Comedian Lou Perez doesn’t deny Cancel Culture’s existence like some of his peers.
Perez, part of the Comedy Is Murder sketch series, understands the cultural forces at play. He just refuses to be bowed by them. And he’s been defying the woke mob for some time, including previous work with We The Internet TV.
“I continue to put stuff out there. And I’m sometimes surprised that it’s not making more people angry … or more people are really enjoying it and passing it around and sharing it,” Perez told The Hollywood in Toto Podcast. “And I think that says a lot.”
Perez isn’t waiting for “Saturday Night Live” or Netflix to knock on his door. He takes comedy matters into his own hands, employing what he calls a DIY approach to humor.
“I could never sit back and wait for somebody to create the perfect role for me or write the perfect part,” Perez said. Now, he’s got a partner in crime with Free the People, a group dedicated to expanding personal liberty.
“It’s been this kind of perfect marriage of me being able to bring my comics sensibilities, and them bringing this incredible production value to the work that they do,” he said.
Consider the group’s slick riff on Apple’s “Mother Nature” video where the mega-company boasts about its green agenda. Perez and co. cleverly edited in their satirical two cents, hammering Apple for its reliance on child labor.
Next up on the Comedy Is Murder series? An “X-Files” parody set to debut early in 2024.
Perez’s self-described DIY style is becoming the norm, thanks to YouTube, Rumble, Patreon and crowdfunding sites that allow indie creators to work outside the system.
“Instead of waiting for the gatekeepers at the networks or streaming services or in Hollywood to tell you, ‘Okay, you’re allowed to make this,’ you just gotta go out and you got to do it,” he said. “And a big part of that is reaching out and growing your own audience and establishing relationships with them where they know that they’re supporting you.”
Last year, Perez wrote “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy.” The tome let him evaluate his personal journey in the comedy trenches, giving him a fresh perspective on his life and career.
“Through the good times and the bad, comedy has always been there for me. So, for me, it was sort of like reigniting a spark. And it gave me the chance to remember why it is that I do what I do,” he said, adding a joke he originally shared in the book. “I’ve sort of made myself unemployable in any other field other than comedy, you know there’s the business component to it, and I need to pay the bills.”
THAT JOKE ISN’T FUNNY ANYMORE audiobook is now available!
Narrated by me, Lou Perez.https://t.co/9KimtG28yj
— Lou Perez (@TheLouPerez) October 18, 2022
Perez takes more risks than most comedians, and that won’t be changing in 2024. He still has moments where he wants to make sure what he’s posting on social media won’t get him in trouble.
He sometimes asks for a second opinion from fellow comedians on a joke he’s considering for X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“They always tell me to tweet it,” he said. “In a way, maybe that’s me shirking my responsibility on to the worst people in my life telling me that, ‘yeah, go for it,’” he said. “If I am touching on something that might be controversial, my hope is that one, it’s funny, and that there’s an original take there.”
Hear Perez’s surprising debate with liberal comedian Michael Ian Black on woke comedy and more on the full Hollywood in Toto Podcast episode.
The post Meet the Comedian Who Shamed Apple to the Core appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.