Clown nostril on … or off? It’s a query many comics are asking themselves at the moment.
This isn’t Cancel Tradition redux. It’s the Unusual New Respect comedians are receiving throughout the cultural panorama. And it comes with severe strings hooked up.
Simply ask Invoice Burr, one in every of many comics hounded by followers and fellow stand-ups for performing on the current Riyadh Comedy Pageant in Saudi Arabia. The hard-charging Burr is a part of a rebellious stand-up class, the reality tellers who thumb their noses on the woke mob … and thrive.
Why would he money in on a gig funded by a suffocating regime?
Fellow members, together with Aziz Ansari, have confronted comparable warmth. The host of “Jimmy Kimmel Dwell!” pressed Ansari on his inclusion within the pageant.
Burr stays defiant about his critics, calling them “sanctimonious c****.” Jessica Kirson, an overtly lesbian performer, took a unique strategy. She belatedly returned the cash she made out of taking part within the occasion.
Saudi Arabia’s file on homosexual rights is lower than stellar.
RELATED: KIMMEL PRETENDS TO CARE ABOUT FREE SPEECH
Others who took the cash and yukked it up? Dave Chappelle, Andrew Schulz, Jo Koy, Mark Normand, Louis C.Okay., Kevin Hart, Whitney Cummings, Jim Jefferies, Sebastian Maniscalco, Tom Segura and Jeff Ross.
Marc Maron, who appears to at all times discover fault with fellow comics, and David Cross skewered their friends for performing on the pageant. All of the sudden, selecting up a fats paycheck isn’t so simple as it as soon as was.
What’s a comic book to do? Extra importantly, why are we immediately holding comedians to the next commonplace?
Welcome to The Trump Impact
The Left and Legacy Media shops, however we repeat ourselves, increase any comic who pummels the president. Recall the media meltdown when CBS determined it didn’t need to preserve dropping a reported $40 million a 12 months and canceled TDS sufferer Stephen Colbert’s “Late Present.”
That appeared modest in comparison with the hair-on-fire protection of Jimmy Kimmel’s transient suspension. Did Kimmel mislead about Charlie Kirk’s murderer as a result of he thought the feedback have been humorous, or was he simply determined to attain a partisan level in any respect prices?
Conversely, recall how the press hounded Jimmy Fallon for his affable “Tonight Present” interview with then-candidate Trump in 2016. He’s been a dependable Trump critic ever since, giving a four-year move to the Biden/Harris administration.
Media shops additionally regurgitate each anti-conservative sketch “Saturday Night time Dwell” presents in a given week.
Amy Poehler’s U.S. Legal professional Common Pam Bondi refused to reply any questions and obtained some backup from Tina Fey’s Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem.
See extra: https://t.co/cqbUmFd0sa pic.twitter.com/g8t4YXhr4Y
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) October 12, 2025
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Reunite on ‘SNL’ as Kristi Noem & Pam Bondi https://t.co/t6JOesHCAQ pic.twitter.com/b7RwEsHMEB
— TMZ (@TMZ) October 12, 2025
Amy Poehler, Tina Fey reunite in ‘SNL’ chilly open to mock Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem https://t.co/pZesIVSbWO
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 12, 2025
That reward system is one motive why comedians shifted aggressively to the Left following the 2016 presidential marketing campaign. That protection turned monologue jokes into cultural markers, suggesting their significance outstripped any momentary laughs.
The 2024 presidential election outcomes solely heightened this environment, however with a shock twist.
Pundits gave comics like Joe Rogan, Tim Dillon, Tony Hinchcliffe and Andrew Schulz partial credit score for Trump’s electoral victory. The podcasters hosted both Trump or future Vice President J.D. Vance, providing principally softball queries within the course of.
That gave Workforce Trump entry to a younger, male demographic that voted MAGA in larger-than-expected numbers. Voila, the Podcast Election was born.
The Legacy Media tried to show Hinchcliffe’s Puerto Rico feedback on the finish of the 2024 presidential marketing campaign into a brand new “Seize ’em by the you-know-what” second for Trump. That effort didn’t acknowledge that the cultural winds have been not at their again.
Nonetheless, any given Rogan riff now takes on larger political significance. If he questions Trumpian insurance policies, Legacy Media reporters rush to their laptops to unfold the information. To be truthful, conservative pundits did the identical each time Rogan referred to as out President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline.
Comedians are left scrambling to steadiness conventional yuks with profound political statements. Some hope the proper quip or gag can impression the political debate. Others seemingly relish their upgraded standing.
And, as is just too typically the case, the laughs are left behind. Does anybody suppose Burr barking, “Free Luigi” is remotely humorous? Why is the time period “clapter” on everybody’s lips?
Clown nostril on … or off?
That phrase as soon as utilized principally to “Each day Present” host Jon Stewart. The fake information anchor bounced from courtroom jester to severe journalist, whichever served his partisan pursuits.
Query his details or line of reasoning? Hey, I’m only a comic (clown nostril on). Even Invoice Maher, probably the greatest satirists on the scene, falls again on that protection when cornered.
Some comics seem more and more uncomfortable with the New Regular. Burr is clearly miffed at having to defend himself for taking a comedy gig, and he bristled when a journalist pressed him on his politically charged feedback earlier this 12 months.
Kirson didn’t take the gig, anticipating to present again the cash later.
Theo Von, following a disturbing on-stage meltdown, advised followers he had no want to kill himself. Rogan engages extra immediately with political headlines now, sometimes contradicting himself within the course of.
Different comics relish the Unusual New Respect.
The place would Colbert and Kimmel be and not using a fawning press and followers ready for his or her subsequent, wildly predictable Trump gag? Media shops all however acknowledged that Colbert’s first Emmy win final month was a comfort prize for dropping his job.
‘The Late Present with Stephen Colbert’ wins the #Emmy for Excellent Speak Collection. The group chants his title as he takes the stage as a winner for the primary time since 2014. pic.twitter.com/b7zqiaGW1b
— New York Journal (@NYMag) September 15, 2025
Others, like Von, Burr, Rogan and Kirson, are navigating the shifting cultural winds with care. Right here’s betting others are doing the identical, however silently.
There’s an actual hazard on this cultural transition, at the very least to a comic book’s credentials. Political satire is a noble artwork and boasts a grand custom. Assume Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Invoice Hicks and Dick Gregory.
The most effective of the most effective by no means go away laughs behind. In addition they do their homework, so the jokes ring true. That’s a important part of political humor.
Propagandists like Colbert and Kimmel typically fail that check. Miserably.
Kimmel simply advised his viewers that Antifa doesn’t exist, whereas Colbert stated Democrats don’t need to spend our cash on well being take care of unlawful immigrants. That’s neither humorous nor correct.
These political comics could savor their bigger profiles within the Trump period. In the event that they preserve mistaking speaking factors for punch traces, they’ll face more and more smaller crowds. And that’s not humorous in any respect.
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