Posted on 12/26/2016 8:37:55 AM PST by raccoonradio
Didja hear the one about Trump?
Yeah, me neither.
The campaign season that was a gold mine for late-night hosts and “Saturday Night Live” has morphed into a post-election land mine for local stand-up comics, who say jokes about the president-elect go over like a gold-plated balloon.
“This election was the most polarizing election in the history of our country,” said Jody Sloane, a Boston-based comic. “To even lightly joke about Trump leads Trump supporters to assume you are a Hillary supporter and the hatred ensues. You run the risk of losing half of your audience — actually, less than half, based on popular vote — but it’s just not worth it and, furthermore, it’s too damn easy.”
“When I was performing leading up to the election, if you mentioned Hillary’s name, you alienated half your audience, if you mentioned Trump’s name, you alienated half your audience,” agreed comedian Jimmy Tingle. “When you mention people’s names or political party, that’s when people fall into their camps.”
“You can’t win” when you get political, says Boston-based comedian Will Noonan, whose 26,000 Twitter followers have hassled him for being too harsh on Trump, too harsh on Hillary, and not harsh enough on either.
It’s a shame, Noonan said, because he personally finds Trump prime fodder.
“He talks about his dead parents the way I talk about my snow plow guy. ‘Fantastic people! Did a great job!’ ”
But it’s hard to craft stand-up material when audiences can react to it so divisively.
Even in the mostly blue Bay State, comedian Wanda Sykes was booed down during an anti-Trump screed at TD Garden last month.
Conversely, Noonan likens one post-election stand-up gig in liberal-skewing Cambridge to “a eulogy.”
“I was in New York on 9/11. I saw people take that better than this election,” Noonan said.
“People are kind of on edge,” agreed stand-up comedian and Boston Herald Radio host Steve Sweeney. “There’s a lot of anger in the emotional climate. We were all looking forward to a sense of relief when this thing was over. But it’s not.”
“Especially in Massachusetts, you have people who are still in mourning,” said comedian Chris Zito, co-host of the “Zito and Kera” radio show on Springfield’s Mix 93.1, who occasionally gives in to the temptation to impersonate Trump’s distinctive phrases.
“He says ‘believe me,’ like a salesman, after every sentence,” Zito said. “The last guy I believe is the guy who keeps saying ‘believe me.’ ”
There are ways to tell Trump jokes, even to sensitive audiences, experts say.
Local comedy producer John Tobin said good comics can navigate a Trump joke with a soft hand.
“The good ones are the ones that tell the jokes, and you can’t really tell which side of the aisle they’re on,” he said. “If it’s an overly one-sided rant one way or the other, then I think the crowd can turn on you.”
“I think Donald Trump is going to be writing our act for us, I think every week is going to be a new sitcom,” said Boston comedian and Dirty Water TV co-host Dave Russo. “As a comedian, no one is off limits.”
But not every comedian finds the new president funny.
“I’m an old, fat white guy. On paper, it looks like I won this,” said local stand-up legend Tony V. “I’ve lived through the Cuban missile crisis, the Bay of Pigs, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Kennedy assassination, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy and both Iraq wars. And this is the most frightened I’ve ever been.”
And illegals!
Ron White is a favorite of mine, with the Cable Guy not far behind.
So says comedian Dave Russo, who no doubt has quite the roster of Obama jokes after eight years./s
Never found SNL the least bit funny. Didn’t find it funny 40 years ago and still don’t. It’s crude and juvenile.
Joan Rivers tried to make a joke about Obola, and the Wookie(though some, myself included, would say she told the truth) and look what happened to her.
Exactamundo
What about the WH fare under BHO, and school lunches?
I don't either.
Most of the good comedians have given up on doing shows on college campuses because of Political Correctness and obnoxious SJWs. Jerry Seinfeld and I think Chris Rock both fall into that category.
Trump jokes will work again if the clubs only admit Left wingers - of course them they won’t sell enough food and drinks to keep the doors open...
back in a simpler time...
Vaughn Meader “The First Family” 1962 FULL ALBUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwu8S6Ekx9w
LOL, reads like a Trump tweet. If you meant to do that, that was funny! If not, SNL Trump skits are pretty funny...and I supported him from June 16, 2015.
There are joke telling "experts"? Really? What are their qualifications? A PhD in humor? Wow, Am I in the wrong field.
Belushi, Akroyd, Chase and Murray not funny? What DO you find funny?
Hey, they created the environment they now must deal with.. may starving comics learn.. it aint what you put in your mouth that nourishes your career,, its what comes out..
I thought it was hysterically funny 40 years ago. Of course, I was in high school at the time.
Are they trying to tell us that when Obama was President they had no problem making jokes about him? Oh, sure!
***************
They wanted to tell Obama jokes but there just wasn’t any material.
Comics shy away from Donald Trump jokes
I don’t seem to find any so-called comics funny these days. They can’t find any humor other then tearing somebody done or fill their monolog with four letters words. They should go back to the real comedians, Shelton, Hope, Caesar, and many others that found great humor in just day to day living and certainly without every cuss word in the book.
Most that call themselves comics are so filthy that there is no reason to listen to them.
As long as comics only perform in California and New York they’ll never know how much we hate them here in flyover...
Chris Villani should tell the comics to ‘go for it’... Their non-stop contempt for traditional Americans is a recruitment tool for us.
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