Smart Comedians

When I was young, I never thought that comedians are smart people. Well, if they are smart, they would do rocket science, right? Or so I thought. This was going on for a while until I saw Robin Williams. But it has to go through some processes before I realized that. I was too young and my English at that time was barely enough to understand English jokes. I lived and am still living in Bandung, Indonesia.

Fast forward. While doing my Master’s degree (and then PhD) in Canada, I watched a lot of TV shows. (That is how I found and fell in love with David Letterman shows. That is how I learned about western culture. But, that’s another story.) I was immersed with the (Western) culture. I understood the jokes. Then, I understood more about Robin Williams. He is smart. I think if his comedian’s career did not pan out, he would have been a Quantum Physics professor. That’s in my opinion how smart he is.

A few minutes ago, I have just watched David Letterman’s show — My Next Guest Needs No Introduction — with Dave Chappelle as his guest. Man, that was a great episode. I was aiming at jokes, but ended up listening to heavy discussion. These guys are smart people. This proves, again, that there are smart comedians. That’s a validation for me. I need to become a comedian.