Listen to a sample
That's Not Funny
- Narrator
- Keith Sellon-Wright
- Publisher
- Kalorama
- Publish Date
- 13 December 2022
- Run Time
- 8 hours 37 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Rating
- 4.0 (1 review)
What to expect
"Why do conservatives hate comedy? Why is there no right-wing Jon Stewart?" These sorts of questions launch a million tweets, a thousand op-eds, and more than a few scholarly analyses. That's Not Funny argues that it is both an intellectual and politically strategic mistake to assume that comedy has a liberal bias. Matt Sienkiewicz and Nick Marx take listeners—particularly self-described liberals—on a tour of contemporary conservative comedy and the "right-wing comedy complex."
In That's Not Funny, "complex" takes on an important double meaning. On the one hand, liberals have developed a social-psychological complex—it feels difficult, even dangerous, to acknowledge that their political opposition can produce comedy. At the same time, the right has been slowly building up a comedy-industrial complex, utilizing the irony-laden media strategies of liberals such as Jon Stewart, Samantha Bee, and John Oliver to garner audiences and supporters. Right-wing comedy has been hiding in plain sight, finding its way into mainstream conservative media through figures ranging from Fox News's Greg Gutfeld to libertarian podcasters like Joe Rogan. That's Not Funny taps interviews with conservative comedians and observations of them in action to guide listeners through media history, text, and technique.
User Reviews
Book 4.0
Narration 4.0
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4.0 4.0
An interesting analysis as to the right wing comedy sphere, its variety and how it connects to each other and how it's a threat.
It even differentiates between the different ideologies too:
- Traditionally conservative sitcoms asking why the status quo has to change
- Libertarian podcasts stretching the boundaries of good taste under the guise of free speech
- Fascist streamers pushing false and dangerous narratives
My main criticism is that it somewhat dates itself by talking about the landscape at the time of writing. I feel we could have done with historical context because right wing comedy has always been present (e.g. as a British, Jim Davidson was on the TV when I was growing up). It might help contextualise why it's so much more of a threat now.jbarn 2026-02-12
Details
- Author
- Matt Sienkiewicz, Nick Marx
- Narrator
- Keith Sellon-Wright
- Duration
- 8 hours 37 minutes
- Release Date
- 13 December 2022
- ISBN
- 9781696609333
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Kalorama
- Genre
- Humour, Politics and government
- Rating
- 4.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 4.0(1 review)
Synopsis
A 2022 Best Comedy Book, Vulture"Why do conservatives hate comedy? Why is there no right-wing Jon Stewart?" These sorts of questions launch a million tweets, a thousand op-eds, and more than a few scholarly analyses. That's Not Funny argues that it is both an intellectual and politically strategic mistake to assume that comedy has a liberal bias. Matt Sienkiewicz and Nick Marx take listeners—particularly self-described liberals—on a tour of contemporary conservative comedy and the "right-wing comedy complex." In That's Not Funny, "complex" takes on an important double meaning. On the one hand, liberals have developed a social-psychological complex—it feels difficult, even dangerous, to acknowledge that their political opposition can produce comedy. At the same time, the right has been slowly building up a comedy-industrial complex, utilizing the irony-laden media strategies of liberals such as Jon Stewart, Samantha Bee, and John Oliver to garner audiences and supporters. Right-wing comedy has been hiding in plain sight, finding its way into mainstream conservative media through figures ranging from Fox News's Greg Gutfeld to libertarian podcasters like Joe Rogan. That's Not Funny taps interviews with conservative comedians and observations of them in action to guide listeners through media history, text, and technique.
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