Street art in Edinburgh depicting Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Kim Jong un as babies playing with toys.
Alan Wilson / Alamy Stock Photo
A new documentary pokes fun at the regime and it’s leader, but are there risks to laughing at North Korea?
Sometimes lameness – not laughter – is the point.
AHPhotoswpg/iStock via Getty Images
Cringe, corny and awkward − what’s not to love?
ABC
ABC comedy series White Fever highlights a type of racism that is nuanced and hard to detect, but is just as harmful to people of colour.
Netflix
The greater crimes in the show are committed by Darrien – yet these are not the show’s main pitch.
Netflix
Stand-up comedy has always been autobiographical, but now a new generation of comedians are adapting their lives (or some version of it) into scripted series.
A woman walks by the Just for Laughs festival at the Quartier des Spectacles, in July 2021 in Montréal.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Expanding the circulation of our comedic content and continuing to invest in the production of stand-up specials — which is relatively low cost — could hugely boost the careers of Canadian comedians.
Larry David, the creator and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
John Johnson/HBO
Larry David has called time on the misanthropic cult TV comedy classic after 12 seasons and 120 episodes.
Ollyy/Shutterstock
Ever find bloopers funnier than the show? I research psychology, and here is the science behind your laughter.
Maslow Entertainment
With its occult themes, ’70s nostalgia and some AI controversy thrown into the mix, it’s easy to see why the film was a US box-office success.
Lydia West and Nicola Coughlan in Big Mood.
Channel 4
This show has lots to say about the confusing time of life in your 30s, when some friends are settling down while others have just booked tickets for a pagan festival.
Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan star as two unlikely friends on a road trip.
Focus Features / Universal Pictures
Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s odd-couple road movie caper shows just how far lesbian film has come in the last century.
Matu Ngaropo and Ahunim Abebe in Bell Shakespeare s A Midsummer Nights Dream. Photo by Brett Boardman.
I took my young son Heathcliff to the show, and his perspective helped me see it through a kid’s eyes.
Comedian Chuck Nice and his daughter crack jokes in a video about a serious topic: climate change.
Inside the Greenhouse/University of Colorado-Boulder
Jokes can be a healing contagion as they expose hypocrisy, spark laughter and open minds.
Mark Maslin and Jo Brand Climate Science Translated.
Climate Science Breakthrough
Climate scientist Mark Maslin pairs up with comedian Jo Brand to explain the urgency of the climate crisis. Together, they find that humour cuts through in ways that plain facts just can’t.
Lorne Michaels holding one of his Emmy Awards in 2022.
Danny Moloshok/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images
The show has served as the nation’s laugh track for decades. Who will take over when he retires?
Mathieu Bitton/Netflix
In The Dreamer, Chapelle laughs at disability, bisexuality and gay men. But his jokes continue to come back to one target: the transgender community.
Rich Fury/AP/AAP
The death of Matthew Perry has seen old and new fans reflect on the legacy of a television classic.
Mark Senior
Written by comedian Harry Hill, it’s a hectic hour-and-a-half of high-energy songs and skits.
Showing sexism the red card.
David Canales/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The jokes, memes and skits came thick and fast – but behind the humor were serious points.
Wikimedia
The court would laugh at rather than with the fool.