[upbeat music] - [Announcer] Tonight the WNET group's Exploring Hate and All Arts present 'Can I laugh at that?'

A conversation about comedy during trying times featuring comedians Alex Edelman, Negin Farsad, Mike Yard, and our host Judy Gold.

- Hi, everyone.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

I'm so excited for this event and it's gonna be awesome.

I'm Judy Gold.

Welcome to our panel discussion, Can I laugh at that?

We're talking about comedy this evening and the role comedians play during difficult times like these.

I mean come on, the country is politically polarized and paralyzed.

We're witnessing an alarming spike in antisemitism, racism, and extremism.

There's trouble at home, there's trouble abroad, and on top of all that, we're still living through a global pandemic.

These are not funny times, but humor, as Mel Brooks once said, is just another defense against the universe.

Comedy, as you'll hear tonight, has always been used as a shield to deflect anger, judgment, and hate.

And it's also a weapon.

And since ancient times, people have instinctively known that laughing is good for you.

In fact, that saying that we've all heard 1,000,000 times, laughter is the best medicine, it is so old that it's actually derived from the book of Proverbs.

But as you can imagine, the terrain can be very tricky for comedians in 2022.

Now I write all about this and more in my book 'Yes, I Can Say That: 'When They Come For The Comedians, 'We Are All In Trouble.'

Please, please buy it.

I have a kid in college.

And joining me tonight, there are three comedians who I absolutely adore, whose hilarious takes on tough topics have audiences laughing a lot and listening even more.

First up, my friend, my son, Alex Edelman, who is the star of the very critically acclaimed one man show, I would call it a one person show if I were, you know, politically correct, 'Just For Us', it is a huge hit, and in this show he discusses infiltrating a meeting of white supremacists and Queens.

He was the only Jewish person in the room.

The show has sold out multiple, multiple Off-Broadway theaters, and it's currently playing an Encore, which is not the first Encore ladies and gentlemen, and they/thems, engagement at the Greenwich House Theater in New York city, please welcome my friend, the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Alex Edelman.

- Hi, Judy.

- Hi Alex.

How are you?

- I'm in the basement of that theater right now and- - Yeah, I noticed that you were in a theater, and yeah, it's looking good.

Are you, and you're performing this evening, correct?

- Yeah, I'm performing this evening, and Judy came opening night.

Judy- - I did.

[indistinct] and came, and yes.

Nothing happens without, nothing happens worth talking about in comedy in New York without Judy Gold being there.

- Oh my God.

I will send you your... - Allowance.

- Yeah.

Yeah, right after this great event this evening.

Okay.

I love it Alex.

Negin Farsad, amazing, smart, brilliant, I guess smart and brilliant are the same, but she's more brilliant, you know.

She's the author of 'How To Make White People Laugh.'

Huffington post named her one of its 50 funniest women.

Of course I was number one.

Okay, I wasn't.

Among her many accomplishments, she directed and produced the 2012 comedy documentary, 'The Muslims Are Coming', ladies, gentlemen, they/thems, Negin Farsad.

- Hey.

- Hey Negin.

It's so great to see you.

- Oh, so good to see you.

It's also, it's so great to be introduced with a credit from 10 years ago.

- You know, I didn't write it, and as I was reading it, I thought, you know, she's done a lot of stuff- - Yeah, I know, but like, you know, I was, it would've been great if I had been cryogenically frozen in 2012 and then just reawoken today.

And then that would have been really- - But you wouldn't have a child, would you?

- That's true that I wouldn't have had a child.

- Yeah.

So maybe, yeah.

I'm sorry.

Was there anything else you'd like to say?

- No.

- Negin, you're the best.

I don't even know what to say about our next, I was gonna say contestant.

- Yeah, our next game, our next potential one.

- Our next game show contestant.

I adore, I mean, I adore Alex and Negin, but I, you know, I just love this guy.

Mike Yard was born in Saint Croix.

He moved with his family to East New York, Brooklyn in 1986.

He is hilarious and such an interesting guy.

What a life he's had.

He has appeared on everything from Def Comedy Jam to Inside Amy Schumer, and most recently, he was a writer and correspondent on Comedy Central's The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, which was a great show, and I can't believe it's not on.

My friend and lover, Mike Yard is here.

- Delicious Judy Gold.

- I love you Mike.

- Hi.

Thanks for having me, Judy.

- And you know, and I just wanna say, I have a podcast called Kill Me Now.

Everyone on this panel has been a guest.

And so you should go back and listen.

- Told you my whole life story on that one.

- You can, that's right.

You can read much more about everyone here tonight and find links to our shows and books by clicking the links in the chat.

Okay.

Everyone, I love you.

Let's get talking.

It's not, it's sort of like, I mean, it's a weird time to be a comedian, as you all know, but it's also a great time.

And I've always said that when we've had Republican presidents, the comedy was better politically.

It was much better because, we're critical thinkers and people are angry, but we had a period of four years where comedy was under assault and it's continued to be under assault.

And right now we are in a period of bad news.

I mean, it's all bad news.

People are depressed.

It's awful.

And it's, bad news has always been fodder for comedians.

I would like to start with Alex and ask him, and don't, I'm not gonna give anything away about your brilliant show Just For Us which everyone needs to see, but talking about current events and bad news, your show is rooted in your experience with online antisemitism.

- Sure.

- How has your work responded to current events, and what kind of feedback have you gotten?

- I have to say that, this might not be the answer that is expected, but I think that the, that it isn't sort of like right verse left for me at the moment.

For me it's nuance verse binary.

And so I think what's been surprising, - I love that.

- What's been surprising for people about my comedy, and by the way, I happen to fall more on the lefty side of the political spectrum.

- What?

- Yeah, I know- - Get off.

- I know it's shocking.

- I'm kidding.

- Shocking.

- Yeah.

Shocking.

- But I do think that the left that I'm a part of is guilty - Absolutely.

- In some ways of, you know, buying into, I don't wanna be like they started it, even though I do think, you know, the guy who was the last president turned the volume up to 100 on a one to 10 speaker, but like, I think what it is really is, I think the reason the show is resonating with people is that it's insistence on nuance in an environment meeting of people who, you know, who have what I feel to be White Supremacist views, and a like actual discursive environment which is the one that we live in now that insists on nuance.

Because I think that what comedy can do is parse nuance and overcome binary.

Like there are comics who I disagree with and who do jokes that I disagree with.

- [Judy] Yeah, we're, I think all of us experience that.

- Yeah, but they, but you know, sometimes the craft is good enough to merit the joke in community- - Absolutely.

Right.

- And so I think, like, I think that's something that I liked years ago and I have found in my own life to be harder to enjoy over the last couple of years.

So like, I think leaning into nuance for me has been, the reason like it's easier to do comedy when there's a Republican president is because like, comedy is inherently progressive- - Right.

- Like there's no episode of a sitcom where like, you know, they insist on, you know, a higher health premium for like, by the end, like.

- Right, right.

- People grow more warmhearted as opposed to more like pragmatic, you know.

So like, comedy is inherently progressive.

It works with a, you know, in a Republican world, but like, I don't know.

I feel like it's a- - I love that you mentioned nuance and I love, and you know, I wanna also, you know, later on talk about intent, but nuance is so important, which we don't get on a social media post.

There is no nuance.

Negin, you are known as a social justice sort of comedian.

What is, you know, how is that part of your job, and why did you make that part of your job?

And do people, how do people respond to this social job?

Because everyone is so polarized and divided, do you feel that you have this sort of special role to say things that other people can't?

- Well, okay.

So first of all, it was like 1,000,000 years ago that someone was like, oh, you're a political comic, you know, like a good journalist or something.

And I said, well, I wouldn't say I'm a political comic 'cause I'm not out here tryna write jokes about Mitch McConnell or whatever.

I feel like I'm more, you know, and I just said, I don't know, more like a social justice comedian where I'm tryna like, just write jokes about like, what things are obviously just in what things are obviously not for something.

- [Judy] Right.

- And so that was just like a distinction I made so that I didn't, that felt less partisan to me.

You know what I mean?

- Do you like having that sort of label?

- Oh it's funny because now there's like a whole thing of like social justice warriors being super annoying and all that stuff, and I can totally see that, and I don't wanna be associated as in the annoying camp.

- Right.

- So that's one thing that I- - Never would happen.

[Negin laughing] - But yeah, that's something that I don't love, but I do think, I mean, what happened to me for me personally is that like, I look like, you know, like all of us here, I have a master's degree in African American Studies and another one in Public Policy, right?

Because you need both of those- - Oh, of course I do too.

- We all have that.

- Yeah.

- I'm also an astronaut and an OB-GYN, so it's... - Right.

And like, look we all are.

And so the thing is, I got those degrees.

I was a policy advisor for the City of New York.

Like I interned for Hillary Clinton, and Charlie Rangel.

And can you guess my political affiliation?

Don't worry about it.

I'm such a hardcore Republican.

And I, so I was really deeply committed, I mean, I was committed to a life of public service, and when, you know, when it became increasingly clear that I needed to quit that job and go into comedy because I was doing comedy on the side the whole time, like, I didn't want, I didn't wanna just do this like narcissistic job.

I wanted to at least have some measure, some like my mini component of public service in what I was doing.

So that's when I sort of started, you know, look, my first job was like, you know, truly writing jokes about like, at the time of, it must have been Nick Jonas's abs, right?

Like, that's mostly, - [Judy] Right.

- But I also like- - And I did, I had a bit on that too.

[indistinct] - Who's Nick Jonas?

[Negin and Judy laughing] - You would not have been very good at this job.

- Yeah.

- But I, but, you know, so I did all of the kinda like the jobs of, with the, the kinda garbage you pop culture jobs or whatever which were great and, but I also like wanted to be able to do something and fighting for immigrant rights, you know, at like, as a mus, and the children of immigrants, like I wanted to, you know, and also this was, again, this is, you know, in the years after 9/11 when we were really steep in Islamophobia, the birther movement- - Yeah, that's changed a lot.

That's changed a lot.

- Yeah.

[panelists laughing] Yeah.

No, yeah, we're super, just cool with Muslims now.

- Yeah.

- It's done.

- Yeah.

- Thanks to everything I've done.

But I feel like, you know, it just made sense for me to be able to like, toggle between doing things about, you know, just dumb things about dating and farts, and then doing like more substantive things.

- Right.

- You know, mixing the two, and that just kinda helped me like sleep at night.

It was really mostly that.

- I love it.

You're hilarious.

And your clock is wrong by the way, but it'll be right twice a day.

So, - It doesn't work.

- Mike, Mike, - Yes.

Yes cutie.

- You, I thought, you are an anomaly to me, because first of all, you're so smart and your jokes are so smart.

Your comedy is so smart.

- So good.

- Well, thank you.

- And yet, you know, you are not, you know, people expect one thing from you when you get on stage, I'm sure, and they get, not what they're expecting.

And when you wrote for Larry Wilmore, your take on current events, it wasn't what, you know, I think the guests, I don't think people expected you to have the opinions you have, which are all based on your life experience.

But what I love about your comedy and something that you have said is that, you know, you, I'm sorry.

- Sorry.

My phone just fell.

Sorry.

- Oh my God.

I'm just...

Forget that.

- Go ahead.

- You have said that comedy is a good way to start and have a conversation, and your comedy is very conversational.

What do you think is the most important conversation, or not just one thing, that you can have, or what is the conversation you would love to have after, you know, someone sees your standup?

- Well, thank you for saying that because I, when I started comedy, that was my goal.

I wanted my comedy to come off like a conversation, like you were in my living room and we were just having a little chat, you know, but I was the only one talking, you know.

That's how I wanted it to come off so I worked very hard at that, but I think that the reason people don't expect me, like, that's why I had, I got into a big fight with Al Sharpton on The Nightly Show because I said some stuff that he was shocked at, but I'm very practical and very logical.

I don't deal, really when it comes to things that affect my life, I don't let emotions control it, and I feel like this is where we're at right now.

It's all about emotion.

Nobody's talking to each other.

We're just mad right now, and we're throwing tantrums, and we've been throwing tantrums for a while.

So what I try to do is I don't speak judgmentally.

You know, when I come in, I really wanna know why it is that you believe these things that you believe, and I'm not tryna judge you.

I really just wanna know why, because here's why I don't.

- [Judy] Right.

- And then I- - You have this- - And then I'll lay out.

- This curiosity that is infectious.

Absolutely.

- Yeah.

I think that's the only way we can talk to each other.

Instead of pointing fingers, ask 'em why?

Why do you believe, why do you believe Donald Trump so much?

Why?

- Right.

- When all of this is out there, explain to me what it is that you're, that, that you're looking, that you're getting from him.

You know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- That's how I try to approach it instead of, you know, 'cause I wouldn't wanna sit in the audience and feel like somebody's judging me, and I don't have any malice for anybody in my heart.

- Right.

- I just wanna know, if you hate Black people, why?

Let's talk.

- Right.

And I love that approach.

This is a question for all of you.

What do you, you know, George Carlin of course said that it's the comedian's job to find the line- - Good job of the documentary by the way.

- Oh, thank you.

- Yeah, great.

- But it's the comedian's job to find the line, cross it, and make the audience glad that you did.

I'm paraphrasing.

What do you guys, I'm not allowed to say guys, what do you people think is the comedian's role, and do comedians have a, is it, 'cause I think you have a microphone, use it wisely.

Do you think that we have, 'cause I think we're all social commentators.

Do you think we have a special role to say things that other people can't?

Alex.

- You know, I think that'd be nice, and I think that's a nice idea, but I don't know that that's the way the world is anymore.

Like I, like I just want to be like honest about, 'cause the thing is like, I happen to think that that, like that's a really lovely notion.

- Right.

- But I just don't think it's true anymore.

- But it was, you're saying it was true at one point.

I mean we had the Mort Sauls, you know.

- Our culture, our polite culture, our polite culture, like is very polite and it has, it's changed now than it was when Carlin, when Carlin was- - Oh!

100%.

- Like our polite culture is sensitive and politically correct, and for the better, and empathetic, and thoughtful about differentiated experience.

And so to be a line crosser now means something different than it was a long time ago, right?

To be, you know, like I would say that for the better, not just from a political perspective, but from a craft perspective, I would say that, that our culture is center left, like slightly left leaning.

And so to be like a line crosser, all I'm saying is I happen to notice that a lot of the line crossers are [beep].

- [Judy] Right, but... - So like I would like, - Yeah.

- I would like it if we were like still the like, you know, the, I think challenging orthodoxy is important, and I think that's a really, I think that's a really useful mode for comedians and in comedy people, but I just don't know about the realism of like habitual line stepping being like the, although it would be nice.

It'd be nice if like, if comedians were, it's like, being brave as a comedian.

- But we, well, we don't, we're powerless.

We're, you know, I noticed Mike or Negin, I noticed, you know, I never noticed before the impact the president of the United States has as far as how we behave as human beings in this country.

And I feel that when Alex says, you know, the people who are crossing the line are sometimes [beep], I think that they think that crossing the line means to be an [beep] when it doesn't.

I think it's about critical thinking.

But, you know, I wanna know what you guys, you know, think about this sort of, I guess it's a responsibility that we have and, - I mean, I think it's really changed.

I mean, the responsibility now almost seems, I think you're right Alex.

Line crossing isn't really like the, line crossing isn't the revolutionary act it once was because [beep] have taken it over.

- Right, right.

- The appropriated line crossing.

And I think what comedians and sort of, like one of the things that I felt was sort of my duty in, you know, I have a podcast, Bake The Nation, which Judy's- - [Judy] I love that podcast.

I love that podcast.

- And one of the things we talked about a lot in 2020 is like, we're only doing optimism.

We even had t-shirts made that said we're only doing optimism because I think the revolutionary act now for me as a comedian is to like, be nice.

And then this is what I try to do to be compassionate to strangers I've never met, right?

- [Judy] Right.

- To be compassionate to people that I, who I may disagree with, and to understand that they're being riled up by many media forces, and they're being riled up by the previous president to be, like not nice, to be jerks.

And so I'm trying to kinda find a way to be able to communicate with them and to constantly deescalate.

I mean, the number of times- - Yeah, deescalation is real.

- People have tried to get into Twitter wars, yes like, oh, I mean, I'm sure you guys feel this all the time as well.

Like I, I'm constantly just deescalating Twitter things where people try and anger me, try and, you know, insult me or whatever, and then I just say, thanks so much for reaching out.

I really hear you.

And then I throw in a, like a friendly emoji, because when they go low, we go emoji, and that is my, you know, that's how I live.

[indistinct] - Mike is chomping at the bit and I love it.

- Here's my question, I don't understand what line crossing means.

What does that mean crossing the line?

Who decides what the line is?

- Right, right.

- Listen, everything ain't for everybody.

I'm not wasting my time trying to please people who don't wanna be pleased.

They're gonna be people who like what I do and people who don't, no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you smile at them, they're just not gonna like you.

Okay?

I did a joke one time in Vegas about asking, I asked, is there anybody in the military?

And this guy said his son was in the military, right?

So I said, okay.

What branch?

He said the Navy.

So I was like, well, they don't really fight.

You know, they kinda launch rockets and look like, I think I hit something.

I said, but I could never join...

The joke was basically about me being a coward and not being able to... but he was offended because I said- - Right.

Because he didn't listen to the entire- - He didn't hear me, because, that's what I'm saying.

So why am I gonna waste time?

People that come to comedy clubs, they don't know anything about comedy.

So why am I giving them power?

They have no power when I'm there.

None.

I take you where I'm gonna take you.

If you wanna be sensitive, then this is not for you.

- Right.

- Everything ain't for everybody.

That's how I approach it, and that's why, I don't know what the line is, but I've gone into rooms with predominantly right-leaning people and I've dogged Donald Trump, but the way that I do it is not judgy.

- Right.

- It's like, this is, my brain works like this.

- Right.

- So when I see these ridiculous things and you like it, I need to know why.

- Sure, but, you know, - I also, yes.

- But there is a general sense of the line, right?

- What is it though?

What is it?

I don't know what it is.

- It's diffused now, right?

I mean, that's the part of the thing of like, you know, in Carlin's time it was a really clear patriarchy.

There was a really clear ruling class and now, more people- - Oh and that's changed a lot.

- More people have more voices.

I mean, - Right, right.

- Like whatever, there's still, you know, the 1% that have all the money or whatever, but like there's, more people have more voices, and I think that's true culturally.

Like I don't think we could pretend like things haven't improved on that front.

- Listen, I feel like as long as there's, you're not coming at something maliciously, it doesn't matter, you should be able to talk about anything.

If you're not deliberately talking to hurt somebody's feelings, I think you should be able to talk about anything you wanna talk about.

- Right.

- Let the market decide.

- It's also the fact that you can't- - Adam Smith wrote a book about comedy.

I didn't know.

[panelists laughing] - Sometimes I get sad that there aren't better comedians who are really, really far from how I feel.

Like sometimes I get sad that there aren't any good right wing comedians, 'cause like there aren't- - Yeah, I agree.

- Like there are a few people who term themselves like loosely right wing, but the comedians that I've seen, and I've gone to comedy clubs to see comedians who turn themselves, is like the conservative comedian, you know, like- - Right, right.

- And it's always bad.

And like it is, it's not good for the culture to have a monoculture.

And like I'm not saying that we have one because like obviously there's, you know, there are comics addressing the, like it's not as if, by the way, it's not as if comedy still doesn't address inequality and, you know, important issues, and speaking in succinct ways to other like, but like, it is depressing that there aren't any good Republican comedians in the- - I agree.

- And, you know, I just wanna, can I just say something for the audience?

You know, we are not, this is not a partisan, we're not trying to be partisan.

I think that, you know, I had, Mike knows at the Cellar, we all know at the Cellar, there are plenty of people with different political views and we all get along, and we all, you know, share a stage together.

- Yeah.

- But I just wanna say specifically from 2016 to 2020, you know, we had someone who really was not great for comedy as far as wanting SNL to be investigated, not attending the White House correspondence dinner, making us the enemy, because comedy is a weapon, but I think you have to use it wisely.

- But what... - Yeah.

- Judy what's worse is that he made it so easy to figure out what was correct.

- Right.

- Which is like, I think my big statement, I guess like my big sum up is this, like I think people mistake, like there's very little brave comedy anymore, because what's right and what's brave are two different things.

And so like Donald Trump made it very clear to know what was right and correct because it wasn't him.

But to do brave, like you couldn't do brave comedy about like anti-Trump comedy.

It wasn't brave.

Like everyone had, you know, - Right.

- Like, as Judy said, there's like a panoply of opinions at the Comedy Cellar among comedians, but like pretty much every comedian in the, you know, like in our world of mainstream comedy, or alternative comedy, like thought that Donald Trump was insane.

- So that means- - Oh, I don't think so.

Mike, do you think so?

- No.

I think, I don't think Donald Trump is insane.

I think Donald Trump is a con man and they're good.

Con men are brilliant man.

They're brilliant at manipulating people.

They're really good at it.

I grew up with a lot of them, and I see him and a lot of cats I grew up with.

He's a con man.

People keep calling him stupid, and that's why he wins.

'Cause you keep calling him stupid.

- I didn't say he was stupid.

- No, but as far as, but as far as comedians are concerned - What?

- There were people who were very pro-Trump at the Cellar.

- Oh yeah.

There were some comics that were pro Trump, and I'm not anti-anything.

I'm not pro, I'm not left or right.

I have, you know, I'm legitimately a guy that has some very right-leaning views, and some very left-leaning views.

- Which is great.

- I don't align myself with any group 'cause I can think freely and be able to, you know, differentiate between certain things, what's right and what's wrong.

I don't gang, I don't join gangs, you know.

- Yeah.

- And that's what's going on right now.

It's all, you know, we're just two gangs now.

The same thing as the Black.

- I wanna like just echo though something that Alex is talking about which is that, the comedy on the right is just not flourishing.

- That's sad that they don't better, right?

I really wish they had.

- I have really been really rooting for that Gutfeld show on Fox.

- He's just mean.

- Because I really think part of the problem on the right is that they have turned to news as entertainment, and news shouldn't be entertainment.

- Right.

- News should be news.

And the thing with the news is that the Fox News is designed to just anger people.

It's supposed to just really get those juices going and it's not fun, and it's not meant to be so.

The thing with humor is it would be fun and self-deprecating.

It's supposed to like take you, have you see something in a different light, and you're supposed to kinda feel better after you watch comedy right?

- Right.

- And I think one of the problems I had, you know, I'm not a Gutfeld completest.

By any means, I've probably seen like 20 minutes altogether, but the 20 minutes that I have seen were like more angry, you know, and again, sort of an- - Right.

It's about, it is an anger, I mean- - They need something that's more fun and self-deprecating to lower the temperature.

I think everyone like me, we need media that lowers the temperature.

Like there's really no like actual reason that we should be this divided.

- Right, but it's like what Mike said about, you know, his comedy is rooted in curiosity.

It's not rooted in hate.

And, you know, I have been on, I did the Gutfeld show before it was the Gutfeld show, and it was just a panel thing with... And I cannot tell you, just for being me and being funny and having my opinions, the hate mail, the antisemitism, the homophobia, the meanest messages, you know, I can't even, they're just awful.

It's like, no, that's not what comedy is.

I wanna just move on a little bit.

You know I know we all have bits that we did in the past that are not, you know, that maybe went too far except for Alex, and- - No, no.

I have those too, but I know specifically what you're talking about- - Yeah.

So we had bits that, you know, we've joked about that are not funny today because the world is a different place, words have different meanings, we've had different experiences.

I think we all agree that you can joke about anything as long as it is a well crafted joke.

I think we established that, but if you're gonna joke about a subversive topic like race, religion, sex, politics, and we know it has to be funny, do you think that we should be more dangerous?

Do you think that certain people can only joke about certain topics?

We're all from, besides, I'm, you know, Alex and I are Jews from observant families.

I'm gay.

Sorry, in case anyone was interested.

Negin, you're a Muslim.

Mike, - Well, also taken.

[indistinct] - Yes, and her husband is so hot.

Okay.

And I'm a lesbian and I'm saying how hot... Mike, I don't know what you are.

I'm kidding.

But, you know, we've all had different life experiences which feeds into our material.

These are my questions in that regard.

What are you allowed to joke about that I'm not allowed to joke about?

Mike, do you want, can we start with you?

- I don't think, I personally don't believe, I grew up, I came up in Black rooms, the Chitling Circuit, and there were a lot of White comics, specifically Rich Vos, who would come in and talk about anything.

He would talk about Black people, but everybody knew that he was coming, with the place that he was coming from.

So he would kill.

He's the first White guy to do Def Comedy Jam.

- [Judy] Right.

- So I don't subscribe to you can't talk about things.

I made a choice to stay away from certain things that I won't talk about, you know, namely like rape jokes and stuff like that, I wouldn't attempt those, but I think that, you know, if it's a well crafted joke, you should be able to talk about it, you know.

- I agree.

Alex?

- I, if I'm being honest, I really watch my step now.

- Yeah.

- I just like, I don't, I don't know.

- Do you think that's, do you think I don't feel that because I'm a minority, like I'm Black?

Do you think like, I don't feel like I have to watch my step because of that?

- I mean, I- - I think we're all White here.

- I'm asking you an honest question Alex.

Let's have the conversation.

Do you think that you guys maybe put a little bit more pressure on yourself because you're White?

- I do it because I'm not sure of the shifting ethic.

Like I'm really, I really think that there, I did one joke...

I've done jokes in the past that I wouldn't do now.

None of them are, you know, - Of course.

- None of them horrify me, but there are some where I was like, eh, that wasn't great.

I used to do a joke about someone's, I used to do a joke about somebody's weight.

And then I was like, and by the way we haven't reached a point as a culture where that's unacceptable yet, but it felt gross to me and I stopped.

- Was the person nice or a bad person?

- They weren't offended.

It was in the joke, you know, like the joke was about someone.

- Okay, so the person wasn't offended, but you didn't feel right about it?

- I made it nameless.

It was one throwaway line in a joke.

I worked in a restaurant, this person came in and I described them as fat with the line that I always really killed, but like, in terms of like being a minor, like I have a lot of opinions that I don't feel comfortable expressing on stage.

- Really?

- Like I just have lots of, oh tons.

Like I, first of all, my whole show was an exploration of Judaism's relationship to Whiteness.

It's a 90 minute show.

And like over the course of a 90 minute show, I can communicate that complexity, but most of my sets are 15 minutes in the Comedy Show.

- [Judy] Right.

- So like, I'm not gonna be, you know, bringing up complex issues.

I'm not gonna be, like, that's why I'm a long form comedian.

That's why I do solo shows so that I can, you know, try to communicate.

- [Judy] Get a point across.

Yeah, absolutely.

- But yeah, there's a lot I won't talk about, and it's because, I'm not, like I'm afraid of cancellation even though that, or anyone who makes anything, criticism in a, - Right.

- In a substantial way, I'm sure is a constant fear.

But like, I just, I feel like we're in a really weird moment and I really watch, I really watch my step.

My cure for that is that I never, I try to never generalize.

I try to say in my own personal experience, or I try to talk about my own experience.

- Right.

- As a way around, you know, in my 90 minute show, I never generalize.

I also don't talk about Jews.

Like I talk about the experience of being Jewish.

- Right.

- But with the exception of Judy, Gary Goldman, Elon Gold, and Mody, there are no comedians who talk about, no comedians especially my age who talk about Jews in a way that makes me comfortable.

So like, even with my own people, even with people, a group that I feel a part of, I tried very hard to never generalize.

- Right.

- And like, I feel like the new world that we're entering, in like the 2020s, is a world where generalization and binary is fraught with danger and difficulty.

And so, yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on- - You know, Negin, I wanna ask you this.

You know, I write in my book about stereotypes, and about how they didn't come out of thin air.

That they are literally a history lesson.

If you really investigate why are Jews considered this?

Why are Blacks considered that?

Why are Muslims, you know, and you go back and you see the history.

Okay, that being said, you know, we haven't talked about misogyny which is a huge issue.

- Mike and I are very excited to weigh in whenever you- - Yes.

I can't wait to let, I can't wait to let y'all know what I think about the ladies.

[panelists laughing] There we go.

- I know.

- Okay.

- I got something to say.

[Mike laughing] - Okay.

This is relatable to everyone.

I know, I've been doing, I did my first set at 19.

I'm 59.

And I know as a woman, getting on stage, and if you go back in history and you watch Gene Carroll, and Moms Mabley, and Tony Fields, and Sophie Tucker, and Phyllis Diller, and you know, all these women, women would get on stage and sort of do a disclaimer.

Like, I know, 'cause, you know, you walk on stage, I would be introduced.

Like that would be in my intro.

Our next comic is female.

She's tall.

I mean, that's how they, oh, we got a woman comic coming up next, and I would get on stage and say, oh, that, you know, that's our MC.

He is male.

He has a penis and testicles.

And that's how they, that's the only way they stopped doing it for me, but we have, I don't, I wonder do you, and I think this applies to Mike too.

I get on stage that people see something and they are like, whoa, you know, what's that, you know?

- Yeah.

- And I sort of have to do a disclaimer, you know, or something self-deprecating to say, I know my place in the world.

I know what you're thinking.

Okay?

And we're gonna move on from that.

And I remember when I came out of the closet as a, 1996, and I had been more, I was the only gay comic who worked in the mainstream clubs, and I came out as a gay parent, and I remember once I came out, the audience, you know, I would do my bits, and then the minute I said I had kids and I'm, you know, lesbian, there was a shift, and I had to be like, you liked me five minutes ago.

I'm the same person.

- It's crazy.

- Do you, as a woman, when you get on stage, still feel that need to sort of disarm people?

- Okay.

So a couple things like, first of all, I do wonder at what point I will stop feeling like I have to disarm people, like I have to address the elephant in the room, the elephant in the room when I'm on stage.

And you're like, what is that name?

I can't pronounce it.

- Right.

- Where is she from?

She's ethnically ambiguous.

There's a lot going on.

I need an explanation, or else I can't feel comfortable unless I get an explanation.

So I usually have some just kind of like, listen, [indistinct] I'm American.

I'm [indistinct] blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And I give it the thing, and Imma try and have a joke in there.

I try and, you know, I, of course self-deprecation was a big part of that.

And it's just sort of like, hey everybody, I know that you know, and it's the same.

If I came on stage, you know, dressed as an, you know, as an literal elephant, people would want to protect me, right?

And so I'm just basically doing that except for like, you know, the elephant is the ethnic ambiguity.

And so that, I think it happens.

And then the other thing is like, you know, Alex and Mike talked about what feeling like that they, you know, especially Alex talking about like, feeling that he has to like think about what he's gonna say, and treading lightly.

And I think part of like lady Muslim privilege - [Judy] Right.

- Because we all have our forms of privilege, but I think a part of lady Muslim privilege, it lays that I feel maybe 5%, just 5% more able to talk about whatever, and I feel like I tread just a little less like- - [Judy] But don't you think because of who you are, and I think this is as far as all of us, you know, - Yeah.

I think when you are a part of a marginalized group, you have a little bit more, like license to talk about marginalized groups.

And that, I mean, you know, I wrote a musical called 'The Israeli Palestinian Conflict Or Romantic Comedy', and here's the deal, like I am neither Israeli- - Can I be in it?

Okay, go ahead.

Sorry.

- I'm not Israeli, I'm not Jewish, and I'm not Arab, and I'm not Palestinian, right?

And yet I felt completely within my rights to write this musical, and nobody questioned an Iranian doing it, you know.

That is my lady Muslim privilege, right?

- Right.

- Like I never got any hate mail like why is she letting, why is society letting her write this musical?

Like, it was nothing like that.

And I think it's just because they're like, well, a Brown person can do Brown person stuff.

- Right.

- And now you're just kind of like the, you know, the reasoning that people had.

But I do think, it's interesting, it's 2022, obviously it's easier to be a woman in comedy, but I did a, you know, show in Kansas City at a major club, and I was still the only woman on the lineup.

- Can I just tell you something?

I just wanna say this.

I just, I think people don't understand.

When I started, you know, if there was a woman on the show, it would be one woman.

And we never got to work together.

There was one club downtown called Comedy U Grand on Grand Street, and on every Thursday night they had all women comedians.

And that was the only night we got to work together.

And every, and to this day, you know, three White guys on a show is a comedy show.

Three women on a show is ladies night out.

Hysterical.

Three Black guys on a show, or three people of color is urban night out, you know.

When- - Chocolate Sundays.

- Chocolate Sundays.

- Yeah, chocolate Sunday.

- Yeah.

- When do you think, do you find this as, I mean, this annoys me to know, and I won't do shows that are like horrors, and you know, I won't do them.

And yet we all need stage time, but, and I, and you know, does this affect any of you?

Like, do you think, oh my God, when is this gonna end?

Or do you say, okay, it's an opportunity for me to, you know, be in front of an audience who likes Black?

- Are you saying that's how it is now?

- I think it is a lot, it's still like that.

Not as much as it was- - There's still remnants.

Yeah.

There's still remnants of that.

Yeah.

- Yes, absolutely.

And you go on the road, I mean, it's much better, but I never was, I was in comedy condos, I was the only woman, it was scary.

- Yeah.

Those condos could be scary.

I, yeah, I mean, I had it happen to me, like I've had, and I've, and it's fascinating to me like this is the only business where the people in charge feel that they could tell you whatever.

They could say...

I had the guy that booked the Comic Strip.

He asked me to come down and audition 'cause he saw me at like a produce show.

And then I came down, I auditioned, I killed.

And then he goes, that was really good.

I go, so, okay.

So he said, I really like you.

I go, so what's the process?

He goes, well, right now I have enough Black comics so I can't really use you.

And he went on to say, you know, I really have no room for you.

You know, Mike Britt, and Todd Lynn was alive at the time.

He goes, Todd Lynn is the flavor of the month.

So I can't really- - Yeah.

You guys are exactly alike.

- I said, you know, I just do comedy, right?

I'm just a Black dude that does comedy.

I'm not a Black comic.

If you, I thought you said you listened to me, you know?

And this isn't the only place where they could tell you that The dude from Caroline's told Eddy Griffin one time that he couldn't get on a Kevin Meany Show for five minutes because the audience was too White for him.

- Oh my!

I remember in the 80s, I would call clubs up to try to book myself.

I'd say, oh, I was on Caroline's Comedy Hour, even in The Improv, or VH1, and they literally would say to me, oh, we had a woman headliner here three months ago.

She didn't do well.

- Oh my God!

- So we're not hiring women.

And I'd be, oh, and every guy who's been on your stage has just killed?

- This is the ridiculousness that I'm talking about though.

- Yeah.

I mean, the like, you know, no more than one rule is applied like I've had like a very famous person told my manager once, like we, you know, it was down to me in something or whatever for a job and they told my manager like, well, you know, we already have an Indian person on the cast which is hilarious 'cause I'm also not Indian, but anyways, but we just get lumped into like that part of the world.

- Right, right.

- And so that rule has just been, you know, operational for a very, very long time.

- Right.

- And still is like quietly operational, you know, depending on which particular ethnic group you might be in.

You know, they don't want it seem over-representing of something, you know?

- But there's never too many White guys though.

- Right, there's never.

- That's the thing.

- Never, never.

- There's never, you're never overrepresented.

They never say that we have too many White guys on the show.

That's never a thing.

That's the problem.

- Right.

- I don't mind you telling me that, but tell everybody that.

- Right.

- You know?

- Exactly.

- I hear too many White guys sometimes, but it's like a, it's extremely, sometimes White comics complain to me- - Oh my God.

Yes.

- In whispered tones, they don't want White guys.

I always like think to myself like, - That's fascinating that they feel that way.

- It's, I hear it too.

You don't know what it's like?

Oh please!

- I'm always like, first of all, what part of undeniable don't you understand?

I was like, second of all, like, even if that were true, what part of like being the best don't you understand?

- Right.

- And second of all, and let me, please let me finish this out, otherwise, if you cut me off in the middle, it's gonna sound like, I'm like, you know, like, I was got curse like a bit, but like, I think right now there is a curiosity and a hunger for differentiated voices.

And like, you don't have to differentiate yourself.

Like there are other ways to differentiate yourself than, you know, like if you're talented.

And if you're not talented, and you're White, and you haven't figured out the way to differentiate your perspective, you're just like, ah, they don't want it, I'm like, well that's 'cause just being like a barely competent comedian isn't enough anymore.

We're bored.

Like we want different voices, more interesting voices.

So like, sometimes you were like, well I don't want White guys.

And what I wanna say, but I never do is like, man, like you're not, your voice isn't differentiated enough.

Like you haven't, you just haven't figured out a way- - [Judy] You have to, it takes years to figure out your point of view.

- Can I tell you, can I tell you.

I'm so glad that you said that because when I was told by the Booker at this Strip- - By the way, he said the same thing to me, Mike.

He went, I have enough Jews.

- Oh, he did?

That's crazy.

So what I did was instead of getting angry, I just said, you know what?

You're gonna get to a point where you can't deny that you have to book me.

That's what I'm gonna do.

- Yeah.

- And then I made enough noise to where he started booking me.

- I'll tell you, when I auditioned and it was a different person in 19, I think it was 82 or 83.

- In 1922?

In 1922, you were- - In 1867, when I, no, and I auditioned, and Lucien, God rest his soul.

He was a great guy.

But when I first auditioned, he said, you know, you're tall, you're a woman, you're Jewish.

I don't know what kind of market there is for female Jewish comedians.

I was like, are there any others?

- What?

- 1980!

But this leads me into my, this question.

- This fellow from the hood 'cause I didn't say his name, but Judy did.

- Oh!

Sorry.

- Yeah.

- Richie?

- Oh, yeah.

- Richie and Lucien?

- Yeah.

- I don't wanna snitch.

You know what I'm saying?

- Now as a Jew, I'm just gonna say, like most marginalized people, Jews have a very well developed sense of humor.

And my mother always said, this was a quote.

"If we weren't laughing, we'd be crying every day."

I wanna know, we're all minorities here.

Alex is less of a minority.

I'm kidding.

[Judy laughing] But- - That's why they storm the Capitol 'cause of stuff like.

- Yeah.

- I mean you could have, well, not with that face.

- It's great.

You think there were Jews at the Capitol?

- Oh, please no.

- You don't think so?

- No.

Well, first of all were not... - I think there were more Vikings at the Capitol.

- Were there no angry Jews in the country?

- What?

- There might have been.

There was a lot of people there.

There had, there was, I saw some Black people, and, yeah.

You can't tell me there were no Jews there.

- I'm sure there were some.

- I'm sure there were.

- Oh, I mean there was just, they were brimming with Iranians.

- There were a lot of Muslims there.

[panelists laughing] - The Iranians were storming the Capitol for a different reason and were confused about why everybody else was there.

- They were wondering if they could get, maybe sell some rugs to the White House.

- Doesn't the leader of the Proud Boys seem a bit ethnic?

- Yes, he's, Yes.

- What is that about?

Anyway.

- I dunno.

So my question is, - I'm sweaty.

- Minority perspectives, do you think I, and I'm gonna say, I do think that it lends itself to great comedy.

Do you agree?

And also I just wanna say that piggybacking on the White men who are like, you know, it's really been hard for us, and, you know, we can't get, and I'm just like, you live in the world for five minutes as a 6-foot, two inch Jewish lesbian, and you, just tell what you wanna complain about, okay?

But do you think minority voices lends to great comedy, 'cause I do.

- I think the minority voices lends a great company because it's a really universal feeling, even though it's coming from a minority perspective, 'cause it doesn't matter what differentiates you, either you're a person of color, or you're LGBTQ+, or you are a Red Sox fan who lives in New York city.

Like it doesn't matter what sets you apart.

Everyone has that feeling, that at times they're set apart, right?

And so that's, and that's what the comedy from our communities kind of like brings to the floor, and that's why everybody sort of can get on board because we all feel that way at some point, for whatever reason.

- Right.

- What she said.

- I agree.

I mean, yeah.

I mean different perspectives, you get to learn, you know?

- Well it also, you know, it also can, I think it brings people together.

I think, you know, when I did '25 Questions For a Jewish Mother' which was a show I did, it ran Off-Broadway for a few years, and then I went on tour and it was about interviews with Jewish mothers.

And it was based on the fact that I had to become a Jewish mother, and I was like investigating if I, you know, if they're all alike, which they weren't.

And people came to that show and would be like, I'm Southern Baptist.

And I, you know, I totally have the same mother as you.

And people in like tatted with goth makeup on going, oh my God!

And it was just a mother is a universal figure.

- You know, - Yeah, go ahead.

- And just in terms of minority, like yeah, minority perspectives, any perspective lends itself well to comedy.

Any sharply defined perspective lends itself well to comedy, which is why earlier I was like, God, I wish there was a good Republican comedian, because that is a, that is a, and by the way, I'm not like, hey television networks, please try, because like, they have tried conservative comedy.

It is not very good.

- Right.

- But like I'm saying like, it's a sharply defined perspective.

Someone said to me once that the best comedy in the world is a Republican character written by Democrats and like- - Well that was, Steven Colbert did that.

- But they mean an actual Republican, because like I said, he was inherently progressive.

So the beginning of the episode, the character doesn't get something, like Archie Bunker doesn't get something, and by the end of the episode, he's grown and learned a little bit.

Like that is really good character.

A Republican written by Norman Lear.

Like that is the, - Right.

- But yeah, I mean like, I think, a diversity of perspectives, minority perspectives like, any perspective lends itself on to comedy.

- Now all of us I think were affected by the slap.

I mean, I've known Chris.

We were both, we started together and we were both, they used to have a backup at Catch Rising Star on the weekend shows 'cause no one had cell phones.

And if you were running late, or stuck in a subway, or whatever, and you couldn't get your spot on time, they would hire, they hired two comedians to sit at the bar and get paid.

- Oh wow!

- Wow!

They don't think that anymore.

- I know.

Well, because we have cell phones.

- There weren't as many comedians I'm guessing.

- And it was me and Chris Rock.

We were the two backups just in case someone couldn't make their spot.

And I, I love Chris, and when I saw that slap, I was, I mean, knowing him, I knew people were like, oh, is that planned?

And I knew it wasn't planned.

And it scared me.

I thought, how is this beha... How, first of all, and then he gets a standing ova... Like it really had an effect on me.

I became physically nauseous from watching Chris get assaulted.

Are any of you, I mean, Alex, you have this Off-Broad- - I'm not scared.

- Huh?

- I'm not scared.

- Off-Broadway show, I mean, is anyone scared?

Is anyone frightened?

- No, I'm not.

- They're cowards for the most part.

- Yeah.

- Like, they are, you know, the funny thing is my big fear was, my big fear was that one of them would be upset, and have their feelings, have their feelings hurt that they'd show up.

And they'd say, every night they'd look into the audience and look for, you know, a couple of distinctive features from the people that I remember, and like they, and like, but my concern isn't that they'll stand up and try to do something and hurt me.

- Right.

- My concern is that they'll be like, that's an unfair characterization of how I feel about Confederate Statues, you know, or something like that.

But like, but I was, you know what?

I have been at some points, like I have, you know what?

I have been in situations that are tricky physical situations because people are upset about something that I said on stage or something that I said about someone.

In 2016, I said something about Donald Trump in Florida.

And after the show, there was some like, but at the, for the most part I, maybe I'm naive.

I just don't feel it.

And with regards to the slap, like, Judy, I agree with you, but also like, people start putting up signs, like protect our comedians- - Right, right, right.

- I was like, this is insane.

Like, this is what I mean when I talk about a binary.

Like that's nuts.

And then I saw on Twitter, like young comedy people that I agree with were like, it's good that comedians are being taken to task.

- Oh God!

[indistinct] - And I'm like, you're both ridiculous.

You're both little, I can't say the word, like, 'cause we're not allowed to curse here.

I'm like, but you're, like, you're losers.

Like this is a, these are loser talks.

Like, just to be like, it's good they're being hit, or like, this is now a sacred cause.

- Right.

- I was furious at the slap.

That was my initial reaction.

- Yes.

- Because, I was, I felt like, it was disrespectful to our craft.

Like it was a bad joke.

- Oh absolutely, yes.

- It was a bad joke, but you thought that because of a bad joke, I mean, it wasn't a great joke, but you thought because of a bad joke, you could just put hands on a co...

I've had people, I've had a guy throw a bottle at me, so I'm not afraid of that.

I'm just, my thing is, that was a direct assault and you did it on national television on one of the most watched events of the year, and you assaulted stand...

It was an assault on standup to me.

He assaulted standup comedy, and that's how I feel.

- I agree.

I agree.

- And I have absolutely no love for Will Smith after that.

He's done for me.

- Same.

- I feel, I mean, like to me the issue of like whether or not you're safe kind of super duper precedes that moment, that just kind of like, was a big public thing that happened between celebrities.

And so part of it was like, they're celebrities, I don't care, but then the, you know, so because for me, like, one of the first shows I did after Trump was elected was in Columbia, South Carolina, and they hired extra security because the theater got a lot of threats and stuff for having me there.

This has happened to me multiple times where theaters will get complaints and threats, and then they, you know, either I've, there have been situations where they've asked me to hire extra security because I'm performing there.

I did a show in Centralia, Washington once, where people were there- - Oh God!

- Protesting me, right?

Signs.

You know what I mean?

And, but, which by the way, like to me, these displays are, you know, of course I'm a person and it's like, makes me sad, but also to see a bunch of people protesting my show because by the way they thought I was gonna convert everyone to Islam.

And by the way, all of us doing this, this show together right now, you have all been converted to Islam.

It just happens.

- I felt it.

- How great!

- Yeah.

So welcome, but [Judy laughing] they thought that, you know, these guys were protesting me for that reason, and I thought, you know, the producers were so embarrassed and all that stuff.

And I said, no, this is awesome.

Like these people are here protesting me and they have every right to do so, and I have every right to perform, and we're just like letting them in their to right play out, and it's great.

And that's what, you know, what's super wonderful about this country is that that's the case.

And I invited them to come watch the show because it started raining, and, you know, I was like, you could come sit in the back and then when the show's over, you could come right back out and keep protesting me.

And they said, okay, well actually, maybe we'll sit in the lobby.

Is that cool?

And I was like, yeah.

Totally sit in the lobby, get out of the rain.

And that's the thing.

It's like, we have to be able to also just like have a dialogue with these people that through just the ignorance that's being perpetrated by various media sources and various presidents, we, you know, these people are getting the wrong idea about who I am and what I'm trying to do.

And so I just have to like gently talk to them and hope that it works out, and that, so I've been in, I've and have received many, you know, death threats or whatever.

And my parents have received death threats on my behalf.

I mean, the, it's never, I think also that's a little bit more of a lady thing.

I don't know Judy if you- - Yes yes.

I've had threats.

- Yeah.

Like people are a little bit more comfortable doing death threats against women.

It's just, you know- - Right.

- I know.

There was a guy waiting to shoot me in the parking lot at a club in Miami.

- No way.

- This guy was plotting to shoot me.

I had to call the cops.

He told me he was gonna shoot me.

And in Philly, a dude was waiting outside to fight me.

Me I'm 6-foot two, 215 pounds, and people still wanna fight me.

So it's about psychos.

It ain't got nothing to do with anything.

- Right.

- Right.

True.

- Right before the pandemic, I was doing this show in London, and someone threw a bottle at me.

And it's really, it's interesting because I was like, Negin, you saying it like, it made me sad.

Like it made me, that is a really, that really is what it is.

It makes you sad whenever any of that stuff happens.

Like I, but I think it's beautiful that you invited them in, because I think what we've lost the ability to do is to let stuff go.

Like will Smith sort of let it go.

- Thank you.

- Like, and even when, even when he got slapped, like I was like, this is, it was horrible.

It was disgusting.

- Oh yeah, absolutely.

- And Mike, I think you're right.

It's an assault on standup, but like, it's just we're in this cycle of escalatory discursive violence, maybe not actual violence, even though that Will Smith thing is actual.

Like we are in this cycle of just, of like this, and what it takes is just to be like, okay, like, just do your thing.

They were like, do you wanna press charges?

Do you want the guy... And I was like, no.

I was like, I just, I'm- - I just wanna do my work.

I just wanna, yes.

- I wanna do my show.

- I just wanna do my show.

That's what people don't understand.

It's like, you know, we just wanna, I always say, you know, it's funny you assault us, but our only goal when we get on stage is to make you laugh.

That's it.

That's all we're after.

And sometimes we miss the mark and whatever.

Okay.

Two things to wrap up.

First of all, when I watched the George Carlin documentary on HBO, I was sort of surprised Jerry Seinfeld said that he's never had a comedian change his mind about anything.

- Yeah.

That was a joke.

- What do you mean?

- I don't think that's true.

Comics can give you insight and change your mind.

I think he was trying be too cool for school.

I don't think that's true.

- Oh, you do?

- Yeah.

- Because I really took that seriously, and it was kinda, I don't know.

All right.

- To me, he didn't seem genuine saying it.

I think, you know?

- Okay.

- It didn't, I didn't feel like it was true.

I don't know how you could say that being around as much comedy as he's been around, that's kind of impossible.

- Right.

- 'Cause all your thoughts ain't right bro.

So somebody can say something that makes you rethink a thought.

You're not right all the time.

He sounds like Trump when he says stuff like that.

- Right.

- You're not right all the time bro.

- I agree.

- Comics change my mind all the time.

- Same.

Wrap up question.

We're having, we're not in a great period here in America, and free speech is our first, it's the first amendment, first.

Do you think we're helping?

Do you think our comedy is helping?

- I believe so.

Yes.

- If it's not inciting, it's helping.

- Right I mean, I, yeah.

I don't think we incite violence.

- Every night we see that though.

People coming out, oh my God, I needed this.

- Right.

- We're helping.

We're helping.

- Yes, exactly.

Oh my God, I needed that.

That is- - Right.

- We don't need to let the doubters control the conversation.

They have no power in that.

When I'm on the stage, they have absolutely no power.

- I don't know about you guys, but I think audiences have been better than ever before.

- Yes, so much.

- They're so appreciative.

'Cause we need, it's, 'cause comedy, it's a build, a joke is a buildup of tension and then a release.

And that's what we do.

- Like going to get a massage or whatever, but for your psyche.

- With a happy ending.

- I just don't know, I just don't know that politically it's like, yeah, I guess we're helping.

I don't know.

I have no idea.

I just... - I don't wanna live in a world without laughter.

- Everybody is so depressed right now, but, you know, listen, Trump didn't win a second term.

So that says something.

- Yeah.

Right.

- And you know what?

They're not depressed when they're watching the three of you at your best.

They're not.

I guarantee.

- Yes.

And you.

- And you.

- And you.

- And you Negin.

- Thank you.

- Listen, - You can brag.

- I just, I love all of you.

I really do adore all of you, and I really had a great time.

I hope you did too.

- Me too.

It was fun.

- It was fun.

- Me too.

- I wanna keep laughing.

That's all I want.

I want everyone to keep laughing.

Thank you to Alex Edelman.

Go see his show.

Thank you to Negin Farsad.

Listen to her podcast.

Read her book, books?

- Just one.

- Book.

- All right.

- I have it.

- Mike Yard I love you on so many levels.

- I love you Judy.

- Buy tickets to their shows.

Follow them on social media.

Everyone's social media name, whatever, at, I hate social media, but follow us.

And a big, big, big, thanks to the WNET groups, Exploring Hate initiative, All Arts, and our promotional partners, Unorthodox and Penn America.

Thank you all, all so much for listening.

I'm Judy Gold.

Goodnight everybody.

- Good night.

Bye Judy.

- Bye.

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