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Liberals Should Be Worried About the Conservative Comedy Scene
Politico ^ | May 13, 2022 | Ian Ward

Posted on 05/13/2022 4:30:33 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?

Since the golden days of political satire in the early 2000s, left-leaning journalists and comedy critics have wondered — with a mix of smugness and genuine curiosity — why conservatives aren’t funny. Why, these critics ask, are the comedic bits at CPAC so terrible, and where is the conservative Jon Stewart and why hasn’t there been a right-of-center rejoinder to Saturday Night Live?

The various explanations for the right’s comedic deficiencies all circle the same basic thesis: that there is some sort of intrinsic contradiction between conservatism and comedy. As the academic Amber Day put it her book Satire and Dissent, “The nature of conservatism does not meet the conditions necessary for political satire to flourish. … [Conservatism] originates from a place that repudiates humor.”

But is that true?

For the past three years, Matt Sienkiewicz, an associate professor of communication and international studies at Boston College, and Nick Marx, an associate professor of film and media studies at Colorado State University, have immersed themselves in the world of conservative comedy. The findings of their inquiry, which they detail in their new book, That’s Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them, might come as a surprise to devotees of the Daily Show: Conservative humorists aren’t merely catching up to their liberal counterparts in terms of reach and popularity. They’ve already caught them — and, in some cases, surpassed them, even as the liberal mainstream has continued to write conservative comedy off as a contradiction in terms.

“[Liberals] are ceding ideological territory in the culture wars to the right via comedy,” Marx told me, noting that once-beloved liberal comedians like Stewart are struggling to find their footing in the treacherous landscape of post-Trump humor.

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: comedy; conservative; politicalcartoons; satire
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Amazing how they miss the 30+ years of Rush's great humor, showing absurdity with absurdity.

While they mention the Bee in passing, they neglect to identify the libs losing their minds by fact checking it.

1 posted on 05/13/2022 4:30:33 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Trump was hilarious most of the time.

The left doesn’t like to be mocked.

Ditch and McCarthy are funny too, but only because they have become a caricature of themselves.


2 posted on 05/13/2022 4:34:32 AM PDT by Paladin2
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

A conservative humorist’s job is easy. Just hold a mirror to the actions of progressives. Libs of TikTok is a riot.


3 posted on 05/13/2022 4:40:44 AM PDT by throwthebumsout
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

I love the comedy on the dry bar channel on youtube. It’s a place in Provo utah. And yeah, we’re talking about a sober Mormon bunch in the audience and the comedians sometimes point blank say they got to clean up their act to be there but it’s pretty darned funny.

I no, I’m not a mormon. In fact, my wife and I did a 3500 mile loop around the western United States on our honeymoon in 1998, and Provo what’s the least enjoyable place of anywhere we stayed. But The drybar channel has some amazing stuff.


4 posted on 05/13/2022 4:42:35 AM PDT by cuban leaf (My prediction: Harris is Spiro Agnew. We'll soon see who becomes Gerald Ford, and our next prez.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Liberals are the most unhappy species on the planet. Their hate and comedy are indistinguishable.


5 posted on 05/13/2022 4:42:40 AM PDT by Niteranger68 (There's a difference between hate speech and speech that you hate)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Comedy’s job has always been to make the establishment uncomfortable. Goes to show our establishment is now a super woke form of Marxism. We must continue to ridicule the delusions required to adhere to this unnatural and dangerous ideology. This is what happens when you let fat white girls, blacks and homosexuals take over the national narrative.


6 posted on 05/13/2022 4:44:21 AM PDT by Levy78 (Reject modernity, embrace tradition. )
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

7 posted on 05/13/2022 4:45:09 AM PDT by mylife (It looks just like a telefunken U47... (===)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Dry Bar on utube and the Babylon Bee are not to miss funny.

Rush was funny.

Fr is funny.


8 posted on 05/13/2022 4:47:58 AM PDT by Chickensoup ( Leftists totalitarian fascists are eradicating conservatives)
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To: cuban leaf

Dry bar is great.

Brad Stine is another great one. We had him for a private event. He went off on a riff about Amish.

We had two former Amish in the crowd. They told me he was dead on.


9 posted on 05/13/2022 4:48:36 AM PDT by cyclotic (I won't give up my FREEDOM for your FEAR. Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
noting that once-beloved liberal comedians like Stewart are struggling to find their footing in the treacherous landscape of post-Trump humor.

That is because they have no actual humor.

They sneer, jeer and snark.

Which can be a part of humor but not the entire package.

Humor is being able to laugh at yourself as well as at others.

10 posted on 05/13/2022 4:49:06 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (It is better to light a single flame thrower then curse the darkness. A bunch of them is better yet)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
No hint of how leftists blackballed conservatives and keep them from advancing their careers in entertainment.

Actors had to hide their conservatism to work in Hollywood.

Hard to hide your conservatism as a standup comic.

11 posted on 05/13/2022 4:49:37 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: cuban leaf

Nice and very condescending.

By the way, most religions, including Mormon are capitalized.


12 posted on 05/13/2022 4:49:53 AM PDT by Tupelo (Don't underestimate The Republican Party's ability to f*ck things up)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

So these two “Professors” think Left-wing “humor” like Kathy Griffin holding up a bloody head of Pres Trump is funny, whereas Rush Limbaugh’s “my brain’s in a blender, it’s Jello” is not.


13 posted on 05/13/2022 4:50:49 AM PDT by FroggyTheGremlim (I'll be good, I will, I will!)
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To: cuban leaf
Dry bar is funny because they do work clean.

Sure a dirty joke may be funny but a half hour of dirty jokes generally bores. They are like fart jokes, one is funny And if you think a story about an Epic Fart is not funny you need to hear Jose Sarduy's story about what happened during inspection.

But that can not be your entire act.

You have to have more in there.

14 posted on 05/13/2022 4:53:53 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (It is better to light a single flame thrower then curse the darkness. A bunch of them is better yet)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Political Correctness has killed leftwing comedy. I’ll tune in the late night talk sho ws and they never made fun of Biden or anything left of center of which there’s lots of comedic gold to mine. They’re still bent on the tired “Orange Man Bad” meme. It’s just so repetitive.

Gutfield is a breath of fresh air cause he and his guests make fun of everyone, something Johnny Carson was a king of despite his liberal beliefs.
Their view is politic first, comedy second gets boring. I switch channels and each hosts tells the same, uninspired jokes.

It gets boring.

Leftists could learn from him but the wouldn’t.


15 posted on 05/13/2022 4:54:06 AM PDT by RedMonqey (Fu%k the Ballot box. Now the Cartridge Box)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

That’s right. They can’t take a joke and they can’t even see one. Tell a joke about them and they shout insurrection, terrorism, racism! Then they sue you or get the FBI to track you. Next thing you know, you’re sitting in front of Pelosi’s congressional inquisition.


16 posted on 05/13/2022 5:01:57 AM PDT by virgil (The evil that men do lives after them )
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To: FroggyTheGremlim

“...whereas Rush Limbaugh’s “my brain’s in a blender, it’s Jello” is not.”


Rush ALWAYS gave credit where credit was due - in this case to WHITE comedian Paul Shanklin.

I do agree with your point 100%.


17 posted on 05/13/2022 5:08:02 AM PDT by BBB333 (The Power Of Trump Compels You!)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

There is also the meme war aspect to this discussion. The Left simply can’t meme. Meanwhile 4chan and The Donald are filled with memes that effectively point out the absurdities of the Leftist worldview, often with humor and/or sarcasm. This is why the Leftist social media sites work so hard to suppress them. They’re effective in swaying the middle of the road types.


18 posted on 05/13/2022 5:08:38 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Oh! Ya see, liberals and progressives aren’t to be mocked and ridiculed.

For their ideas (like men being able to have babies) are serious and should not be the fodder for jokes.

They can dish it out (see Saturday Night Live, on second thought, don’t) but they can’t take it.


19 posted on 05/13/2022 5:14:26 AM PDT by cotton1706
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Check out Leo Kearse for some anti-woke comedy. Warning: uncensored, but funny...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMjJ6vCZX_I


20 posted on 05/13/2022 5:14:33 AM PDT by runfree
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