The host of HBO’s Real Time discusses the risks and challenges of political humor.
I cover politics for a living, but I’ve also been a fan of stand-up comedy for most of my life. Over the last five years or so, a lot of political comedy has grown stale. I keep asking myself, why is that? I’m tempted to say it’s because the Trump era was too easy for comics. And yet that’s too simple and probably just wrong. Besides, there are plenty of great comics right now. My main objection (and to state the obvious, I’m just a fan) is that much of it is predictably partisan. Don’t get me wrong, comedians can be political and funny, but the partisan comics have always bored me to death.
