Finding Humour in Dark Places

Introduction

 Today, I’ve got something completely different for you.

The guest you’re going to hear from—he’s someone I met during my recent trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I was covering a conference about sex and gender.

Except this guy has nothing to with that conference.

By way of explanation, I have attention deficit disorder. And so when I go to these conferences for work, I find it hard to stay focused on the proceedings the whole time. So I duck out to play disc golf a few times per day.

And when I was in downtown Albuquerque, the place I’d duck out to was Roosevelt Park, which has a full 18-hole course.

So there I was in Roosevelt Park, throwing discs, when I noticed that there’s a big gathering on one side of the park—a kind of fundraising potluck event organized by a group called Millions for Prisoners New Mexico.

It’s a community activist group that operates on behalf of prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families, and which advocates for the end of America’s industrial prison system as we know it.

They had speakers set up, so I could hear all the organizers’ speeches even as I was walking around the park throwing discs.

And then, toward the end of the event, this comedian gets up—his name is Matthew Pettit, he’s the guy who’s my guest today—and starts telling jokes, as part of the entertainment.

And about 30 seconds in, I realized, okay, this is not an ordinary comedian.

I was listening to a guy tell jokes about suffering sexual child abuse from a young age, and then spending 20 years addicted to meth while bouncing around New Mexico jails. I worried: Am I even allowed to laugh at this?

Anyway, by the time Matthew was done his set, I was determined to learn more about this guy’s life, the challenges he overcame to go clean, and his journey toward becoming a community advocate.

I also wanted to ask him about some of the emotional contradictions that I assumed must be part of his life.

On one hand, he’s someone who knows all about the cruel and often counterproductive nature of America’s prison system.

On the other hand, he was sexually victimized from a young age, by someone who—at least in my view—certainly deserves to be behind bars.

These are the subjects I spoke about with Matthew Pettit, Albuquerque-based comedian, and the founder of the recently established New Mexico-based substance-use recovery group Healing Roar.