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Will Heath / NBCU / Getty Saturday Night Live Turns the Big Lie Into a Big Farce
On the show, at least, Donald Trump is back.
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Tim Mosenfelder / Getty Norm Macdonald Wanted Laughter, Not Applause
The late comic’s best work exemplified his resistance to cheap, easy material, but also his utter unpretentiousness.
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Getty; Paul Spella / The Atlantic How 9/11 Changed What Americans Laugh At
The attacks altered the course of modern comedy, fueling the rise of political satire as a form of mainstream entertainment.
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Will Heath / NBC Saturday Night Live Is Over It
The show’s first episode back after a chaotic six weeks in American politics was the equivalent of a giant shrug.
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@crayzrah / @trejokes / @_therealnesha_ / TikTok / … Forget SNL. The Best Election Satire Is on TikTok.
The app’s young creators are outshining mainstream political comedy—and tapping into a longer tradition of Black American humor.
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Will Heath / NBC Dave Chappelle Doesn’t Think America Is Saved
After four years, the comedian returned to host Saturday Night Live. In 16 minutes, he explained why a new president alone won’t fix the country.
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Amazon Studios The New Borat Movie Is Less a Satire Than an Exposé
The bumbling provocateur who stormed the United States in 2006 has now become an unlikely voice of reason.
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HBO Max The Radical Exposure of Amy Schumer
The miniseries Expecting Amy captures the comedian’s complicated pregnancy with extreme honesty.
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Hulu Palm Springs Is the Comedy of the Summer
The new Hulu movie is about feeling endlessly trapped—and finding happiness anyway.
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Getty / The Atlantic One of America’s Fiercest Media Critics Is Back With a Warning
Jon Stewart on his new satirical film, Irresistible, and the simplistic narratives that fuel the U.S. political system
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Merie W. Wallace / HBO Insecure Is Finally Growing Up
Four seasons in, Issa Rae’s HBO show is becoming the friendship study it was always trying to be.
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Paul Spella / The Atlantic The King of Comedy Is Okay With Not Being Funny
Judd Apatow on making a dramatic movie that feels fitting for the current moment: “It’s about trauma, first responders, how families deal with loss.”
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Everett Collection The Sitcom Dad Who Made Grouchiness Into an Art Form
The actor Jerry Stiller, who died yesterday at age 92, was unforgettable as the irascible Frank Costanza on Seinfeld.
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Mindy Tucker Sarah Cooper Has Mastered the Trump Joke
The comedian had used TikTok only a handful of times before her impersonation of the president garnered 15 million views. Now it’s making her rethink her routine.
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Netflix The Times Have Changed. Seinfeld Hasn’t.
There’s something soothing about watching a comedian who has been telling the same jokes for decades.
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NBC The Surreal Comforts of the SNL Quarantine Episode
Hosted by COVID-19 survivor Tom Hanks and filmed remotely, the show’s latest broadcast is a cultural document of the times.
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Steve Granitz / Gregg DeGuire / Getty / … We’re All Larry Davids Now
Who isn’t suspicious of other people, overtly worried about hygiene, and trigger-happy with a bottle of hand sanitizer?
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Simoul Alva The Perfect Quarantine Joke Is Not About Quarantine
Comedy, the adage goes, is tragedy plus time. But in this pandemic, even humor has no idea what the future holds.
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Netflix Marc Maron’s End-of-the-World Anxiety
In his new Netflix special, End Times Fun, the comedian turns his attention to angst during ongoing crisis, with uncanny timeliness.
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Ike Edeani / The New York Times / … Lena Waithe and When Black Artists Make Mediocre Art
The writer’s new series, Twenties, makes fun of entertainment that is diverse but middling—a criticism her own work has faced.
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