The Chip Chipperson Phenomenon

Self-awareness is not a strength for many people in this age of social media. Self-aggrandizing posts attempting to make marginal lives seem extraordinary are the norm, and no one embodies this as a person more purely than Chip Chipperson. Granted Chip is not a real person, but his personification of the current zeitgeist is undeniable. Chip is the type of person you would absolutely revile if you experienced him in your daily life, he takes all the unattractive traits inside each of us and amplifies them: the desperate desire to be loved, the denial of our own faults and failings, and a disgusting over confidence in his own mediocrity. This adds up to the ability to exist inside a world of his own creation where he lives in an uneasy denial of his Mother’s amorous activities while bedding numerous Hollywood starlets himself without even knowing their proper names. This parallels our own online existences where we selectively edit our lives for public consumption (Hey, cut that part out.)

I think part of the reason people are drawn to Chip is that he absolves us of the aforementioned sins (even if it takes place on a subconscious level). I think this absolution is some part of what creates the cult like devotion to Chip. I cannot imagine the disgust Chip’s success elicits in the minds of established comedians that struggle to receive the recognition and acclaim they so richly deserve. Keep in mind Jim Norton is a great comedian himself, but to have a character that he has brought to life for years now take on this status has to be a shock even to him. Though I am sure he delights in the love showered on Chip, especially as it horrifies his fellow comedians. Chip is the Rupert Pupkin of our day.

I believe I have heard multiple comedians say their job is to find humor in our universal experiences. I believe this is exactly what Jim Norton has done with Chip; even if the audience doesn’t consciously recognize this. Which means there is probably a little more Chip in all of us than we would like to admit.