Comedians with Aspergers
Seems like every major comedian has been mentioned here as having As. Some seem much more bipolar to me, or perhaps some, schizoid. Or, merely introverted to the extreme. Actually a lot of actors are reclusive/introverted when not on stage also.
Bear in mind Jeni was a prude and didn't self-medicate like others did. Panic attacks can indeed be classified as psychosis, especially when you really don't know exactly what's wrong with you and where to take it. Schizoid and HFA are often interchangeable... There was something I noticed some years ago about him that wasn't quite "there" as it was with other comics, and I realized when I saw him in less graceful stages that he had a problem relating anything deep and personal to anyone for any reason...alluding to it only in third person during his performances. He struck me as someone who learned to play normal to the level of making performance his thing...and comedy was a good offset and therapy until it no longer served a purpose for him. Granted, I'm a big fan and followed him up until his death. You'd have to be familiar with ALL of his material to make the same assessments that I have about him. I was also diagnosed schizophrenic, psychotic, ret*d, etc...before my mother found a therapist that was familiar with my behavior issues.
As for the others mention...I DEFINITELY think Mitch Hedberg was HFA. Carlin on drugs didn't act like that, nor have other comics who go on stage wired. Andy Kaufman...most definitely.
Carlin struck me as too social..just someone who survived a great deal of change..and who admitted 8 months before he died that he had gotten his observational skills because he'd "Divorced himself from society long ago".
Bill Hicks was also a bit on the social side. He was raised strict southern baptist and didn't experience his adolescent phase until he left home. He was already a comedian then, from sneaking out of his parent's house and performing as a kid in places he couldn't even drink in.
There is definitely a difference in "performance" and social skills. Autistics are pressured to perform and pretend, and that gives them more of an introspective "knack" in observational humor.
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Interestingly, I'm a big fan of Seinfeld, and yet I never really identified with any of the characters... Well, except Jerry and Elaine when they visit Jerry's parents in Florida.
Could you elaborate on which characters you think represent which "sides" of Asperger's?
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I do remember the episode where the four of them, out of a dare, made a pact to abstain from masturbation and sex. As a result both George and Elaine turned into different autism spectrum characteristics George became intelligent and obsessed with knowledge. Elaine became easily disoriented and fascinated with spinning, revolving objects.
Each character does seem to describe a part of me. George seems the most aspie. Kramer and Elaine are kooky narcissists, but out of the two, Kramer seems more aspie-ish. Jerry seems like an NT with aspie traits when stressed. Of course all four are merely fabrications from the mind of Larry David who seems like an actual aspie.
You're confusing two different episodes, but that's neither here nor there. In the one you're thinking of, George was abstaining from sex because his girlfriend had mononucleosis, and Elaine was abstaining so that her boyfriend would become intelligent like George and be able to pass his medical licensing exam. I don't think masturbation was mentioned in that one.
Nobody took on any different characteristics that I noticed in the episode with the contest.
To me Kramer seems unusual, but in the wrong way. He seems almost histrionic to me.
None of the main characters seem to have trouble reading social cues.
The one character who seems kind of aspie-esque (in a really irritating way) to me is Frank Costanza.
Anyway, I guess I'm reading too much into it now... However, the idea was supposed to be that Jerry was the "normal" character surrounded by "strange" people.
Thank you for your insights. I will take your word on this assessment; I have no idea whether his diagnosis was correct. It was in news stories when his death was reported. IIRC his family said he was having an episode when he died.
He was a funny man and I'm sorry he suffered so much.
As for "Seinfeld" - I always felt like they were all narcissists - without empathy, no one's real friend, obsessed with the minutiae of their own daily lives. George's reaction when his fiancee died, and his miserly attitude (which helped cause it) is a huge red flag. I get the feeling Larry David himself is an Aspie, though.
I agree that all the main characters in "Seinfeld" seem very narcissistic. I'm certainly not, so if narcissism is an aspie trait, it's certainly not one I have.
As far as I know narcissism is not an Aspie trait. But sometimes people get the two things confused because of the 'lack of empathy' thing. Lack of empathy in an Aspie is pretty innocent though it seems to me. Whereas in a narcissist it can combine with other traits narcissists have to be quite malevolent in action.
The characters on "Seinfeld" were often purposely selfish and mean which is (one reason) why I choose narcissism over Aspieness; none really seem like Aspies to me at all really. If you ever watch "Curb" you might see why I think David could be Aspie. The show is supposedly a lot how he is in real life. But it's just my opinion, and it's just a Tv show.
Interesting thread.
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