Mental Illness As Material
Jaime Lutz fears that many young comedians "are romanticizing their mental illness; that they see it as the source of their power":
If you go regularly to open mic nights and indie improv shows, you will notice certain archetypes of struggling comedians: the panicky over-talkers, the undeservedly confident, the oblivious raging misogynist. But most prominent of all, to my eye, is the guy who is doing this because he is sad.
This guy imagines himself (and it is usually a "himself") a darkly funny truth-teller. And indeed, he is being honest about his feelings. But he hasn't yet grasped what's funny about his situation. He's just an asshole, standing on stage, making people uncomfortable with explicit details about his sex addiction.
She goes on:
Damaged comedians who haven't dealt with their issues are like premises without punchlines: all tension, no relief. No surprise. No funny.
On the other hand, Nathan Rabin points out how comedian Maria Bamford has not only been able to use her personal battles with mental illness for material, but also to raise awareness and destigmatize mental illnesses for others:
The Dish 