Most of us are familiar with the National Lampoon films of the 70s and 80s. But this documentary offers insight into the magazine of the same name and the questionable dynamics of modern satire.
The pathway to academic success is not always about the number of papers you’ve published. Some have found that a sense of humour can be just as useful.
Blue steel has never looked so good.
Yoan Valat/EPA
Opinion is rife as to what Aboriginal and Torres Islander humour is, even though Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been delivering it on a platter for centuries.
On January 11 1999, when Jon Stewart took over as host of The Daily Show from Craig Kilborn, no one could have predicted that, 16 years later, Stewart would become an icon of satire. Under Kilborn, the…
Over a decade ago I had no real interest in politics and current affairs. But all that changed when I unintentionally found myself watching The Daily Show for the very first time. The show was unlike anything…
Jon Stewart’s tenure at The Daily Show may ultimately be remembered more for how he skewered the mainstream media than for the laughs he generated.
Jason Reed/Reuters
Jon Stewart’s Tuesday night announcement that he’ll be leaving the Daily Show garnered an audible cry of disbelief from his live studio audience. Stewart himself was visibly emotional: “What is this fluid…
Laughter and violence have two things in common: they’re both non-verbal and they both occur when words fail.
Cloud Mine Amsterdam/Shutterstock
It should come as no surprise that comedians would feel threatened by the attack on Charlie Hebdo: the freedom to offend is the source of their livelihood, and many who have offended have been threatened…
We can now know whether this rendition of Miley Cyrus is (legally) parody.
tehchix0r
You probably don’t tend to consider any legal issues while watching Rita Ora’s recent parody of Beyonce’s 7/11 or the Chatroulette version of Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball. But there are limits to the extent…
Stephen Colbert created an extraordinary character: a right-wing, bloviating pundit who was both outrageous and adorable.
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
If you were following politics over the last few election cycles, you were most likely getting some of your information from satire. In fact, research has shown that in today’s political climate, satire…
Lad culture, and the sexism that comes along with it, is a real problem at British universities.
Danny Lawson/PA Archive
The world media cognoscenti have been on a crusade recently against a particular brand of misogyny. And their campaign has achieved some results. Controversial comedian Daniel O’Reilly just announced that…
Lisa Kudrow is back as Valerie Cherish with a second season of The Comeback.
HBO
Susan Sontag once wrote that the ultimate camp statement is, “It’s good because it’s awful”. But can camp go too far? To paraphrase a line from the 2001 film Ghost World, can something be so awful that…
Deborah Mailman and Elizabeth Wymarra play the Housewives of Naorromine in Black Comedy.
ABC
ABC’s new Indigenous sketch show Black Comedy, which premiered last night, is touted as a “show by blackfellas … for everyone”. As a blackfella, I’m not sure I agree that it is for “everyone” but that’s…
Comedian Stephen Colbert at the 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.
Reuters
John Oliver’s new program Last Week Tonight is the most recent addition to the parody news genre. Like its predecessors, the show frequently mocks American politics; for example, an attention-grabbing…
Paul Verhoeven tells tall stories in his debut Melbourne Fringe Show. Photo: Alan Moyle Photobat.
Melbourne Fringe
We might assume the stories stand-up comedians tell us are true, or at least contain a grain of truth – something their partner said, their kids did. But of course they’re often personalising their stories…
Heard the one about turning it off and on again?
Adam Ethan Crow
Computers. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you’d be hard pressed to find a person who has never experienced them in one way or another. They are part of our world, integrated into our lives through our phones and…
The acerbic, rasping performer was one of the hardest-working people in show business.
JASON SZENES/EPA
Joan Alexandra Molinksy was born in Brooklyn on June 8, 1933, to immigrants from Russia. She attended the Adelphi academy in Brooklyn, and, an excellent student, was Phi Beta Kappa at Barnard College…
Being ‘high-brow’, like Tim Key, draws in the awards.
Danny Lawson/PA
Among the 1,000 or so comedians who have been jostling for attention at this year’s Edinburgh festival fringe, two grabbed a disproportionate amount of headlines. Both occupy prime slots in big venues…
The legend Stan Laurel lives on at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.
PA/PA Archive
Any show exploring the life of early film comedian Stan Laurel could be forgiven for focusing solely on Hollywood glitz and glamour. Across a film career that spanned some 34 years with his partner Oliver…