November 12, 2008
The Death of Political Humor
So, there have been a lot of articles and blogposts and whatnot entertaining the speculation that political humor is about to have to go on a 4-year (at least) hiatus. Really? You think Obama has sucked all of the air out of the Funny Room? Honestly, I would just guess that people are bored and looking for any topic to fill the post-election vacuum, but let's see how the idea holds up anyway.
At first I was confused as to why no one seemed to consider that conservatives would be quick to step in with a joke or two at the expense of the new administration, but then I remembered that conservatives aren't very funny. Does anyone remember The 1/2 Hour News Hour, Fox News's answer to The Daily Show? No, because while the latter is in its thirteenth year and has been joined by an equally-successful spin-off entering its fourth year, the Fox offering flopped like a drunken diver after six months on the air. Why? It wasn't funny, so no one watched it.
Meanwhile, one example of conservative political humor that I've heard during the last week is: "So did you hear that the White House is now the Black House?" This, while lacking the caustic and embittered tone of most of what I've been hearing, sounds like something an elementary-age child dreamed up. In short, we can't expect the right-wing to pick up the slack in the humor department.
But do we really think that moderate and liberal humorists will be forced to abandon a suddenly-dry well of topical humor? Surely not, and as an example of what I mean, I present to you two hilarious videos from the past few days. The first is from a website I just discovered (236.com), and should be avoided if you find profanity offensive (there are, like, two).
The second is a clip from The Daily Show, which should answer specifically an article I saw which wondered if Stewart's comedy could survive an Obama presidency. Granted, he takes a few shots at Bush and spends the lion's share of the clip on his favorite target (the media), but there are some definite jabs in Obama's direction. Enjoy: