I’m not sure “funny” and “conservative” can ever meet or overlap. Because there is a pathos lacking in the average conservative. A conservative standup? Ouch. Maybe for a half an hour special as a one time event, ok, or a character in a broad cast ala Archie Bunker or something…But if you get into hour-long territory, it would simply leave you feeling drained, demoralized, or worse. The key to great comedy is that it doesn’t leave you feeling more disgusted by humans and humanity than when you first tuned in. And I don’t think that’s a conservative virtue.
Insane boomer slop take, can’t believe Gen-X is still pants shitting about years old MSM news. If this was a MRR interview from 1991 it might be interesting lmao
Mike Warnke was funny. I think the stumbling block between Conservatism and comedy is they can’t present any abstraction to an audience that only knows how to think in the literal. Tragic that irony is so often lost on these people, as they’re unknowingly hilarious.
Also, there was an alt-comedy show on Adult Swim that was swiftly cancelled after it was discovered the creators were righties. I don’t remember it being funny, but there was a rousing John Maus performance from a sketch set dressed as a jail cell. John Maus was at January 6th.
I think the issue is that conservative comedians tend to resort to the lowest common denominator. They get in the conservative niche and then just try to make fun of political talking points. Woke, trans, sleepy Joe or whatever they think they are supposed to mock to be accepted.
There are funny conservative comedians out there. Rob Schneider is not one of them. Maybe for some, but just being dumb isn’t funny to me. There are so many people that are just dumb in real life that I don’t need to watch a comedian do it. Like why watch the Trailer Park Boys if you can just turn on any MAGA interview and get similar content. Dennis Miller stopped being funny before he went conservative. He just became this boring thesaurus intellect. Maybe he was told he was stupid as a kid and subsequently focused his career to counter that?
But that Tommy Hitchwhatever can be funny I guess. He does rely on being mean as hell and sometimes over the top, and even if it’s not your humor, it can be funny to some. Tom Segura can be funny.
Either way, for me, I like a dry sense of humor that is also smart and makes you think. In general, I don’t think conservative comedians choose that route because their audience wouldn’t get it.
My two sense. Glad you’re kinda back Sam. Hope all is well and the new book is coming along.
I think in the grand scheme of things, we will look back on who is the best comedian, and that answer is not David Cross or Bob Odenkirk, or Paul F Tompkins. It's not any of the people who needed to pander publicly, but the one who was, for the most part, quite private about his political interests until it was covered by the media. I'd say a good comedian doesn't need to pander to political parties to get laughs, that's sort of a crutch if you ask me. No, the greatest Mr. Show comedian will always be Jay Johnston, because he doesn't attract political nuts like flies
I’m not sure “funny” and “conservative” can ever meet or overlap. Because there is a pathos lacking in the average conservative. A conservative standup? Ouch. Maybe for a half an hour special as a one time event, ok, or a character in a broad cast ala Archie Bunker or something…But if you get into hour-long territory, it would simply leave you feeling drained, demoralized, or worse. The key to great comedy is that it doesn’t leave you feeling more disgusted by humans and humanity than when you first tuned in. And I don’t think that’s a conservative virtue.
I feel like the best answer to this is Tim Heidecker's surreal send-up, "An Evening With Tim Heidecker". It's on YouTube.
Insane boomer slop take, can’t believe Gen-X is still pants shitting about years old MSM news. If this was a MRR interview from 1991 it might be interesting lmao
saying "MSM news" while calling others boomer lmaoooo
Mike Warnke was funny. I think the stumbling block between Conservatism and comedy is they can’t present any abstraction to an audience that only knows how to think in the literal. Tragic that irony is so often lost on these people, as they’re unknowingly hilarious.
Also, there was an alt-comedy show on Adult Swim that was swiftly cancelled after it was discovered the creators were righties. I don’t remember it being funny, but there was a rousing John Maus performance from a sketch set dressed as a jail cell. John Maus was at January 6th.
I think the issue is that conservative comedians tend to resort to the lowest common denominator. They get in the conservative niche and then just try to make fun of political talking points. Woke, trans, sleepy Joe or whatever they think they are supposed to mock to be accepted.
There are funny conservative comedians out there. Rob Schneider is not one of them. Maybe for some, but just being dumb isn’t funny to me. There are so many people that are just dumb in real life that I don’t need to watch a comedian do it. Like why watch the Trailer Park Boys if you can just turn on any MAGA interview and get similar content. Dennis Miller stopped being funny before he went conservative. He just became this boring thesaurus intellect. Maybe he was told he was stupid as a kid and subsequently focused his career to counter that?
But that Tommy Hitchwhatever can be funny I guess. He does rely on being mean as hell and sometimes over the top, and even if it’s not your humor, it can be funny to some. Tom Segura can be funny.
Either way, for me, I like a dry sense of humor that is also smart and makes you think. In general, I don’t think conservative comedians choose that route because their audience wouldn’t get it.
My two sense. Glad you’re kinda back Sam. Hope all is well and the new book is coming along.
Wait, is Tom Segura conservative? And if so, is that a recent thing?
A shame if true.
I made an account just to let you know how much I enjoyed this post.
I think in the grand scheme of things, we will look back on who is the best comedian, and that answer is not David Cross or Bob Odenkirk, or Paul F Tompkins. It's not any of the people who needed to pander publicly, but the one who was, for the most part, quite private about his political interests until it was covered by the media. I'd say a good comedian doesn't need to pander to political parties to get laughs, that's sort of a crutch if you ask me. No, the greatest Mr. Show comedian will always be Jay Johnston, because he doesn't attract political nuts like flies