What Will the American Political Divide Do to Standup Comedy?
Standup has been dormant for the last ten months thanks to a global pandemic. What will it be like when it comes back? What effect will all the madness we’ve seen have on the art? We don’t know the future, but here’s what we do know.
The Rural/Urban Divide is Widening.
America has become more divided than ever and the line isn’t just ideological. It’s geographical. (Biden’s Win Shows Rural-Urban Divide Has Grown Since 2016 on NPR).
That geographical line has always existed for standup, though. Here’s Marc Maron speaking about “the road” (vs. cities) in the documentary I Am Road Comic (here on Amazon)
It’s a rare comic that can maintain their point of view with years on the road. Because the expectation is, by the club owner, and by the audience, is to […] do something those crowds will like. […] It’s very easy to be accommodating and efficient as opposed to unique and original.
If the road is still a good place to make money when standup comes back, we might see comics who have an in-town set that’s pro BLM and a road set that’s pro Trump. That’ll be a hard line to walk if you get called out on Twitter.
The Divide Will Get Worse, And The Right Will Get More Violent
Tired of comparisons of Trump and Hitler? Fine, try The Dreyfus Affair instead. Here, The Atlantic details what the nationalist/anti-semitic rift did to French politics in the late 19th century. (France Knows How This Ends)
The upshot: the right will continue to not only deny reality but be enraged by it. They will do anything to stay in power. When they lose legitimately, they will resort to violence.
I don’t need to convince you of any of this: you either see it in the news or, because you are yourself a right winger, you deny the concept of truth. What does that mean for comics?
I Think Standup Will Push to the Right, But The Industry Won’t
While it might be uncomfortable to get called out on Twitter for sounding too Trumpy in town, it’ll be even more uncomfortable to get your ass kicked for sounding too liberal at a small-town money gig, or to be blackballed from comedy clubs because conservatives call in bomb threats if you get booked.
This will be a great time for straight white male comedians who sound like Trumpers, but say they’re “just asking questions.” I think it’ll be harder for unique, original comics from the city to support themselves solely as comedians.
That said, I think the major upgrade paths for comedians — film, tv, SNL type stuff— will remain left-leaning at least for the foreseeable future. We may see those “I’m just asking questions” road comics plateau while more left-leaning in-town comics are able to leapfrog to half hours and hours on streaming.
If so, someone will probably create a right-focused streaming service to correct that gap. Honestly, I’m surprised there isn’t already a Fox/OANN/Newsmax version of Netflix already. The only problem for that service will be the same problem Fox has currently: getting attacked by even more conservative alternatives like OANN and Newsmax. Maybe that’s why Conservative Netflix doesn’t already exist: the right can’t agree how right they should be.
Whatever happens, I think, while the previous few years seemed hard we might find out they weren’t so bad.
