On this edition of Parallax Views, Nick Marx returns to the program to discuss his new book, co-authored with Matt Sienkiewicz, entitled That’s Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them about what could be called the emerging right-wing comedy complex. Marx and Sienkiewicz argue that a niche has emerged for right-wing comedy that’s proving useful for the pursuing the political agenda of the American right. In this conversation we discuss:
– The “paleo-comedy” of figures like Tim Allen and his sitcom Last Man Standing, the reboot Rosanne, the shades of paleo-conservatism within “paleo-comedy”, and how it targets a “boomer” demographic
– The rise of Greg Gutfeld from the ostensibly surrealist, even countercultural Red Eye to his latest Fox News show Gutfeld!; how Gutfeld’s show is less about policy than “owning the libs” with a carnival-esque aesthetic
– Steven Crowder of Louder With Crowder and right-wing comedy as a niche market that can also be used recruit young people to the American right-wing
– The far-right of the right-wing comedy complex: Sam Hyde, Million Dollar Extreme, and Bronze Age Pervert; trolling in right-wing comedy
– Is Joe Rogan and the Joe Rogan Experience part of the right-wing comedy complex?
– Thoughts on Dave Chappelle
– Right-wing comedy branding itself as countercultural, edgy, and “cool”
– How the book is not an endorsement of the humor of the right-wing comedy complex, but rather addressing how the complex works politically; the punching up vs. punching down humor debate
– Right-wing comedy and manufactured outrage
– The era of liberal/left-wing comedy with Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart and how the right-wing comedy complex became a niche
– And much, much more!
