The Birth and Death of Political Comedy with Jeff Maurer (S3 Ep.6)

My guest today is Jeffrey Maurer. Jeffrey has been a comedy writer, a speechwriter, and a stand-up comic. He was the senior writer for John Oliver's show Last Week Tonight. Jeffrey is now a substack writer and his substack is called I might be wrong. In this episode, we talk about the rise of political comedy in America, how political polarisation has changed American television, the problem of preachiness in comedy both on the right and the left, and the fine line between funny and offensive. We also discussed the mechanics of joke writing, the culture of the comedy cellar (which is my favorite comedy club), and the importance of laughter. We go on to speak about how wokeness hurts the Democratic Party, the cancellation of Winston Marshall formerly of the band Mumford and Sons, how Democrats could win in the midterms, gender pronouns, audience capture, and much more. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.