For some reason, the worse things seem to get, the better our humor turns out to be.
When writing about this dynamic, Kurt Vonnegut specified that “All I really wanted to do was give people the relief of laughing.” It is from that framework that I implore my fellow New Yorkers: go see Laughing Liberally’s This Ain’t No Tea Party!
Saying they have an all star cast doesn’t do it justice (and Living Liberally founder, Justin Krebs, deserves all sorts of props for putting it together). There just isn’t a comparison, as you can’t find a more politically astute lineup of comedians. Anywhere.
It’s not even just that it was funny. For a liberal activist like myself, I was able to check out a lineup featuring people that are part and parcel of the activist community itself.
For instance, last night included Baratunde Thurston from the Onion who I knew from the Voter Suppression wiki, Katie Halper who embodies all that is awesome and is around at tons of Living Liberally and Manhattan Young Democrats events, Jamie Kilstein who’s Brooklyn based Citizen Radio (co-hosted with his wife Allison Kilkenny) is indispensable, and Elon James White of This Week in Blackness who is around at all sorts of New Organizing Institute events.
Plus, the night included Jamie Jackson singing Tea Party songs in a dress, and summing up the whole night, Jim David describing how refreshing it is to have an audience like us---as the typical comedy crowd just can’t handle nearly as incisive of commentary.
So if you’re in New York and could use the relief of laughing in light of the damage the Tea Party has done, check out the latest off broadway production from Laughing Liberally!
Take advantage of the one good thing the Tea Party has provided us, as they’ve made it entirely justifiable to laugh at them, and let's just hope one day we can laugh with them.