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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   2419 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 23, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Is Jon Stewart funny again? There's one laugh out loud moment here for sure, wait for it. https://x.com/ShrinkGov/status/1827083570420351377

I loved him during the Bush years, but once his team "won" he sort of just lost his mojo. Now he's ripping on the regime again. Love to see it.

He's been funny since he came back imo, starting with the COVID stuff, but the schtick is a bit old at this point.

Still, better an old tired routine than utterly wingcucked and sanitised garbage.

I don't mind political humor as long as it isn't laser-focused to sway my vote because of some misperceived social responsibility to be both funny and have the high ground. I think I'd like Steven Colbert as a man, like if I knew the actual guy, but he seems to be almost religiously democrat (unless he's changed recently) and that really prevents me from enjoying his comedy as I'm just waiting for his next hymn to Biden/Kamala (or whoever).

I remember Stewart in an interview chiding the later-year members of Crossfire (Tucker Carlson and I think Bob Novak) that their polarizing rhetoric was "destroying America" but then his own whole schtick became extremely partisan. My last straw was when he dialed back and accused his past self of "shitty and reductive" views on transgender issues, to wild applause. Know your audience, I guess.

I enjoyed the linked clip and once again feel like Twitter and its ability to raise my blood pressure (by reading responses) must in the end be a net negative for at least the Western world, maybe everybody.

I like the early years of The Daily Show well enough, but later on I think Stewart lost his way. He seemed to have forgotten that he was an entertainer, and prioritized political commentary above actually being funny. Early on the show was political yes, but it was funny first and foremost.

I think the difference between Tucker Carlson on Crossfire and Jon Stewart on Comedy Central is that CNN claimed (not sure they claim this anymore) to be a nonpartisan news source. The people who watched CNN watched it thinking that they were watching the news (a lively/inflamed version of the news, but the news nonetheless). Meanwhile, those who watched The Daily Show knew they were watching a comedy program. He makes this very point during his appearance on Crossfire.

Things are probably different now. I don’t think anyone turns on FoxNews, MSNBC, or CNN thinking they are getting nonpartisan unadulterated news.

I think Colbert's problem is that he's a sketch comic who kind of fell into political humour because of the Daily Show. He was doing a sort of Bill O'Reilly parody, but The O'Reilly Factor ended in 2017 and lost relevance long before that.

So fundamentally he's not big into thinking about politics and coming up with jokes based on that. He just goes along with whatever the current Dem talking points are and writes jokes around that.

Yeah, he built his reputation during the Bush years as a courageous comic speaking truth to power. Who can forget his appearance at the White House Correspondents Dinner?

But Bush left office 16 years ago. Now, instead of speaking truth to power, Colbert is punching down against rubes and rednecks. And it just comes off as cringe.

Stewart seems to have more of his own voice and humanity, whereas Colbert was a monster with no empathy all along.

I think Stewart benefitted from stepping out of the spotlight right before everyone went insane. He was still in "fuck off I'm on vacation" mode during that first round of TDS, and I wonder if that partially inoculated him against the brain rot that hit most of the rest of the late night circuit.

I've never been a fan of his "clown nose on, clown nose off" shtick, but Stewart definitely seems like he's got a bit more perspective nowadays than the rest of his peers.

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