Comedy Is Not Pretty, and Nowadays It Isn’t Even Funny

Are they just preaching to the choir? Is comedy not funny these days? Can you do comedy without meanness?

 

Political correctness helped to kill comedy.

 

Kill the funnyman, they tell the truth and that's disallowed in yahoo world. And make sure to focus on the least useful or funny, Maher, since no-one conscious rates the prick he's a fine, soft target to start with.

 

well, comedy has been intrinsically created in order to insult, and it has always been used as a political weapon against the opponents, since the days of old... so laughing at someone or something is not a okay thing to do, and it should be punishable accordingly.

 

So he watched a single video of a one talk show host then dredged up a couple of examples from his own rose-tinted memory and used that to assess the validity of an entire field of entertainment? He better hope nobody takes this single article and use it to judge the entirety of journalism because it wouldn’t look at all good.

 

"The entirety of journalism", already doesn't look good at all.

 

I wouldn’t go that far. There are certainly issues, but I suspect you’re primarily thinking about national political journalism in the US and even then there will be perfectly good stuff being published, but somewhat ironically that tends to gets less attention. This really takes us back to not judging an entire field on the basis of a limited and selected subset of examples.

 

Yeah, but comedy ain't been funny for a long time, and Maher IS a sickening pig.

 

You must be joking (though obviously not being funny). Do you really believe that all comedy somehow magically stopped being funny at some point in the past? All comedy on TV, radio or stage, written or drawn? Stand-up, comic-drama, slapstick, satire? Everywhere around the world, from the massive stadium shows down to the first-timer at the regional comedy club?

 

The better half and I came across a documentary on Amazon on the life of Johnny Carson. About two hours. Watched it last night. It included interviews from behind the scenes people, as well as Jay Leno, Seinfeld, Letterman, etc., etc.. Call it the Fully Monty on his professional and private life. It's been out for years, but it was really well done.

Like most of the country who was awake when his show came on, we watched The Tonight Show almost every night, or at least the monologue, until he retired.

One common point that was interwoven throughout, was that even to those closest to him professionally, his politics were unknown. One person interviewed, a producer, or something, said words to the effect of "why alienate half your potential audience?"

Sparing no politician, his jokes were more on the level of what would be expected at a Roast, so they were funny without being hateful.

What do we have today? What you wrote above.

 

Give it a rest. All of U.S. Late Night talk television, and a large percentage of Comedy Central programming is nearly pure anti Trump. It's as if all the stand up comedians in the country started doing the same acts over and over. How many times would a rational adult audience buy tickets to the "Drumpf Show" consisting of the same stale jokes read by different hacks before it got old? Very little of it is original or clever.

 

donald supporters have such thin skins. Gee, I wonder why.

 

I haven't watched these so called late night comedy shows like SNL for a long, long time. But I do agree that humor, satire etc. especially involving elected officials has turned to down right meanness. I agree, it isn't funny anymore.

 

Yes. Jerry Seinfeld has said that. We are a humorless society.

Everything liberalism touches, it destroys.

 

Guess we'll never know about the thin skin of leftists because their/your politicians are subject to only softball parody and comedy, else let the wails of "RACISSSSS SEXISSSSS!" issue forth in profusion. Ironic to see the side of P.C., safe spaces and microaggressions have the gall to even use the term "thin skin" with respect to the cliche'd, lowbrow dreck aimed at Trump.

Obama got an 8 year BJ from MSM and comedians, nothing remotely like what is done repetitively and without even a scintilla of actual humor to Trump.

Contrast real comedy of the past, left-leaning National Lampoon for example, that went after everyone and everything without the slightest concern for P.C., and it was genuinely funny even when the target was a politician one supported or out and out racist comedy. The thin skin of the LW and growing P.C. vilified, then killed NatLamp style humor in the mainstream. Thanks for that P.C. police of the left. The nonleft didn't do that.

 

I recall Seinfeld saying that PC is the reason he doesn't do college campuses, etc..

Today, it seems all people want is confirmation bias, which requires no intellect, and very little talent.

 

Comedy, especially late night, is dead now.

Its nothing but democrat stumping.

It was only a couple of decades ago that Eddie Murphy had people rolling with his political incorrectness of "delerious", now that is not allowed. Unless you are hating on conservatives you might as well not even bother showing up.

 

Comedy as contextualized here, HJ.

Condescending political diatribes of the stand-up variety aimed at partisan fools.

But you knew that...?

 

Being “anti-Trump” doesn’t equate to “not funny”. I’ve seen some very good comedy at the expense of Trump, just as I have at the expense of other political and public figures. Some attack more attention than others, because of their profile, because of what they do or because they have characteristics which provide rich veins for comedy and Trump is unlucky enough to fall in to all those categories, partly due to his own actions and party beyond his control.

Now too much of anything can be a bad thing and I’ve no doubt that is happening on US TV regarding Trump (and arguably not just on the comedy side). If you have such a dominating figure as President who seems to goes out of his way to attract constant attention though, that is inevitable. Maybe the general public will tire of it eventually and the glut will die down. Obviously people who support Trump will likely tire of it before those who oppose him so it might be a while until it stop being cost-effective to make him their primary source of material. We all have areas of entertainment we hate but are inexplicably popular enough to dominate the market. “Trump Comedy” is just your “Reality TV”, “Rap Music” or “Teen Vampire Books”.

 

Well, I see it as liberals have become finger wagging school marms. It is as if the "liberal progressive religion" has made them self righteous zealots who want to force their religion on everyone. Remember when they were peace loving hippies who just wanted everyone to coexist?

 

They're book burners, too. Anything that runs contrary to radical left thought gets shut down.

 

Dont like the comedy, don't watch it.

 

Comedy is fine and funny. Although comedians now feel the pressure from those that might get triggered. Many comics have stopped working colleges where they used to be really big there. Why? The college students are too easily triggered. A generation that has seemed to lost its sense of humor thanks to the post modernism in academia and social marxism. An authoritarian mindset in a country built upon liberty and freedom.

 

Yes, yes I do.

 

Just as it should be.

They're all bloody posturing ideologues, now. Sanctimony is right.