Staff Reports
In today’s bizarre world of comedy, Hollywood seems to be teetering on the brink of running out of laughs. As the laughter fades from late-night talk shows and iconic sketch series, it feels like they’ve left comedy behind for a dreary land of unfunny jokes. With the comedic stylings of Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel facing the chopping block and Saturday Night Live receiving more eye rolls than chuckles, it’s evident that the so-called post-woke era of humor is facing a serious crisis.
Once upon a time, sketch comedy reigned supreme, skewering both sides of the political spectrum with clever satire. Back in the early 2000s, it was an equal-opportunity offender, and boy, did it make for some legendary belly laughs. But along came the era of wokeness, which arrived with an air of self-importance and a suitcase full of seriousness. The problem is that wokeness doesn’t leave any room for poking fun at itself, which means humor has taken a backseat in Hollywood.
In their attempt to breathe life into their lackluster humor, the writers seem to have turned to a rather outdated playbook. Reusing a Sarah Palin-esque accent and plugging into stereotypes, they’ve trotted out characters that supposedly defend a Democrat-led government shutdown. Perhaps they hoped audiences would chuckle at their one-liners, but mostly it felt like a missed opportunity. Instead of fresh jokes, they recycled material, hoping to tickle the audience’s nostalgia for better days.
Ironically, the attempted recruitment advertisement done in jest to mock the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was actually taken up and used by the very administration it was trying to lampoon. The comedy sketch’s portrayal of tough guys answering recruitment ads with zip ties in hand somehow ended up as PR material for ICE — talk about a punchline delivering in a way nobody expected! It’s almost too rich, isn’t it? Imagine that — a joke that wasn’t funny actually finding its groove by turning into real-world satire. Seems Hollywood might’ve become the unwitting author of its own ironic tragedy.
As we watch this saga unfold, it becomes clear that it’s time for comedy to evolve and embrace its roots — humor that knows no bounds and tickles both sides. The world thrives on laughter and the ridiculousness of life, and it’s high time Tinseltown remembers that comedy isn’t about picking sides; it’s about cleverly making fun of everyone and everything in equal measure. Until then, the audience might just find better laughs reading between the lines of real-world events than they do in the latest sketch intended to mock them.
