It’s Time for Comedians to Start Dressing Better
Recently, I went to a taping of Ward Anderson’s comedy special. Full-disclosure: aside from being a stand-up, and the host of a daily talk radio show, Ward is also the co-host of the Sharp Radio Show on SiriusXM. I’d like to think it’s that last gig that means the most to him. But, it could be the comedy thing. Either way, I was there to support him. If only supporting friends was always so funny. I rarely find helping someone move to be all that hilarious, for example.
Ward killed, of course. But, maybe more importantly, he looked good while he did it. A simple, checked blazer over a grey shirt, with slim-fitting jeans and dress shoes that were on point. It made me realize: it’s high time we expect comedians to dress better. Sorry, Louis C.K., it’s time to ditch the black shirt and baggy jeans. Making people laugh is serious business, after all. Why not look like it?
Putting aside the fact that Louis’s Regular Guy attire can seem a tad disingenuous — since, as one of the most popular comedians of the moment, he definitely earns enough to buy better clothes (or pay someone else to do it for him) — there’s history to think about.
Perhaps more than any other art form, stand-up comedy, and the brave, damaged practitioners of the craft, are the voice of today’s culture, of our generation. Sure, a lot of people read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. But I’d argue that Larry Wilmore, Aziz Ansari, W. Kamau Bell, and, despite not putting out any specials recently, Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle have taught more people about the complexities of race in America than any MacArthur-grant-winning writer.
The goal shouldn’t be to survive history, it should be to transcend it.
We look to comedians to help us make sense, and laugh at, the world. More than novelists, or musicians, or politicians. And while we need comedians to help us cope with the angst of Right Now, good comedy transcends time. It’s why people are still listening to George Carlin or Richard Pryor. Good style is the same way: it exists beyond the decade in which it was born. And so, they should go together, shouldn’t they? If we’re looking to stand ups to represent who we are now, why not expect them to dress accordingly?
Granted, one could argue that a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans won’t age particularly badly — its simplicity is relatively faultless. But, the goal shouldn’t be to survive history, it should be to transcend it. The focus will, and should, always be on the material first and foremost, but good, classic style helps by not distracting from it.
Think of Eddie Murphy’s two big comedy specials: it’s hard to know which has aged worse, the homophobic material or the leather jumpsuits. Then, look at Chris Rock: sure, his suits are still leather — which was never a solid style choice — but he still looks as sharp as his material. Ditto Richard Pryor, or Jerry Seinfeld, who despite dressing like your father in his off-hours, always wears a nice suit for his stand-up.
And there are young comedians out there who seem to realize this. They’ve moved beyond the hoodies and jeans of their comedy-club beginnings and actually consider how they present themselves, and therefore how they’ll be seen in the future. John Mulaney, whose Netflix special was one of the best sets in recent memory, looks like he stepped out of the pages of our magazine (which, actually, he once did). And Aziz Ansari looked dapper as hell when he sold out Madison Square Garden. They are killing it, both in comedy and in style.
