Tag: comedy

Dead Honky, Dead Funny: Who Killed the Last Great Era of Comedy?

The Sketch That Would Break the Internet—Literally

Saw it late one night before working the graveyard and tapping the old CRT. Chevy Chase, clean-shaven and cold as a desk lamp, playing the smug interviewer. Across from him? Richard Pryor, eyes like embers, sitting in a folding chair, waiting.

The scene starts slow. Word association.

“White.”

 “Black.”

 “Negro.”

 “Whitey.”

 “Jungle bunny.”

 “Honky.”

 “Spade.”

 “Honky-honky.”

 “Ni**er.”

 “Dead honky.”

Not a gasp. An exhale. That line didn’t punch—it detonated.

And nobody turned it off.

Now? That sketch would not air. Not even in a parody of a sketch. X would turn into a ten-alarm inferno. Think pieces would rain down like acid hail. Headlines like “SNL Dehumanizes BIPOC Voices.” Meanwhile, context would be the first casualty.

But it wasn’t hate. It was heat. A controlled burn. Two men use America’s ugliest words to show how close they are to the surface.

Funny how we used to let people say the quiet part out loud. Now, we just plug our ears.

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UK “hate crime” plans could criminalize comedy, rights group says

The Home Office is working on a new hate crimes strategy to encourage more people to report hate crimes. Campaigners have warned that the new strategy might result in criminalizing comedians like Ricky Gervais, who question the trans ideology in comedy routines.

The strategy is being drawn up despite a court ruling last year that banned police from recording “gender-critical” comments as non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs).

“These plans suggest either that the Government is not paying attention, or that they have contempt for the Court of Appeal,” said a lawyer from campaign group Fair Cop.

“Either way, it is astonishing that legislators are planning to expand the discredited and unlawful practice of recording non-crime hate incidents [NCHIs]. Following Fair Cop’s win in the Court of Appeal in December, the College of Policing promised to publish revised hate crime guidance by the end of May this year. We’re still waiting. Police forces that record complaints against comedians – or any other lawful speech – as NCHIs will be piling illegality upon illegality.

“They will then find themselves in court with no legitimate defense. This quixotic strategy oozes arrogance, as if the law does not apply if you’re fighting for ‘the right side of history.’

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Humorless EU report: It’s not funny anymore. Far-right extremists’ use of humour

Humour has become a central weapon of extremist movements to subvert open societies and to lower the threshold towards violence. Especially within the context of a recent wave of far-right terrorist attacks, we witness “playful” ways in communicating racist ideologies. As far-right extremists strategically merge with online cultures, their approach changes fundamentally. This trend has been especially facilitated by the so-called alt-right and has spread globally. This predominantly online movement set new standards to
rebrand extremist positions in an ironic guise, blurring the lines between mischief and potentially radicalising messaging. The result is a nihilistic form of humour that is directed against ethnic and sexual minorities and deemed to inspire violent fantasies — and eventually action. This paper scrutinises how
humour functions as a potential factor in terms of influencing far-right extremist violence. In doing so, we trace the strategic dissemination of far-right narratives and discuss how extremists conceal their misanthropic messages in order to deny ill intention or purposeful harm. These recent developments pose major challenges for practitioners: As a new generation of violent extremists emerges from digital subcultures without a clear organisational centre, prevention strategies need to renew focus and cope with
the intangible nature of online cultures.

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Why Saving Comedy Is So Crucial To Saving America

Conan O’Brien did his final late night show last week, after 28 years on air. He’s stepping away at the right time. Whether you liked his comedic style or not, he really was trying to make people laugh.

When was the last time you watched “The Late Show” in order to laugh? That’s a trick question — nobody who watches Stephen Colbert is laughing. Laughter is entirely beside the point; Colbert’s show is political catechism in nightly hour-long installments.

One of Colbert’s masterworks in June was a song “parody” titled “500 Vials,” which didn’t even have a joke — it was just telling everyone to get the vaccine. It may be the least funny video ever created, and after the female-empowerment version of “Ghostbusters,” that can’t be said lightly (but remember: Anyone who didn’t laugh is sexist).

Increasingly, though, Colbert is the norm for late-night shows. For four years, limited big-tent political comedy got replaced by an aggressive churn of anti-Donald Trump “Resistance” theater barely papered over by jokes.

Some have just about given up the ghost entirely: John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” is pretty much nothing but lectures on what a liberal is supposed to be mad about this week.

And remember “The Daily Show”? While certainly steeped in sarcastic vitriol, it’s impossible to say it’s been relevant since Trevor Noah took the reins nearly six years ago.

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Say WHAT? Washington Post, USA Today Claim Biden Is ‘Impervious’ to Comedy

Remember the excuses peddled by comedians during the Obama years? This bright, handsome president is so smart, and thoughtful, there’s just nothing to poke fun at. We’ve tried oh, so hard, but it’s impossible.

They clung to that nonsense, hard, for eight solid years. Jay Pharoah, tasked with portraying the president on the hard-left Saturday Night Live, later admitted the NBC show “gave up” even trying. Except when they used “comedy” to praise him.

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