A late-night comedy legend is coming down hard on comics for “just screaming” about their anger at President Donald Trump and not being funny, the New York Post reported.
During an interview with the Oxford Union, comedy icon Conan O’Brien said that too many comics are just launching their personal vitriol at Trump instead of going for laughs.
O’Brien said that attacking Trump for the off-the-wall things that the president says actually undermines comedy.
O’Brien said, “Some comics go the route of I’m going to just say ‘F Trump’ all the time or that’s their comedy. And I think well now…you’re being co-opted because you’re so angry. You’ve been lulled. It’s like a siren leading you into the rocks. You’ve been lulled into just saying ‘F Trump. F Trump. F Trump. Screw this guy.’ And I think you’ve now put down your best weapon, which is being funny, and you’ve exchanged it for anger.”
The former host of “Late Night” and “The Tonight Show” continued, “And that person or any person like that would say, ‘Well, things are too serious now. I don’t need to be funny.’ And I think, well, if you’re a comedian, you always need to be funny. You just have to find a way. And you just have to find a way to channel that anger into a way…because good art will always be a great weapon, will always be a perfect weapon against power. But if you’re just screaming and you’re just angry, you’ve lost your best tool in the toolbox.”
The comedy icon said that Trump’s habit of “talking crazy” actually made it difficult to satirize or parody the president.
“I’m really going on a limb here saying that’s his greatest crime. I think he’s hurt political comedy by being so outlandish himself. I think the January 6 thing is a blip compared to how much he’s hurt comedy,” O’Brien said.