Steve Martin’s ‘King Tut’ offends college students

I know there are lots of snowflakes in Oregon but I never realized they actually went to college! Students at Reed College in Portland are offended by Steve Martin's "King Tut" a song he premiered on Saturday Night Live in 1978 which was making fun of the museum exhibit "Treasures of Tutankhamun," which was touring at the time. It sold over a million copies and broke the Billboard top twenty. Now it's offending the "Reedies against Racism" according to the Atlantic.

“That’s like somebody… making a song just littered with the n-word everywhere,” a member of Reedies Against Racism (RAR) told the student newspaper when asked about Martin’s performance. She told me more: The Egyptian garb of the backup dancers and singers—many of whom are African American—“is racist as well. The gold face of the saxophone dancer leaving its tomb is an exhibition of blackface.”

Now you see why comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock stay away from colleges. I don't see anything like that at all. Steve Martin is one of the funniest comedians who ever lived. I'm currently taking his Masterclass for comedians. The song was played on both radio and television. It's a very funny take not only on King Tut but on the museum tour as well. Part of being funny is being out on the edge. Once there, people could get offended. But when you're dealing with a generation that's looking to be offended, sure as hell they're going to find it.

I miss the time when we could actually make fun of each other and laugh about it. There's an intimacy in that that I feel actually brings people together. I'm guessing these kids never grew up on a city street corner. I can't wait to go to the next Reed College comedy night and hear some great politically correct humor. I would be surprised to know that it actually existed.

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