsies, Chetniks, the Ustasha, women
and gay?
One
evening I was walking through Podgorica. At the Roman Square behind the
building Vektra a group of boys, no older than ten to twelve years, yelled from
the top of their lungs, "Kill, kill, kill, kill Gypsies". I turned
around and look that the "outcry" intended for a boy their age, Roma
child, which was passing by. I get it we would have to change, among other
things, the meaning of "healthy humor" if we plan for our summers and
all other seasons in Podgorica, to provide truly" enjoyable spiritual moments."
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