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That's Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them

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A 2022 Best Comedy Book, Vulture

A rousing call for liberals and progressives to pay attention to the emergence of right-wing comedy and the political power of humor.

"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 readers––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 humorous, 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 readers through media history, text, and technique. You will find many of these comedians utterly appalling, some surprisingly funny, and others just plain weird. They are all, however, culturally and politically relevant—the American right is attempting to seize spaces of comedy and irony previously held firmly by the left. You might not like this brand of humor, but you can't ignore it.

238 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2022

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Matt Sinkiewicz

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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for WJEP.
298 reviews22 followers
May 15, 2022
Holy moly, Gutfield! gets higher ratings than Colbert. The left-wingers have relied on "that's not funny" for years to dismiss lame right-wing comedy.
"But closing our eyes doesn't make the monster go away."
The flummoxed authors, Matt Sienkiewicz and Karl Marx, think that the left-wing has overlooked the growing influence of the conservative comedy complex (Babylon Bee et al).

So what's Marx's solution? I only read the free Amazon preview so I don't know. But I will speculate that they will double-down on all the great left-wing comedy of the past such as "God'll get you for that" and "stifle yourself, Edith." If that doesn't work, there is always The Cheka: Lenin's Political Police.
Profile Image for Chris Boutté.
Author 8 books245 followers
April 30, 2022
I really wanted to check this book out for a couple of reasons. I’ve recently seen a lot of liberal YouTubers explain how comedy on the Right isn’t really doing comedy, and I think it’s a really interesting topic. I also just finished the upcoming book The Rise of the New Puritans: Fighting Back Against Progressives’ War on Fun by Noah Rothman (Coming 7/5/22), and this seemed like a good counterargument to Rothman’s book.

Sienkiewicz and Marx did an excellent job with The’s Not Funny breaking down what comedy on the Right looks like. They did a ton of research, and I can only imagine how many hours of content they had to go through. In this book, the authors cover sitcom comedy from people like Rosanne and Tim Allen, and they also discuss attempts from the Right to find their own Daily Show. You also learn about YouTubers and podcasters like Steven Crowder and Joe Rogan. Although I think it’s difficult to classify Rogan’s specific politics, he clearly panders to the Right on a regular basis with his obsession of the anti-woke. But finally, the book dives into the trolling comedy that is littered with racism, antisemitism, sexism, and worse.

Personally, I was familiar with a lot of the people the authors covered, but I definitely learned a lot that I didn’t know. I think the book was great and would definitely recommend it to my fellow liberals so they have a better idea of what’s going on. But, I also wish the book spent more time discussing why this is a problem, why liberals should care, and some possible solutions. Not that anything should have been removed from the book, but I think there could have been two or three more chapters because the middle 80% of the book is just about the people involved in comedy for the right.

Again, I really enjoyed the book, and I think the conclusion was fantastic. So, if it’s a topic you’re curious about, definitely grab a copy.
Profile Image for Nathan Shuherk.
334 reviews3,757 followers
August 13, 2022
Could’ve been aided by more media theory and less just talking through the “jokes” of the (alt) right. The descent from mainstream to extreme layout of the book was interesting to see how audiences can easily get funneled from a casual Fox News watcher into nazi endorsing comedy, but I feel like this has also been well understood outside of comedy. Definitely learned some surprising things about the rights relation to more mass media - shocking how Gutfeld ratings are so popular (more than any liberal talk show host) while not even being noticed by wider media landscape and having little to no cultural impact that’s observable
21 reviews
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August 11, 2022
I was interested in picking up this book after years of hearing liberals and progressives vaguely speculate on why conservatives are incapable of being funny. The authors here challenge this common and lazy assumption with an in-depth look at the network of comedy that attracts right wing audiences. From mainstream media to the most underground white supremacist spaces, the right is getting laughs from its target demographics. Since most liberals are shielded from this content by their own social media algorithms, they remain completely oblivious to it. Those who are aware often simply dismiss it. Sienkiewicz and Marx argue that this is self-defeating, that right wing comedy can lead to more widespread extremism on the right, and can have a real effect on electoral politics.

This book is illuminating in bringing to light the web of right wing comedy. As a young white male, I perhaps have had more exposure to some of the media discussed here than other readers, as I fall into its target demographic. However, I still found it shocking how deep this rabbit hole goes, and one can’t help but pity the authors who had to suffer through so many hours of vitriolic content to research this topic. The rise of Trumpism, hate groups like the Proud Boys, and increasing white supremacist sentiments are intertwined with comedic voices, as is shown here. The trolls who are “just joking” have plausible deniability for spreading hatred, but it serves to shift the Overton window towards more extreme rhetoric. A good case is made here that ignoring or dismissing these jokesters as they continue gaining traction is not a sound long-term strategy. What to do about it remains problematic, but putting a name to the problem is a good first step.
August 8, 2022
Super interesting and mind opening. A fairly easy and entertaining read, the intro alone really opened my eyes to the comedy systems used to advance political agendas.
1 review1 follower
August 11, 2022
I’m new to reading and this was just the book to get me started!
Profile Image for Byron Despres-Berry.
56 reviews7 followers
August 3, 2022
An up-to-date myth-buster for smug left-progressive-wannabes* like me: the authors successfully describe how right-wing comedy succeeds on its own terms, even if *we aren't watching it.
Profile Image for Paige McLoughlin.
603 reviews35 followers
July 30, 2022
Discusses the right-wing comedy complex (I have seen bits and pieces of it and I agree it isn't funny but right-wingers think it is, go figure.) anyway the three branches are from most tame paleocomedy which looks like SNL humor from the seventies and eighties, to Pundit pranksters and commentators, and finally edgelords and neonazi internet trolls. All of them are remarkably successful and profoundly unfunny.
41 reviews
October 14, 2022
Interesting view into the rightwing comedy sphere, and as someone who is extremely online and is generally familiar with most of the pundits across the political spectrum there were several people I learned about for the first time. However, I had to laugh when the author tried to claim on multiple occasions that conservatives had a "big tent" of ideologies, to quote:

"cross-referencing modes of comedy to suture together a movement that unites populists with radical individualists, libertines with religious fundamentalists, traditionalists with trolls, and
white supremacists with all of the above"

The implication here is that these groups are largely mutually exclusive but I don't agree with that premise in the slightest. There's nothing that says you can't be a populist and a radical individualist at the same time, populists just claim to be for "ordinary" people and against the "elite". Despite the claim that libertarians are fundamentally opposed to religious fundamentalists, it's been extremely rare in my experience to find a true "socially liberal" self-proclaimed libertarian in the wild (I've yet to meet or see one that will defend trans rights for example) and the Libertarian party in the US is rather socially conservative. I don't see how trolls could not also be traditionalists (look at Katelyn Bennett and Liberty Hangout for a prime example, 4chan is chock full of trad trolls as well) and white supremacy is deeply entwined with all the groups named above.
Profile Image for Grant.
614 reviews2 followers
May 30, 2023
Sinkiewicz and Marx have done a pretty good job in painting a basic map of the ‘right wing’ comedy space and where their attempts at and sometimes funny humour comes from.

They do spend a little too much time on the more light shock jock and sitcom comedians at the start and sometimes miss the mark on the context of Bill Burr but it really starts to get going when they delve into the more extreme side of things.

When discussing alt right YouTube comedians and pundits they give a good analysis of what people like Shapiro, Crowder and Rogan consider comedy whilst wrapping up a little too quick on the more extreme side of pundits like Fuentes.

Overall you’re left with a better understanding of how the ‘right’ floods the market with their humour to mask some pretty horrendous ideas but it feels like it’s lacking in explaining how people can be sucked into the rabbit hole of misinformation perpetuated by the humour of the ‘right’.

It could’ve used a chapter on billionaire and millionaire backed thinks tanks and astroturf groups that have been funding a lot of the content as well as a bit more time discussing the hypocrisy and grifting shown by most ‘right wing’ pundits, who mostly don’t even believe what they say.
20 reviews
June 6, 2023
Agenda-based propaganda masquerading as a neutral pop-psych book for all audiences. It is not. This book "That's Not Funny" is such an appallingly biased piece of pandering identity-politics nonsense that I literally had to stop reading it a few chapters in. I almost never do that with books.
I'm going to type out word-for-word the very last paragraph that I read out of this book (page 68) that finally made me slam the covers shut in disgust once and for all, vowing to simply not read even one more sentence further. Here is the handwringing word-salad hysteria as it appears in the book verbatim, judge for yourselves:

"Cars in 'Last Man Standing' represent a romanticized patriarchal past in which the conservative cultural capital of cars smooths over pesky issues like prejudice, racism, and systematic inequality. They also serve as a winking opportunity to reassert the centrality of whiteness in the show's universe."
Profile Image for Matthew Ferro.
87 reviews1 follower
May 28, 2024
I'll round up to 4 stars because I'm feeling generous.

Sinkiewicz provides a really in depth view of right wing comedy, its slow rise on cable TV and meteoric rise on podcasts and the internet as more avenues open up for folks with controversial opinions, and more listeners having a safe space to engage in them.

His argument is interesting. Especially regarding Trump, left wing comics couldn't use satire to make comedy more ridiculous than real life. So they often stayed away from comedy entirely, manifesting in Stephen Colbert's tearful late night monologue after Biden's win that Trump refused to acknowledge. That comedic void allows the right to thrive. If you're looking to engage in political comedy, the right is the only place you can find it. That leads to you being sucked into the right wing comedic universe that ranges from free speech libertarian to hard right Nazis.

His argument that the left should let up a little bit on cancel culture to prevent more people from entering the right wing universe was unconvincing, and while the history was informative I wish a bit more academic and psychological rigor was put into the argument.
Profile Image for Jess.
544 reviews14 followers
December 14, 2023
This was REALLY interesting - could have gone farther, and the conclusion felt weak - essentially that "liberal" comedy needs to pander more/make itself more fun/cannot react sadly to sad things (citing Colbert breaking during opening monologue after 2016 election) to not alienate people/conservatives are better at always staying "funny" - easy to stay funny when the foundation of your belief system if that your own supremacy (this book only references white cis men rightwing "comedians"). There's so much humor theory about mental health/suffering/surviving old or ongoing social downtroddenness being the source of comedy for so many success comedians who ultimately are finding joy in making people laugh - so WHAT is funny, aside from hate speech, from people who are not really suffering/are only suffering delusion ally i.e. thinking BLM devalues white lives? Most of the conservative comedians explored here are objectively unfunny (except if youre into hate speech) - would have loved going further.
Profile Image for Michael.
Author 46 books30 followers
March 19, 2023
An incredibly valuable book well worth everyone's attention. The authors introduce the readers to the very real concept of right-wing comedy, and if you're unfamiliar with that ecosystem, they bring you up to speed not only on its existence but also its popularity. Right-wing readers will surely already be familiar with a lot of these references, but many of us will have our eyes opened to a subculture that we really need to understand and know more about. By the end of the book, we learn about the extreme right-wing websites that, let's face it, present "comedy" that is rooted in hate. But we must be educated about this world if we are to act properly. This book is a must-read for everyone.
Profile Image for Thomas.
229 reviews4 followers
December 7, 2022
A fascinating and often humorous tour of the right wing comedy complex. This books two main points are 1. Conservative comedy exists and it is funny to conservatives, and 2. Liberals need to start taking their own comedy more seriously unless they want comedy writ large to be overtaken by hateful conservative comedy in the near future.

These points are proven by taking the reader through right wing comedy from Fox News down to the depths of Nazi podcasts. An excellent case is made for the need to understand how these jokes are funny to conservatives and the role that humor plays in unifying the right and funneling people further and further into extremist beliefs.
Profile Image for Elliott.
378 reviews71 followers
January 21, 2024
This book really didn’t have to be written. Right wing comedy is a repetition of the same two or three jokes. It “works” just like everything else in the right wing outrage machine: a talking head will highlight something as “owning the libs” and then their audience all marches in goose step convinced that some video, or buying and immediately destroying a Keurig will cause Berkeley students to seethe at their gender studies class the following day. That’s how Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” managed to peak at number 1 on the music charts for about a week until they collectively moved on to the next thing.
Profile Image for Kevin Schafer.
138 reviews2 followers
December 18, 2023
Pretty sure I found this through the New Yorker.

Subject matter is dry at times but the book hit a particular happy spot in my twisted mind-conservatives and their attempts at humor are legitimately pretty fascinating, and the authors do a great job of cataloging and classifying the worst type of people out there. The chapter following how various sub-groups (with a focus on increasingly extreme believers), legitimize and play off each other is well done and thought-provoking.

Could have had a chapter on DJT but there always a sequel.

Profile Image for Petty Lisbon .
360 reviews4 followers
January 31, 2024
I enjoyed this book. I think it did a great job at showing how the end of monoculture has made anyone slightly liberal ignore what right wing pundits and entertainers do to try to make their ideas more appealing and focus on the cringe instead of the technique. I liked the gateway writing style the book used from more basic has beens leading people to Q-Anon level conspiracy theorists on the internet. The examples were well researched and I liked that there was a history of failed launches and that everything included a "so what?" explanation.
Profile Image for fren.
63 reviews
November 23, 2022
If you haven't been into the political discourse in the past few years and havent been chronically logged in, this book could speak to you.

For the rest of us, this book just confirmed what we already knew. Though it was interesting to see how highly rated these shows are.

Loved this part "the right is often bound less by a common ideological thread than by a shared antagonism to its political opponents."
Profile Image for J.J. Lair.
Author 6 books50 followers
December 2, 2023
A study of right wing humor. Often discarded as mean spirited or boring, this book goes into several names and shows. The author is funny when he introduces each section. He makes several places sound interesting. Gutfield. The Bee.
He goes into how liberal humor pokes fun at certain people vs. the right doing the same thing. He points out how “owning” people is turning humor around. He goes into how some things are juvenile and ignorant, but it has an audience.
Profile Image for Jessica.
633 reviews19 followers
January 22, 2023
This was a unique and interesting listen for sure as I was aware of some of these right-wing comedy personas but not really in-depth knowledge. While this didn't make me want to subscribe to their channels or watch their shows, it was a good insight into the intention of these comedians and how humor is still used in more conservative circles to poke fun at the more liberal view points.
Profile Image for Kai Van.
719 reviews21 followers
July 14, 2023
a pretty decent look at the history of modern right-wing comedy and how it attracts/gears towards its specific audience & common joke styles.
62 reviews
August 11, 2022
The book’s premise
Is completely misleading & biased. This bias is displayed in the first page of the introduction when it insults anyone who likes conservative humor. Such a shame b/c the actual premise of the book would have been interesting if the book hadn’t insulted its subject from page one.
June 26, 2023
Could it have included some media theory instead of simply platforming the right's comedy? Definitely. But it would have to be a trade-off vs. how engaging and convincing it is in its arguments.

When it comes to my political alignment, I unwaveringly side with the Left. So it was natural that I, like so many of my peers, assumed that the right simply doesn't 'get' comedy.

There's been a monumental rise of the right-wing comedy complex and barely anyone on the left has noticed because of our vacuum-sealed echo chambers.

If you're willing to let your guard down for a minute, you'll see that a good chunk of right-winged comedians are actually funny. Vile and disgusting no doubt, but funny nevertheless. Someone deep-rooted in their ideology wouldn't be swayed by comedy from either the left or the right; but casual comedy fans are flocking to the right, and it's time we dug deep and found out why.

You can't undo any propaganda without understanding how it works. And that's exactly what this gem unlocks.

The only drawback here is that the book mainly focuses on the American Right, and doesn't (not even as a footnote) observe similar parallels taking place in other mainstream entertainment industries. However, there are enough and more citations towards the end for further reading.

An absolute must-read for anyone who enjoys exploring the world of entertainment with a sociopolitical lens.
7 reviews1 follower
February 17, 2024
A good look at the "right wing comedy complex" but one I thought that missed a few crucial concepts and overall made right wing comedy seem too much like a "pipeline". Drove some good conversation at least.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews

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