Jokes about her appearance, her deceased father and her intelligence: 232,000 people saw on Monday evening how Famke Louise in her Roast was insulted by comedians and celebrities such as Peter Pannekoek and Maik de Boer. There have never been so few viewers for one Roast like that of Famke Louise. Does the public still like hard jokes and is this black humor still ‘possible’ in 2023?
“Famke wil zo graag zwart zijn dat ze blij is dat haar vader niet meer in haar leven is”, zegt komiek Nesim El Ahmadi. “De vrouw die je een boerka gunt”, zijn de roastende woorden van Pannekoek.
Harde grappen, die volgens cultuurwetenschapper en humoronderzoeker Dick Zijp steeds minder vaak voorkomen. “In de jaren negentig werd harde, soms grensoverschrijdende humor gezien als progressief en baanbrekend. Denk aan komieken als Hans Teeuwen, Youp van ‘t Hek en Theo Maassen. Maar inmiddels is er een groter besef dat niet iedereen hierom kan lachen.”
Sociale media zijn daar een belangrijke oorzaak van, stelt Zijp. “Bepaalde groepen die voorheen minder hoor- en zichtbaar waren, zijn dat door sociale media wel. Mensen kunnen het nu laten weten als ze zich ergens niet in kunnen vinden.”
Dat leidt tot een politiek conflict tussen twee groepen over een cultureel thema. “Aan de ene kant is er een groep die vindt dat humor een vorm van vrijheid van meningsuiting is. Die vrijheid loopt volgens deze mensen gevaar als de andere partij vindt dat een bepaalde grap niet kan, bijvoorbeeld omdat iemand beledigd wordt. Humor is daardoor een onderwerp geworden dat mensen uiteen kan drijven.”
Dat gebeurde bijvoorbeeld toen Guido Weijers tijdens zijn oudejaarsconference van 2022 meerdere grappen maakte over het uiterlijk van prinses Amalia. Er ontstond online een flinke discussie: kan dit eigenlijk wel?
‘The Roast was the least funny night of my life’
Bee The Roast According to Zijp, it is different. Hard jokes are made, but the direct object (in this case Famke Louise) has given permission for this in advance. “So you don’t have to hold back if you don’t want to. You can just go a little further.”
Rayen Panday, one of Famke Louise’s roasters, set his own limits when he co-wrote his Roast with fellow comedian Stefan Pop. “The jokes had to be about things that are generally known about Famke. So an interview, or something from the news. I don’t joke about private matters.”
Stefano Keizers, who was one of Hans Klok’s roasters in 2021, also does not want to go too far. “My most important rule is that a joke should never be at someone else’s expense. Another person shouldn’t experience pain or sadness so that I can make a joke.” He did explore the boundaries in a different way: Keizers appeared stark naked on stage unannounced. “I was immediately blacklisted by Comedy Central.”
Keizers can’t lose any sleep over that. “It was the least funny night of my life. I thought the show was overproduced and the spontaneity was hard to find.” Still, the concept speaks of The Roast the comedian does. “Humor is a good phenomenon to battle in, to play matches with. But then spontaneously: the best humor arises in the moment.”
Unfortunately, this content cannot be displayedWe do not have permission for the necessary cookies. Accept the cookies to view this content.
“If no one laughs, it feels like a punishment”
The Roast is an originally American program. Is more possible in the Netherlands than in the United States, for example? Panday, who has also regularly played abroad, thinks so.
“I notice that the Dutch audience always listens. They calmly watch where things are going. Abroad people think faster: I don’t like this, so I don’t listen. In one of my shows I have a piece about a boy with the Down syndrome. In the Netherlands, that fragment was widely shared, including by people who have a child with Down. Abroad, people already shake their heads when you broach the subject.”
Panday believes that every topic should be negotiable. “With humor comes chafing. I think you should be able to discuss any subject. But the context is important.” Moreover, a joke that is not appreciated never works. “If no one laughs at your joke, it feels like punishment to a comedian.”
“In almost all humor, a moral or social boundary is crossed in some form,” says humor scientist Zijp. “As Godfried Bomans said: the comedian determines how far he can go too far. He always crosses a line. The audience likes that, because you have to provoke. And a good comedian knows how far you can stretch that line.”
