It’s true because it’s funny
How comedy can teach you things about America the media doesn't see yet.
[Excerpt from the Rubesletter, another newsletter I send.]
Polls? Nah. Standup comedy is how I learn what Americans truly care about.
Via comedy, I knew 3 years ago voters' top issue was Biden's age. Every single show had some comic cracking a joke about him being senile.
In fact, here’s a clip – starting at 1:08:15 – from my Substance special’s sober set where I talk about death, senility, and the President.
Yet it took years for the media to catch up that Americans all saw a ☠️ man walking.
And that’s why I can also tell you the top issue for Americans right now: It’s how every CVS and Walgreen’s is locking up normal items behind glass. It is perceived as a universal symbol of our country’s decline. “I gotta get some guy to unlock THE DEODORANT!? Next, they’ll…”
Been hearing this premise everywhere. And if dozens of comics have jokes (that work) about the same topic, it's a sign the audience is all thinking the same thing.
I guess that makes me realize how much standup is like polling. Every night, us comedians go out and test hypotheses with random “focus groups” in order to determine the truth.
Laughter is a primal response that tells you a lot about where folks are at in a reptilian way. It’s true because it’s funny.
Read the rest here:
Related: Teller Reveals His Secrets
Magic is an art, as capable of beauty as music, painting or poetry. But the core of every trick is a cold, cognitive experiment in perception: Does the trick fool the audience? A magician’s data sample spans centuries, and his experiments have been replicated often enough to constitute near-certainty. Neuroscientists—well intentioned as they are—are gathering soil samples from the foot of a mountain that magicians have mapped and mined for centuries. MRI machines are awesome, but if you want to learn the psychology of magic, you’re better off with Cub Scouts and hard candy.
