The AudioNotch Tinnitus Treatment Blog

Some of you may be familiar with the animated television comedy show Archer, which is basically about a show about a comically inconsiderate, obtuse super spy by the name of Sterling Archer. It’s become increasingly popular, and interestingly, tinnitus has been featured as a running gag of sorts. Creator Adam Reed discusses this during an interview with Entertainment Weekly:

One funny thing that started in this episode was the Tinnitus thing. The characters onArcher always shooting guns in closed rooms right next to each other. In TV or movies, nobody ever talks about the danger of shooting guns near your unprotected ears. It’s super bad for you. In “Placebo Effect,” Archer and Lana go to the hospital, because their ears are damaged. That has become a running gag, and Archer talks about having Tinnitus. Actually, the head of the Tinnitus Foundation contacted us. They said, “Thanks for raising the awareness of Tinnitus.” We did some fundraiser stuff for them.

This segues into a larger point about using humor as a coping mechanism for dealing with illness. Black humor and humor in general are useful tools in defusing some of the pain associated with having an illness, and some might even argue that they empower the individual to rise above their suffering. It’s one of many tools that people with tinnitus have at their disposal to deal with this oftentimes debilitating condition.

Best,
AudioNotch