”Since when did comedy become so right wing?”
New comedian feels "it’s genuinely shocking how much right wing influence there is in comedy."
Matt Ruby is going places (and telling jokes). Ticket link below.
Reddit q: “Since when did comedy become so right wing?”
As somebody who’s been doing comedy for about 2 years, it’s genuinely shocking how much right wing influence there is in comedy. All the podcasters host fucking trump and Vance and then all the open micers I talk to look up to losers like Theo Von and Andrew Schulz like they are gods. I’m not saying there aren’t funny comedians right now but I will say comedians these days don’t seem nearly as socially aware as they used to be. Does anybody know why comedy made a shift towards right wing sentiments? Was comedy like this during the 80s with Reagan?
My reply:
From a cold-blooded commerce perspective: The country is split pretty much 50/50. When you have Colbert, Fallon, Stewart, Oliver, Kimmel, and Meyers all marching in lockstep formation with The Agreed Upon Correct Views with their jokes, you're bound to have an opposing force of podcasters, influencers, and YouTubers bubbling up to fill in the market gap and reach those who want a differing view.
Also, comedy is about surprise. Spouting the establishment corporatist view is less likely to be surprising in a genuinely “wow” way. A lot of the success of “right wing” comedy isn’t really political – it comes from "he says wild stuff" instead of whatever Capital One has deemed to be safe territory.
Also, comedians who work the road and/or live in non-coastal elite hubs may feel they’re just representing the views of “real” Americans. After all, the right does seem to have captured electoral power throughout the country so it can be easy to think you’re just “representing the people” or whatever.
Or, as I wrote a while back in the Rubesletter:
See:
Anyway, plenty more I could say, but lmk what you think in the comments.
Related: Standup is a better leading indicator than polls [Rubesletter]
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.
dear matt,
a very interesting question and answer.
one point... when you say "you have Colbert, Fallon, Stewart, Oliver, Kimmel, and Meyers all marching in lockstep formation with The Agreed Upon Correct Views with their jokes," i think it is fascinating to conflate all of them.
for example, John Oliver is doing something VERY different from Jimmy Fallon.
and even if they do share many social and political views (which i'll grant seems so), and even if there IS some "The Agreed Upon Correct Views" to it all (which i necessarily don't agree with, though i understand the spirit of what you're getting at), then i would say that many right-leaning comics are essentially marching in lockstep formation with The Agreed Upon INCORRECT Views with THEIR jokes.
like, i've seen so many versions of "but what if bullying is GOOD actually?" not to mention of course "you can't say anything anymore" peppered with an assortment of r-words and old stereotypes and transphobic slurs and such.
not to mention (or, to mention!), "Spouting the establishment corporatist view" isn't what Colbert, Fallon, Stewart, Oliver, Kimmel, and Meyers are doing. all three branches of the US government are majority right wing, so for someone to be LEFT-leaning these days is, i would say, more anti-establishment than the other way.
you know?
thanks for sharing as always!
love
myq
No, its just the pendulum swinging back after left-wing mind terror for ages.