![]() ![]() ![]() In this environment, the partisanization of comedy to the right was perhaps inevitable.Ĭonservative comedian Steven Crowder runs a popular YouTube channel, with over 5 million subscribers. On another, he thrives because the current media industry moment is built not for a big tent of all viewers, but for audiences who share specific demographic, psychographic and political traits. On one level, Gutfeld succeeds today because he has virtually no competition from fellow conservatives in the late-night television comedy space. And it’s forced networks like Fox News to take comedy seriously. ![]() Since then, further audience fragmentation, along with the proliferation of podcasts and social media platforms, has made it possible for right-wing comedians like YouTuber Steven Crowder to rise to prominence beyond conventional cable television. However, comedy’s perceived political bias at the time was more likely driven by specific economic circumstances, which have now radically changed. Bush and inspired countless imitators, crowding the media marketplace for liberal laughs. “The Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show” became hugely successful during the years of president George W. The political comedy of the early 2000s, with its relatively big tent media companies and pre-Barack Obama politics, tended to joke primarily in the political direction of the largest audience segment interested in satire at that moment. They do not, however, square with the way Trump changed the country’s politics and culture. They are, without question, pleasing to the liberal reader’s ego. This research, often inspired by the success of liberal satirists such as Colbert, Jon Stewart and Samantha Bee, certainly provides intriguing looks into the relationship between politics, psychology and sense of humor. Some studies go as far as to identify innate, psychological differences that explain why liberals are more likely to laugh while conservatives are more prone to seethe. Even “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah noted how former president Donald Trump’s performances at rallies mirrored those of stand-up comedians. And it’s increasingly becoming a feature of right-wing politics. This effort to use ideology in order to categorize comedy can lead audiences, political analysts and even comedians to downplay or outright dismiss right-wing humor.īut even if conservative comedy doesn’t fit liberals’ tastes, it’s still comedy. Others make similar arguments, saying “true” liberal comedy is more likely to “punch up,” while dismissing conservative comedy as mere mockery that reaffirms unjust systems of power. Philosopher Umberto Eco, for example, demotes joking that fails to critique power structures to the status of mere “carnival.” Comedy theorists tend to diminish, or at least distinguish, right-wing humor from what they deem to be more authentic, liberal humor. There are also intellectual trends that make it possible for Greg Gutfeld to spend two decades sneaking up on the Colberts of the world. In part, this has happened because social media algorithms don’t send users jokes likely to challenge or offend their political sensibilities. Hiding in plain sightĭespite its growing prominence, right-wing comedy remains largely invisible in both mainstream and scholarly discussions of media and humor. Regardless of whether or not this comedy is to your taste, it’s working for Gutfeld and his audience. Then “Bond” heads to a bar to order a latte – a soy latte – instead of a martini. ![]() In the prerecorded bit, a crudely costumed actor chases down a thief and pulls a banana on him instead of a gun. One recent episode broke from a panel discussion on cancel culture in order to imagine what a politically correct James Bond would look like. Then, of course, there are the silly “Saturday Night Live”-like sketches. ![]()
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