Personal comments from author of "unfunny rape song"

See original video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58On8LhdS4s
"Justin Kline Getting Kicked Offstage For Singing a Song About Rape"
Posted to /r/cringe as "Comedian Sings Unfunny Song About Rape, Gets Kicked Offstage By Crying Host":
http://www.reddit.com/r/cringe/comments/246vwi/comedian_sings_unfunny_song_about_rape_gets/

I've been debating on how long I should wait before I comment/if I should comment, but I may as well. This may be lengthy. My name is Justin Kline. I've only been able to watch this video all the way through once in my life. Hence, posting to r/cringe.
The song in question was never meant to be a "Ha, ha" funny joke song in the vein of Bo Burnham or Lynch. Many, many years ago, I started writing songs that were personal to the point of being cringeworthy. At first it was unintentional, but then a writer/director pointed out why they were funny and encouraged me to write more in the same style. After a few, he came up with the title, "Can You See the Rape On My Face?" I legitimately am a rape baby. The story I tell is true.

When I wrote the song, my intentions were not to be offensive or shocking. And it wasn't really meant to be performed live. But about a year before this video, I tried it onstage, and it got quite a lot of laughs. Then, in the context of a longer set, I would use it as my closer. In the context of a similarly-toned set, it doesn't come across as offensive as it does when performed on its own. However, after a while, I started realizing the song was more mean-spirited than it should have been, and I personally didn't even think it was all too funny. So I retired it from my sets (which, by the way, rarely include songs anyway).

While working my way through the LA open mic scene, some of my friends turned me on to this show- an open mic at a college campus that provided a stage for just about anyone (musical, comedic, or otherwise). They had a piano, which intrigued me, because it's not often you have one at your disposal. I went one week before this, got up, and sang a song called There Are Other Places to Put It. Though not mean-spirited, it's a fairly risqué and misogynistic tune. The audience at the venue ate it up- I got cheers and by the end of the song, everyone was singing along. I went to this mic with other comedian friends, and one in particular went up and told horribly offensive and mean-spirited jokes (holocaust jokes, racist jokes, using the N word, etc.). Granted, he didn't get laughs, but no one threw him off the stage (maybe because he didn't structure his jokes in the form of a song?).

So the next week we went (the night of the video), I decided I may as well use the piano again. So I pulled the rape song out of my old bits and chose to go with it. I hadn't done it in a while, and I thought it was worth trying again, just to see if it had any redeeming qualities. Plus, having witnessed the raunchiness tolerated in the venue, I had no second thoughts.

Again, this isn't supposed to be a "Ha, Ha" song. It was more about creating an awkward atmosphere, that I hoped would manifest itself in laughs, as it has in the past. Which is why, in my introduction, I purposely set it up as though it's going to be a completely serious heartfelt song. Normally the juxtaposition of that with the announcement of the title of the song is enough to get a laugh, and it did get a few. However, less than a minute into the tune, I realized the audience wasn't on my side, and that I had made a poor choice. But when you've already elaborately set up a bit and have started singing the song, there's really nothing at all you can do. You're stuck having to try to make it to the end unscathed.

I won't comment on whether or not the woman was justified in interrupting. Because I took it extremely personally that it struck such a nerve with her. I don't recall how I make my exit in the video, but I assure you it wasn't me trying to be cheeky. The first thing I did when I got home was find the woman's email address. I wrote her an extremely lengthy heartfelt apology. She responded with absolute vitriol. She chastised me at length and banned me from the club.

Point is, as dubious as this sounds, I wasn't trying to be offensive. I wasn't exactly trying to be hilarious, either. To some degree, it really is a personal song. But it is a bad song and was never all too worthy of being sung in the first place. I would normally adamantly defend my material, no matter how much it gets shit on, but I can't do so in this case. I felt horrendous for not only offending someone, but offending them to the point of tears. It's not a good feeling to offend your audience. I immediately retired the song for good.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't know it was being taped (and professionally recorded, audio-wise) by a comedian friend. The audio made an appearance on a few comedy podcasts. The only reason I uploaded the video and kept it up, is because of the incomparable cringe-worthiness it contains, which is worth something, if reddit is to be believed. You're welcome.

Edit: Wow, Gold. And Seal of Approval. I really appreciate it, guys. By the way, just because I chose to post this comment doesn't mean that you need to defend me or my song if you otherwise wouldn't. I chose to write to give some context and clarify some of the objective issues that were popping up in the comments, not to gain sympathy. I very much appreciate the kind words some of you have written, but I don't like to feel as though I baited some of you into them. I posted this video to r/cringe, because, well, cringe- judge it and comment on that merit alone. Reading this comment isn't a prerequisite for forming an opinion on the video. This certainly doesn't redeem it. And as much as the negative comments can sound like personal attacks, I'm not, at all, taking them personally, so don't worry (or plan on) that I am. Not that you need my permission, but continue to be as nasty as you please. I mean, we're all discussing the same horrible video, aren't we?

Edit: Unless other things come to my attention, this will be my last edit. I'm only editing, because it's not practical for me to read all of the comments, let alone respond to them. But, if you can grasp how truly ignorant I was that my song could be so offensive, you can grasp how ignorant I was in regards to foreseeing the attention and wrath I would incur by posting the video and then posting this comment. I want to make it clear that I don't condone 1) Hurtful sexist comments leveled at the manager in the video, 2) Comments defending my performance solely because it's a song about rape. Although you can make the case that I condoned and encouraged those things by merely posting this video, that's not really the case at all. I said that I wouldn't comment on whether or not the woman was justified in interrupting me, but I will now (Hopefully this isn't seen as backtracking, because it's not). As a comedian in general, I don't think it's entirely appropriate to interrupt someone's act because you find it offensive. I find that wrong. That said, as me, and in this very specific case, I would take her side over mine any day, if only for the fact that my song wasn't funny. In addition, as has been pointed out, she was a manager of a college open mic. She was perfectly within her rights. I did point out that she seemed to be very selective in what she was choosing to be offended about, but that doesn't mean she was in the wrong. In regards to defending my song, if you genuinely caught a glimpse of why I thought the song was worth writing in the first place, that's fine, and I appreciate it. But I will say it- as presented in the video, it's a bad, unfunny song. If you think otherwise, we would differ in opinion. It's fine if we differ in opinion, but if your premise for defending it is that I should be able to sing about rape, no matter how offensive I'm being, with no discretion, that's faulty. If you're making either of these arguments, I wish there was a way I could distance myself from them completely. Honestly, the point was, this video, for me anyway, has cringe all over it from beginning to end. That was my sole purpose for posting. Even as I wrote this comment, I was pushing no other agenda. So, you know, think about what you say (as I should have done) and stop providing fodder for others to ridicule. Thanks.