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Open to Debate

#158 - Is Trump Bad for Comedy?

Open to Debate

Open to Debate

Education, Society & Culture, News, Government, Politics

4.52.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2018

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Motion: Trump is Bad for Comedy From the opening skit on “Saturday Night Live” to “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to the pages of The Onion, President Trump has become the face of comedy. Some comedians and writers argue that in the Trump era, satire has become more challenging and jokes have become cheap. Trump, according to his critics, has normalized the absurd and the nature of political satire in a post-truth world. But others disagree; they argue that the president serves up comedy-gold every day, making their jobs – and the laughs they seek to elicit – easier than ever before. And, they argue, comedy is much more “woke” than it used to be, with late-night hosts and comedians playing a pivotal role in the fight for social justice. Is the president killing comedy? Or is he making the funny business ever more relevant? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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There has always been political humor, it has always been part of the political discourse,

0:37.2

while serving several functions at one time from truth telling to catharsis and also ideally

0:42.1

it's supposed to be funny.

0:44.0

Which brings us to the present moment, with the sharp spike that we are all seeing and

0:49.2

comedy that is focused on politics, and especially on the man who currently occupies the oval

0:54.2

office.

0:55.2

All of those late night monologues, the satirical cable shows, the columns and the podcasts,

0:59.9

and of course everybody and his brother is doing a Trump impersonation.

1:04.8

But this spike in comedy, how sharp, comically speaking, is it really?

1:10.2

Now, when we are so very polarized, how good and how successful is comedy at this moment,

1:16.2

not just in getting us to think, but also in getting us to laugh.

1:20.2

Well we think this has the makings of a debate, so let's have it.

1:23.2

Yes or no to this statement.

1:25.1

Trump is bad for comedy.

1:27.9

I'm John Don Van and I stand between two teams of two who are experts in this topic by

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