Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
People, when they talk or write about comedy, they don't really get it.
Stand-up comedy and comedy in general is the ultimate form of free speech, because you get to poke holes in all the pretentious bubbles politicians and pundits and popes and pretenders try to float over our heads.
All comedians are, in a way, anarchists. Our job is to make fun of the existing world.
Comedy often comes at the expense of others, and to do that smartly, you don't want to make fun of vulnerable people. You want to make fun of people in power, and so you need to really understand the dynamics of power.
Freedom of speech is always under attack by Fascist mentality, which exists in all parts of the world, unfortunately.
If you look at it, the history of comedy has always been strongest among the nations who have been persecuted the most.
There is no place for a person like me in a world that only takes itself seriously. Satire is so necessary but fairly ineffective.
Discourse has ended in America. It's all just shouting and ranting and demonization. Do you know how the rest of the world laughs at you guys? Have you got any idea? They're just rocking with laughter night and day.
Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.
You can not have comedy unless people are behaving badly. You can't have it.
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