What Is the Comic For?

Dave Chappelle’s new Netflix special, “The Dreamer,” has drawn criticism for its targeting of trans and disabled people–the latest in a string of controversies, and of increasingly self-referential sets. His and other standup comics’ growing fixation with cancel culture raises a pressing question: What is the role of the comic today? In this episode of Critics at Large, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz trace how comedians have positioned themselves in relation to their audiences over time, from the proto-standup acts of the vaudeville era to the political humor of the legendary George Carlin, who paved the way for the success of Jon Stewart and “The Daily Show.” Where Chappelle and Ricky Gervais are doubling down in the face of backlash, comedians like Jacqueline Novak and John Mulaney are finding new ways to expose societal fault lines in order to bring the crowd to a place of cohesion. But in the era of the culture wars, do we want to be challenged, or affirmed? “Whatever comedy is now, needs willing and predetermined audiences—people that are there to pay attention to a certain kind of thing,” Cunningham says. “If what we want is a kind of shattering of whatever mythologies surround us, maybe it’s not the best for that.”

Read, watch, and listen with the critics:

“Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer” (2023)
“Ricky Gervais: Armageddon” (2023)
“Chappelle’s Show” (2003-06)
“Jacqueline Novak: Get on Your Knees” (2024)
“Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars,” by Kliph Nesteroff
“I Love Lucy” (1951-57)
“George Carlin’s American Dream” (2022)
“The Daily Show” (1996-)
“Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture–and the Magic That Makes It Work,” by Jesse David Fox
“John Mulaney: Baby J” (2023)
“The Anxious Precision of Jacqueline Novak’s Comedy,” by Carrie Battan (The New Yorker) “Jenny Slate: Stage Fright” (2019) “Chris Rock: Bigger & Blacker” (1999)

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