Keeping Alive the Unspoken Tradition of Southern Fried Sauce
Southerners are unique in many ways and our humor is just one of the many. But between today's popularized "redneck" jokes and the "hush yo' mouth!" of being in the Bible belt traditional Southern bawd has been on a wane of late. This lens is a look at where the Southern style raunchy story telling is right now.
In using the word "bawd" I do not necessarily mean dirty jokes, although the art of joke telling is definitely part of the definition. I am also talking about a real down to earth way of telling stories where the subject matter or language would not work well in front of good church going folk. We have a history of it from Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, to Mark Twain, to Ron White. The genre covers many media. But throughout the media there is one commonthread: A down to earth, often raunchy and worldly language and subject matter.
Our Own Style
How Southerners Differ...
In the Southern tradition jokes are stories, not necessarily just for the purpose of one punchline, but many punchlines are worked in to one story. And traditional Southern story telling is rarely ever a "Catskill Mountains" style one liner, which became popular in the Northeast and is now nationwide. Some of the masters of this style were Buddy Hackett, Rodney Dangerfield, Don Rickles... Great stuff! Very funny, but not traditionally Southern!This tradition finds its way to use from the story telling traditions of the British Isles.
(By the way, that picture is missing Oklahoma. Many Oklahoman humorists are part of this great story telling tradition. I think the artist just ran out of paint.)
Southwestern Humor
The start of the genre...
A popular literary mode of the mid-nineteenth century, Southwestern humor encompasses regional sketches and tales based on the folklore, customs, prejudices, and idiosyncrasies of the Southern states of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri. Ranging from mythic tales to comic portrayals of tricksters, brawlers, drunkards, and other eccentrics, the stories often feature traditionally masculine or bawdy pastimes such as hunting, fishing, gambling, and drinking. Works of Southwestern humor use earthy language and crude physical comedy to emphasize the tension between urban and rural folk, and to ridicule deformity, misfortune, and death. Women, African Americans, and Native Americans are often peripheral characters in these tales. Inspired by the oral history and politics of the frontier, writers of the Southwestern humor school-including Johnson Jones Hooper, Thomas Bangs Thorpe, Joseph G. Baldwin, and George Washington Harris-employed local dialects, irony, and hyperbole to create a distinctive form of literary expression. Commentators assert that Southwestern humor was a direct response to the rising tension between the North and South in the years before the start of the Civil War; in fact, the Southern characters in these stories often mock Yankee manners and hypocrisy. Furthermore, the tales are embellished reports not only of the "masculinity" and physical prowess, but also the resourcefulness, humanity, and vigor of the people of the South.Critics trace the beginning of Southwestern humor to the publication of Augustus Baldwin Longstreet's Georgia Scenes (1835), a collection of humorous sketches that recount the tall tales of the Georgia backwoods. The book is regarded as a landmark in American literary realism and a vital social document. Longstreet was typical of Southwestern humorists: educated and well-bred, politically conservative, socially influential, defensive of slavery, and supportive of the South's eventual secession from the Union. (His picture is to the right of this text).
Gary Dale Gets Offensive!: Lurid Scenes from Bawdville
A Truly Fun Book! NAW-TY AS HAY-EL!
A must read for fans of Southern humor!
- "Gary Dale Gets Offensive!: Lurid Scenes from Bawdville" by Gary Dale Cearley
- Forget rednecks! The hillbillies are home...
Gerrvis and Fannie and all their friends keep Bawdville lively with their low down, cain't stand it no mo' antics. It is a hillbilly heaven!
"This book is worth gettin' just for the cover!" Jarvis Fife - long time resident of Bawdville
Why Jeff Foxworthy Doesn't Always Get it Right
Is it all about being a "Redneck"?
Jeff Foxworthy is a very important Southern comedian right now and he is without a doubt one of the most hilarious guys out there. But at the same time his "You know you are a redneck when..." skits fit much more with the Northeastern one liner than it does with Southern oral tradition."Jeff's a great hybrid style," said Gary Dale Cearley, author of Gary Dale Gets Offensive, "But he's given up a bit, in my opinion, for a broader audience. There's nothing wrong with that, especially if you like Jeff as I do. It just isn't the same as listening to one of the 'real deals' like Jerry Clower."
"Jeff, God bless him, is a comedian who is 'fun for the whole family'", said Cearley, "My stuff broke that mold when the Dead Sea was just a little sick. I know he will have continued success in doing what he does so I say more power to him. Me? I want to see the bawdy Southern stuff go on and on and on. But not naughtiness for the sake of naughty - I want the story telling style to live on as well."
Moms Mabley
Southern Bawdy Comediane Extraordinaire
Jackie "Moms" Mabley (1894-1975) was born Loretta Mary Aiken and changed her name after her brother was embarrased to have a sister in show business. The name Jackie Mabley came from her first boyfriend whom she said took so much from her that the least she could do was take his name. This example showcases her skill of comically inverting structures: whereas nowadays for a woman to take a man's last name in marriage is often viewed as a sacrifice of her identity, Moms's move is more like a theft; she is driven by one man to appropriate another man's identity and make it notorious in the showbusiness world.Moms grew adept at adapting the hardships of her life into comic routines. After her father forced her to marry a much older man whom she hated, she created her signature joke cycle of putting down older men.
She also remakes fairy tales, claiming that she is helping children.
Other themes of her comedy include black-white relations and political commentating--Moms casts herself as advisor to President Johnson on civil rights issues.
Her physical presence was absurd, and she played off of it. She looked frumpy onstage, yet she belittled old men and boasted of dates with young ones (at least one of which actually took place). As Trudier Harris observes, "On stage, she played out the romantic side of Mom, not the realistic; the adventurous, not the settled" (768). The disparity between her appearance and the content of her jokes epitomizes Malcolm Muggeridge's definition of humor as "the enormous disparity between human aspirations and human performances."
Ed Williams
Southern Humorist from Georgia
Ed was born June 19, 1956, to Ed and Barbra Williams in Forsyth, Georgia. He was raised in Juliette.Photo of Ed Professionally, Ed has worked in Human Resources management for four large manufacturing employers - YKK (USA) Inc., the Trane Company, Paragon Trade Brands, and Imerys Kaolin. He has been awarded Georgia College and State University's Outstanding Young Alumni Award, and has been involved in numerous mid-state social and civic group activities over the years.
Ed's life took a decided turn in 1995 when he bought a home computer and began writing down wild old stories about his upbringing in Juliette. He had so much fun writing down these stories that he worked at them for almost a year before tiring of the effort. These stories, through an unusual series of events, were published in a July 1998 hardcover edition under the title, "Sex, Dead Dogs, and Me: The Juliette Journals".
This first book started out in four bookstores in Macon, Georgia - through word of mouth and the Internet eight months later it was being stocked nationally in the Books A Million chain, and other large bookstore chains were also considering stocking it. After a year, Ed's original publisher from Texas was so deluged with orders that he decided to quit printing the book and returned its rights back to Ed. Southern Charm Press later purchased the rights, and published it under the title, "Sex, Dead Dogs, and Me: The Paperback!" in December 2000.
Ed's second book, "Rough As A Cob: More From the Juliette Journals", was released by River City Publishing on August 1, 2003. It attained #1 Best Seller status for Southern-themed books on both Amazon.com Japan and Amazon.com Germany, and was also a #1 Best Seller for ecampus.com's humor essay sales category.
The third book will be titled "Honin' The Tulip: Yet More Juliette Journals" and will be released in the near future. Ed's fourth book will actually be a novel, tentatively titled, Christmasin' In Juliette, is currently being shopped to publishers.
Ed has twice appeared on the Georgia Public Radio Program Cover to Cover, writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column called Free Wheelin', and has won four prestigious online reader's poll awards for, Sex, Dead Dogs, and Me: The Juliette Journals and Rough As a Cob: More From the Juliette Journals. He is currently a part of the touring stage show, GRITS, Georgia, and Grizzard, along with partners Dedra Grizzard and Deborah Ford.
Bring the Humor Home!
More spice than Cajun Cookin'...
Gods in Alabama
Arlene Fleet, the refreshingly imperfect heroine of Jackson's frank, appealing debut, launches her story with a list of the title's deities: "high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus." The first god, also a date rapist by the name of Jim Beverly, she left dead in her hometown of Possett, Ala., but the last she embraces wholeheartedly when high school graduation allows her to flee the South, the murder and her slutty reputation for a new life in Chicago. Upon leaving home, Arlene makes a bargain with God, promising to forgo sex, lies and a return home if he keeps Jim's body hidden. After nine years in Chicago as a truth-telling celibate, an unexpected visitor from home (in search of Jim Beverly) leads her to believe that God is slipping on his end of the deal. As Arlene heads for the Deep South with her African-American boyfriend, Burr, in tow, her secrets unfold in unsurprising but satisfying flashbacks. Jackson brings levity to familiar themes with a spirited take on the clichés of redneck Southern living: the Wal-Mart culture, the subtle and overt racism and the indignant religion. The novel concludes with a final, dramatic disclosure, though the payoff isn't the plot twist but rather Jackson's genuine affection for the people and places of Dixie.
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Suddenly Southern: A Yankee's Guide to Living in Dixie
Moving South? Feeling a little out of place? Craving pizza from home and faking a passion for sweet tea? Not generating much Southern hospitality? Wondering if you'll ever fit in?
Well, honey, here's your complete guide to living in Dixie, providing migrating Yanks with tips on living, eating, greeting, dri
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Gary Dale Gets Offensive!: Lurid Scenes from Bawdville
Author Gary Dale Cearley sounds off in a big way with his unique takes on bawdy Southern humor with scores of jokes and stories meant to offend as well as to entertain, all told with a touch of Southern barbecue. First Gary Dale lets us know what he really thinks about Jeff Foxworthy and his red neck jokes then he hits us with one bawdy joke after another. This book promises to be among the humor classics for years to come and will redefine how we look at Southern humor. Besides all that this book is funny as hell!
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The Future of Southern Bawd
Will it flourish or die out?
With the rise of the internet, a gazillion cable television channels and folks "movin' away from the farm" we are gradually seeing less and less of a unique Southern culture. What do you think the future of our humor will be?
Try some Southern Humor!
We're Just Like You, Only Prettier: Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Belle
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Roy Blount's Book of Southern Humor
Amazon Price: $20.08 (as of 01/05/2010)
Southern Fried Divorce: A Woman Unleashes Her Hound and His Dog in the Big Easy
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How to Love Yankees with a Clear Conscience
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Rough As a Cob: More from the Juliette Journals
Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 01/05/2010)
Leave Us a Good Joke!
If you have a Southern themed story, leave it for us!
I always enjoy a new story, so hit me with your best shot!
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Reply
- Sammy Conner Sammy Conner Aug 24, 2007 @ 2:28 pm
- Great page! Please check out my Southern humor at www.dirtypartsofthebible.com
Another Book By Gary Dale Cearley
On the more serious side...
Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness: The Truth about the Vatican and the Birth of Islam
Amazon Price: $22.40 (as of 01/05/2010)
