"Worst year EVER" is missing the point
Hella Immaculate is thoughts and FEELINGS, hyper-specific playlists, and little actions to improve the world, from comedian Dave Maher.
R.I.P.
Chadwick Boseman died (R.I.P. to a true icon), and people decided it was time to break out their best “UUUGGGGGhGHHHHhhh, could 2020 GET ANY WORSE?” all over social media.
I’m done with this way of framing bad news. And before I go on, let me say I don’t actually blame anyone for the way they express grief. We’re all just trying our best, and my problem is with the “worst year EVER!” mindset, not any individual person.
But here’s why I hate the mindset.
It’s unoriginal. People say it like clockwork every year since 2016 (hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm). Is every single year worse than the year before it? I mean, maybe, but say it differently!
It’s not specific. Using individual instances of tragedy, brutality, mediocrity, and corruption to proclaim a whole year ruined takes focus off the actual issues. Isn’t it better to watch Chadwick Boseman’s movies, contemplate what made him an artist of such integrity, and learn how to emulate him than to bellyache about a period of time?
It’s missing the point. This is the big one for me. By blaming or shifting focus to the year as the thing that sucks, we’re ignoring the ways in which life just kinda sucks. To me, the “worst year ever” mindset betrays an inability to truly face difficulty. Instead, we memeify it. I just wish people would respond to celebrity deaths on social media by posting, “I feel an inexplicable pain, and I choose to experience that pain unfiltered before attempting to translate it into words.” Is it too much to ask that everyone on Twitter type like they’re at therapy?
It’s short-sighted. Is 2020 the worst year ever? Who knows what horrors await in 2021!
This Is “This Is Your Afterlife”
Here’s a taste of this week’s episode of my podcast, This Is Your Afterlife.
From Gary Richardson (Episode 6), a brief clip:
Wamp Wamp (What to Do)
Watch a live reading of my sitcom pilot on Saturday, September 12 at 2pm PDT/4pm CDT/5pm EDT. My buddy Daniel Strauss (Second City Mainstage alum) and I wrote the first episode of a show called FriendCon. It’s about washed up influencers in their mid-20s putting together a reunion tour, based on Netflix’s absurd docuseries “Chasing Cameron”. We’ve got a bunch of talented friends you’ll recognize from TV and NY/LA/Chicago comedy reading the roles, and it’d be great to have an audience laughing along. It should be a nice breath of air in quarantine, and you can register to attend here.
Celebrate Fred Hampton’s birthday (August 30) by watching and reading his speeches. You might know he was killed by FBI and police at 21 because of his ability to unite people of wildly different backgrounds. But did you know he was funny? The videos are quick, but if you take the time to read that speech, you’ll see:
They can sell a one-legged man probably 24 tickets in a asskicking contest…
Fist pump. Last week, we raised a total of $150 for Brown Books & Paint Brushes (CashApp: $BBandP). I think it would be great if we donated together every week. Here’s how: 1) I’ll post how much I donate to an organization I think is doing good work. 2) You decide if you want to match me, beat me, or donate what you can. 3) Respond to the newsletter with the amount you donated. 4) I’ll post our collective donations in the next week’s newsletter. With that in mind…
Donate to Hurricane Laura Relief, organized by the Mutual Aid Response Network. They’re a branch of Imagine Water Works, a BIPOC & Trans-led org in Louisiana integrating science, history, identity, and art into their work on climate justice, water management, and disaster readiness and response. I donated $25! Reply with what you donate, and I’ll post our total next week.
May I Play You a Sound?
A full mix can feel like a big investment, so I’ve decided to revamp the music section of Hella Immaculate. I’m just gonna share good music in whatever form it comes each week.
This week it’s a single song, “Black Family,” by clarinetist/composer/free-jazz visionary Angel Bat Dawid. Her album The Oracle has loomed large for me in quarantine. She recorded the whole thing herself, on her iPhone. It sounds appropriately isolated but also collective, rooted in spirit and a connection to ancestors. More than anything, it’s just fucking out-there. “Black Family” is the song that leveled me on a recent walk. That bass line is fucking NASTY, gurgling up from the deepest depths. And then she weaves over it winding clarinet runs and pitched-up vocals to disorienting effect.
So yeah, it’s not pop. But if you wanna sit back and be transported for 6 minutes, I recommend it!
And if you order the record on Bandcamp this Friday, Angel will get 100% of the proceeds.
‘Til next week!
DM
Yo, thanks so much for reading! Hella Immaculate is a free newsletter, and I bust my ass to make it great. I’m a DIY operation, which means we’re in this together. If you love and believe in my work, please consider supporting me, so I can keep dedicating my life to it. I believe direct support for the artists we love is the way past celebrity, blandness, and corporate control and into a future where there’s an abundance of vital and varied art. Here’s how you can support me.
Come to a show! My live shows are the ultimate manifestation of my whole thing.
Take a class, workshop, or hire me for private coaching.
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Who is Dave Maher?
I’m a writer/performer and comedian who creates one-man shows that combine standup, theater, improvisation, storytelling, and performance art. I also teach, act, and do voiceover. I've appeared on/at/with This American Life, the Edinburgh Fringe, Steppenwolf Theatre, the Annoyance Theatre, and the Neo-Futurists, and I used to write for Pitchfork.