Comedy Scholar Beck Krefting

I Like a Good Fart Joke

Beck Krefting is a former stand-up comedian and the author of All Joking Aside: American Humor and Its Discontents. She is also a scholar at Skidmore College whose research interests include humor and laughter; she is currently working on a book about preppers/survivalists. Before participating in the Zócalo/UCLA panel “Has Political Correctness Really Killed Humor?”, she talked in the Zócalo green room about the offensive comedy she enjoys—and the comedy that truly offends her.

Q:

What’s your favorite plant or flower?


A:

I really like succulents, just as a group, as a species. They’re fun, and I can’t keep them alive, which is distressing because it should be easy.


Q:

What sound do you find most annoying?


A:

When you eat fried chicken and there’s grease on your fingers and you wipe it on a napkin—that squeaky sound. Ohhh it is awful, goosebumps, the whole nine yards. Nails on a chalkboard, fine. Grease on napkins, no.


Q:

What do teaching a college class and doing a stand-up show have in common?


A:

Well they’re both a performance. Actually they’re the same thing. I’m more prepared for college, for a classroom, than I ever was on stage.


Q:

Beach or mountains?


A:

Beach.


Q:

What’s your favorite cliché?


A:

A bird in the hand, because I have to remind myself that all the time, because I keep going out foraging, even when I have what I need.


Q:

How do you like your steak?


A:

If I’m eating it, medium rare. If I’m sharing it with my wife, it’s got to be medium.


Q:

What was the most offensive routine you came across while researching All Joking Aside?


A:

I find Sam Kinison pretty offensive at times. I also had to watch some Andrew Dice Clay, which was not highly enjoyable. I like some offensive comedy. I like comedy that is offensive when it comes to bodily fluids. I like a good fart joke just like the next guy. But I don’t prefer racism or bigotry writ large, so when I saw that, that was always distressing.


Q:

What’s your least favorite household chore?


A:

Vacuuming. That’s why I don’t do it. I cook instead.


Q:

What cheese best describes you?


A:

Stilton. Durable, a little stinky.


*Photo by Aaron Salcido.