"If you can laugh with someone about your differences," he reasons, "how can you harbor a prejudice or a bias against them?" If the program succeeds at anything, Johnson said in a phone interview from Los Angeles, it will be to make people more comfortable around others with disabilities. Others throw some real stinkers _ just like able-bodied comics do. Some exploit it better than others (Fonseca, in particular, has mastered using his speech pattern to nail punch lines). Viewers hoping for wholesome, generic stand-up won't find it in Look Who's Laughing, and that's what makes it so entertaining. "Why was it aged for eight years if it's not going to last two weeks in my refrigerator?" But the young comic avoids preaching and quickly moves on to Seinfeld-esque observational jokes: "I've got a problem with cheese," he barks. In fact, his funniest bits poke fun at the accident that caused his paralysis.īrett Leake, who has muscular dystrophy, may spend a few minutes of each routine noting his awkward stance. England uses a wheelchair but doesn't let it constrict his humor. Yet she's also just as likely to ridicule her chest size and dating drought, problems she shares with hearing and non-hearing friends. She's hearing impaired and likes to educate while she depreciates. What emerges is an honest and honestly funny explanation of why the comedians do what they do. Ditto for an advocate for the disabled on the other side of the political fence, Kansas Sen. So did Rainman star Dustin Hoffman, through his charitable foundation. Then the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS signed on. The standard response: Thanks but no thanks. He shopped his comedy-documentary idea around futilely to every network, cable and non-government funding agency he could find. Watching comedians like Fonseca scratch the surface of acceptance on programs like the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Johnson saw a story behind their delayed punch lines. She's fond of saying her hair is the only part of her body she can control.) (Jewell, who once starred on TV's Facts of Life, has cerebral palsy. The premise is simple: Comedy should transcend racial, ethnic and physical boundaries _ whether it's Jerry Seinfeld ranting about Superman, or Geri Jewell complaining about a bad haircut.
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