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7 December 2022

Comic Relief

The 21st century’s day of infamy arrived on September 11th, 2001. A disaster and

carnage such as it had never been so publicly witnessed and intimately experienced so

collectively in the U.S. As black clouds still hung over New York City, a cloud of depression

hung over the nation following its darkest day. Americans were naturally unable to breathe as the

situation's sadness, uncertainty, and anxiety seemed insurmountable. While the nation was

forever changed by the attacks and the country was drowning in sorrow, this feeling was

anything but permanent. There was no true answer to getting over what the country just saw and

there was no cure for the pain and grief which had been thrust upon Americans. However, there

was something that could help. It may not help everybody the same way or the same amount, but

comedy in such times has extraordinary potential to heal. There is a long, storied tradition of

suffering individuals being treated with comedy and this was no different. Humor played a vital

role after 9/11 and its place in the collective mental recovery process cannot be understated. The

comedic world went through a strange, complex, and challenging process after 9/11 but it did

display the profound and undeniable power of a laugh, especially when provided sooner rather

than later.

The saying that tragedy plus time equals comedy may be true but is an incredibly flawed

principle. The issue lies in the fact that when tragedy strikes, comedy is needed more

immediately than ever. Comedy may not be the best medicine for everyone but certainly has

earned its spot in the cabinet when people’s spirits need to be raised. It is in human nature to
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“derive joy or amusement from the dissonant and disturbing” in a subconscious effort to express

heavy emotions positively rather than negatively (Dadlez 85).

Every tragedy goes through a dissociation process to remove it from its horrifying

implications and it is often done through humor. This is far from a new or original concept. In

the 4th century B.C., Aristotle even wrote on ideas of “tragic catharsis” and “tragic pleasure” in

which finding joy in the midst of such events is vital to human survival (Dadlez 88,91). Ancient

Greek physicians would send patients to the “hall of comedians” and in the 16th century, Robert

Burton and Martin Luther encouraged depressed people to “surround themselves with others who

could make them laugh” (Tiret). In the early 70s, Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams rose to fame and

founded the Gesundheit Institute, a hospital dedicated and committed to spreading humor to its

patients (Tiret). The main purpose of the court jester, which the modern comedian evolved from,

was to relieve the stress of the royals and governing bodies during the medieval and renaissance

eras. Comic Relief goes back to ancient times and has practically been consistent in American

society.

Not thirty years prior to 9/11, with the Vietnam War raging, people coped with Smothers

Brothers' Comedy Hour, Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H, and several anti-war comedies. When

World War II struck the nation with fear and disaster, the Marx Brothers and Bugs Bunny were

on the front lines of the domestic effort in healing the nation’s mental wounds and keeping them

sane. Not through distraction, but through comedic dissociation have people been able to live

with the horrors of this world. The initial reactions to tragedy and comedy are involuntary, often

audible, and somewhat interchangeable. They each affect the mind in the same way so it is no

surprise that humor is so often found within tragedy and it does not take long for people to make

the connection. There has been a long history of debate over this relationship which came back
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into heavy use after 9/11, exemplifying Aristotle’s belief that a “tragic catharsis” is “best

produced by events which happen unexpectedly” (Dadlez 85).

While the American people had a blueprint from past tragedies and could even call on

ancient philosophers for help, the circumstances were still fairly unprecedented. Past wars were

easier to laugh through with the catastrophes taking place in another hemisphere. This was a

large-scale attack on American soil, in the nation’s crown jewel of New York City, and

experienced by the whole nation on live television. Everyone was in shock, at a loss for words,

and especially at a loss for jokes. People claimed it was the “end of irony” and it felt like no

amount of time would allow for comedy of any kind to continue (Spigel 128). George Carlin

recorded an album to be entitled “I Kinda Like When A Lot of People Die” on September 10th

and it was shelved for fifteen years because people would only be able to associate the material

with 9/11 (American September Project). The industry reached a massive point of uncertainty as

there were legitimate questions about whether people will ever laugh the same again. The Ben

Stiller comedy Zoolander was released later that month and faced mostly negative initial reviews

as “people felt guilty for laughing, even if they needed to” (American September Project). The

uncertainty was heightened by the fact that New York City, the grimmest place on Earth for the

foreseeable future, was also the center of American stand-up comedy. New York City is arguably

the comedic capital of the world and it was a place drowning in seriousness, grief, and immense

anxiety over the trauma witnessed. It was “a place and time when nothing and no one was funny”

(Gournelos and Greene 6). The list of touchy topics and concepts to be careful joking about had

just grown a lot longer and the comedian’s job just got a lot harder. Comedians were cautiously

optimistic that comedy would return, but there was no way to tell exactly how. Questions of how
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and when comedy would continue were up in the air and there was no way to tell if they were

coming down soon.

The laughter did come back and practically by way of a government mandate. After the

attacks, people looked to authority for the many answers the public did not have and any words

of encouragement they could offer. New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani captured the entire

nation’s attention with his leadership after 9/11. One of his most memorable messages to help

people through the trauma was to return to normalcy as quickly as possible. He pushed people to

return to work, school, and their everyday lives with an admirable composure fixed with poise,

strength, and hopefulness. He included laughter in his message as well. Less than two weeks

after the attacks, he was quoted as saying “I’m here to give you permission to laugh. If you

don’t, I’ll have you arrested” (Gournelos and Greene 25). It is by no means a great joke, but the

fact that the Mayor of a city in such distress was able to crack a joke at all sent a powerful

message to the country. There was still hesitation and a comedic pause in the country, and

someone had to follow through on Guiliani’s instruction to make an impact.

All of TV was filled with sorrowful speeches and trite monologues that were trying to

help but came up with middling results. No one found fault with the messages of unity. They

were respectful and moving, but constant reminders of the depressing state of the country did not

raise anyone’s spirits. Shows from Sportscenter to WWE Smackdown, and just about anything

that was taped that week carried this attitude (Decker). The most famous example was when all

four major networks aired America: A Tribute to Heroes ten days after the attacks (Gallen).

Well-intentioned celebrities from Ray Ramano to The Dixie Chicks lamented through distraught

monologues and tribute songs. While well put together and incredibly emotional, specials like

this brought people to tears more than laughter in a time when laughter was in short supply. Grief
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and depressive moods were inescapable. TV like this flared those up in a form of additional

instructive grief when humor was needed so badly.

Some formats of TV even went on hiatus, not knowing what to do. Comedic institutions

such as late night talk shows went dark after 9/11 and just that fact had an incredible

significance. These shows which have been relied on for an hour of laughter since TV’s

inception felt there was nothing to joke about. Perhaps the most consistent and dependable

resource of comedy was at a loss, which goes to show the desperation of the time. On Monday

the 17th, David Letterman resumed The Late Show. Letterman was the adult in the room,

helming the premiere New York talk show, and was the first back on the air. The comedic pause

was still in effect as the consistently silly and irreverent Dave spoke somberly about the city and

the gloom which had overcome the country. However, the Mayor’s impact was felt as Letterman

professed “the reason I am back to work is because of Mayor Guiliani” and that he was “the

personification of courage” (Letterman). His first show saw an emotional and informative

interview with Dan Rather, however, it was not as important as what followed. Dave’s warmup

comedian recalled an expected “tension in the room” that night and there were doubts if any

jokes would be made (Scown). Letterman then brought out his friend, the always warm and

sweet Regis Philbin, as the second guest. Philbin was an energetic and fun-loving presence

missing from TV and Letterman made jokes about Regis’ age during their interview. Again,

these were not especially witty or well-put-together jokes but the fact people were laughing in

New York City at all provided a release for the country. Comic Andy Kindler said he

“remembered this show being very much of a catharsis” as the country started to feel its way

through the road of recovery (Scown). 2500 years later and Aristotle’s idea of “tragic catharsis”
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still applies (Dadlez 88). The broadcast was an excellent glimmer of hope, and a sneak peek at

comedy’s revival.

Other shows followed Letterman with similar moods. Even Jay Leno, who did his show

out of L.A., said Guiliani inspired him to get back to work. He responsibly said “we’re not trying

to make anybody forget we’re just trying to take your mind off it for a minute” and that “maybe

a silly joke can help” (Leno). The transparency of Conan O’Brien’s opening monologue

provided a look into every comedian’s dilemma as he admitted “I have no idea how we're going

back to doing this again” (O’Brien). The Daily Show host and New Jersey native Jon Stewart

expressed a hopeful message by stating “let me tell you why I grieve but why I don't despair”

(Stewart). These are all excellent microcosms of comedy’s place in the delicate situation. Grief is

valid and can coexist with comedy, however, despair must be avoided as it limits comedy’s

power. Despair creates negativity in the air which prevents comedy from flourishing and

wallowing in sorrow was the last thing the nation needed. A “silly joke” is just what the country

needed at that point, even if it may seem like an awkward thing to try. The Simpsons showrunner,

Al Jean, said late-night TV became a helpful series of “group therapy sessions for everybody”

(Scown). It was not an explosion of laughs when they returned, but they were able to offer some

level-headed encouragement and mild jokes at a time when the simplest quip could be a

universal mental painkiller. Seeing these giants of comedy extremely upset is quite disheartening

and audiences were noticeably hesitant about expressing any signs of laughter or joy (Scown).

However, it was the crucial fact that comedy shows were back, they were not going to be serious

forever, and people are trying to make people laugh again. Comedy was practically banned and

deemed an unorthodox practice during this time and late-night returning eased the country back
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into laughing like they did before and should again. The positive emotional release through

humor had begun.

If there was a precise moment comedy truly returned, it was on September 29th at 30

Rockefeller Plaza when Saturday Night Live put on its season premiere. The challenge for SNL

was more complicated than any other show. They were an institution built on irreverence and

anti-establishment humor. However, it is hard to laugh at the establishment when it is on fire.

SNL famously rejects sincerity, has more eyes on them than any talk show and is more intrinsic

to New York City than any other show (Sienkiewicz 99). It was a steep hill to climb. They

began with a ten-minute prologue featuring Paul Simon singing “The Boxer” and several first

responders in studio. Guiliani, who SNL portrayed as a fool just months earlier and in the years

following, stood in solidarity with showrunner Lorne Michaels. Audiences watched another

presentation of grief and mourning that again led to tears rather than smiles. It was another

instance where everyone was already grieving, they did not turn on the TV for assigned grieving.

However, then Michaels turned to Guiliani and simply asked “Can we be funny?”, to which he

responded, “Why start now?” (McCarthy-Miller). A show rather prideful and pompous as SNL

goes out of character with a self-deprecating joke to provide another powerful display of how

comedy is returning to the city and it was made especially more poignant that Guiliani was

involved. His presence presented comedy, not as a rebellious act but one in line with an authority

working to get the city back on its feet. The move to have a touching opening directly followed

by humor involving Guiliani was “genius that speeded things up a little bit” according to cast

member Darrell Hammond (Scown). What followed was the usual hour and a half of idiocy and

whimsical sketches that SNL was known for. Yet, their broadcast news parody segment,

Weekend Update still had to go on. The challenge laid in telling jokes about the news when
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everyone was sick of the news and it was considered no laughing matter. With the show being a

sign of the city and comedy’s healing, and perseverance, anchor Tina Fey told the following joke

which emphasized this all the more: “According to the New York Post, the mafia has stolen 250

tons of scrap metal from lower Manhattan. A spokesman for the Gambino family said ‘Hey, the

Mayor told us to go back to work’” (McCarthy-Miller).

From talk shows to sketch shows, they are consistencies in our society that pull in

massive viewership and provide humor on a regular basis. They came back with serious tones

but eventually knew how important it was to joke around again. What was witnessed on a clear

September Tuesday created a shared experience and developed a shared trauma. There was no

better thing to help people work through it than a shared experience like comedy to act as a

group therapy session (Dadlez 81). Everyone was unwillingly brought into something that

required something like comedy to pull everyone back out. These programs which the country

bonded over let everyone exhale for once and let laughter back into their daily routine.

While shows like those had the resources and the luxury to take their time easing into

comedy, the world of stand-up differed greatly. A comic needs every spot and every gig they can

get to make money and become more skilled, so stepping away was not an option. After

remaining closed on Wednesday, the mourning was over on Thursday for New York City’s two

most famous clubs. Gotham Comedy Club opened and the Comedy Cellar the next day

(Gournelos and Greene). They were met with small crowds, but crowds nonetheless. Comic Jeff

Ross and Marc Maron recalled that many people simply had nowhere else to be, but they

“needed to get out” and “be around other people” (Scown). Burton and Luther’s lesson for

people to “surround themselves with others who could make them laugh” in times of distress

gets applied nearly five centuries later (Tiret). There was palpable hopelessness in the city, but
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people were already yearning for laughter which seemed like an unthinkable action. It was not

just an elephant in the room, but mountains of rubble and thousands of corpses right down the

street. Comics had to elicit laughter, the physical manifestation of joy under these circumstances.

They had to wrestle with the dilemmas of needing to address it because it is on everyone’s mind

but how can it possibly be part of any joke? Every joke is already a gamble and now you have to

do comedy during the most sensitive and emotional times anyone had ever been a part of.

These comics gave the most difficult performances of all time as everyone was still

learning to smile again, let alone laugh. The fact an audience existed at all, however hesitant and

trepidatious they may have been, shows that people sought comedy to heal their woes. The clubs,

performers, and the viewer all took one day of mourning and then decided it was enough. It was

already time to get back to work. Comic Laurie Kilmartin, who went back to doing shows right

away, said that middling jokes were getting much bigger responses than they deserved because

“they were desperate to laugh” (Scown). People so badly wanted to laugh that it did not take

much as it did before because everyone was already looking for that feeling. Any comedian who

got up on stage for emotionally ailing crowds is commendable in these noble efforts. The stakes

in the club were also lower than any comedy on TV. Bombing in front of twelve strangers at

1 A.M. does not deter comedians as much as it informs them on how to shape their act, so they

always take chances. In times like this, chances need to be taken in comedy more than ever to

bring people out of what they have fallen into. Even if it means flirting with joking about

something considered “too soon” (Scown).

Many comedians went to the clubs on 9/11 simply to be around each other. Many of them

went to what they consider an adopted home, not to ignore the misery of the events, but to know

they are not alone in it. Those that were there say many comics had jokes that day about the
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tragedy because that is the only way they know to cope with it (Gournelos and Greene 55). They

would not fathom telling those jokes on stage that weekend, but they were not going to be hidden

forever. It is necessary to take chances because comedians do not know where the line is until

they cross. It was unthinkable to joke about or even around the tragedy but some brave people

knew it had to be done sooner rather than later. It is the comedian’s job to push the envelope and

anyone with a sense of humor is missing out if they do not at least try. As mentioned, times were

so desperate anybody trying to cheer someone up deserves credit, even if they infuriated some in

the process.

Arguably the most famous moment of “too soon” comedy came on the same night SNL

aired their safe, but effective show. Five blocks away, the N.Y. Friars Club Roast of Hugh

Hefner was held. There were discussions among the club and Comedy Central over changing

locations or delaying it, but it was smartly decided to remain in New York to bring the city a

release and provide the nation with some laughs as soon as possible. The show went on like any

roast aired on Comedy Central. It was vulgar, pulled no punches, and hilarious. However, no one

dared to perform any bold material on 9/11 aside from a few flag-waving, anti-terrorist jokes.

You can not make a joke about the most tragic event anyone alive has ever witnessed and get a

few chuckles. It had to be worth it, so no one mentioned it. The ice may not have been broken

but was cracked when Rob Schenider had a few jokes go south and Jeff Ross walked up and

asked “Hasn’t there been enough bombing in this city” (Miller). The crowd reaction was largely

positive but it was clearly still a risque joke that some were not ready to hear (Miller). Then

Gilbert Gottfried happened.

Few comedians care less what the crowd thinks of them and their material than Gottfried.

He would say whatever he thought was funny, whenever he thought it was funny and you either
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go on the ride with him or tune him out. His comedy is an acquired taste and his appearance at

this roast is one of his defining moments. Gilbert was killing as always did at these events, but

later said that he “wanted to be the first to address the elephant in the room” (Scown). He felt

comedy could not continue in this state of ignorance over something that is occupying the mind

of every person in the country (Verderosa). He felt the ice had to be broken and he addressed it

head-on when he said “I have to catch a flight to California. I can’t get a direct flight. They said

they have to stop at the Empire State Building first” (Miller). For the first time, someone had the

chutzpah to make a joke directly about 9/11. Whether it was funny or tasteless is subjective, but

it was an objectively crucial moment in comedy. Gilbert just opened the door for comedy to

return to (more or less) what it had been before the attacks. He sped up the process of bringing

comedy back by being the one to risk it with a joke like that. He got a largely negative reaction

of jeers and gasps from the audience as one could imagine. A man even yelled out “Too Soon!”

to Gottfried, which he thought was a critique of how he did not take enough time in between the

set-up and the punchline (Miller). Gottfried then won the crowd back with a five-minute

rendition of a filth-filled Aristocrats joke. For the first time, someone went up and told a truly

cutting 9/11 joke to a large audience and it did not kill the set (Verderosa). People finally saw

someone bring comedy to what it is supposed to be: rebellious, making people uncomfortable,

and pushing the status quo. It was a reminder to all comedians that nothing is off-limits and even

a 9/11 joke in September of 2001 under those circumstances is not a death sentence to a

genuienly skilled comediam. Comedy had to initially return sanitized and watered down, but this

roast made sure it did not stay that way.

Gottfried put the concept of alternative grief on full display that night (Scepanski 206).

He was a New Yorker born and raised, was hurt by the events as much as anybody, but saw no
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need to mope around about it. Comedy is very often used as a defense mechanism to combat any

unwanted emotions. The whole country was feeling uncertainty, confusion, anger, and

depression, so coping humor was naturally used (Gournelos and Greene 9). He was criticized for

“making fun” of the tragedy by the network and they even removed the joke from its later

broadcast, but he did “make fun” in the most literal sense (Verderosa). In the absence of fun,

Gilbert created some, which was greeted by a great many positively. He pleaded that “that’s the

way my mind works” and that it makes him no better or worse than anyone else (American

September Project). It may not help everyone get over it but it helped some people and in those

vulnerable times, helping at least one person made it all worth it.

This instance also shows how comedy can be used to take something’s power away. 9/11

had control over everyone’s minds in the following weeks and months. Gottfried displayed how

laughing about something can help us get over it. If we can take the seriousness out of something

that brings us down, we can relinquish the power it has. It is not a new coping mechanism but

one so complicated amid the tragedy in question. Comedy is a tool that “acknowledges the

importance placed on these events by the culture at large and then demeans that importance by

laughing” (Scepanski 212). Jokes like this and the roast going on at all also displayed a brilliant

rebellion against depression. Every program someone tuned into over the last few weeks was

depressing, was telling people how depressing it was, and made happiness seem like a practically

taboo or inappropriate feeling to express. Comedy, coming back quickly and even “too soon”

depending on who you ask, showed a refusal to conform to society practically instructing the

public to misery. By no means being disrespectful to the victims, comedians had mourned long

enough and continued to mourn in private, but saw no need to continue keeping jokes that could

cheer someone up to themselves.

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The debate of “too soon” towards 9/11 material continued in clubs and continues to this

day as some feel it is still nothing to even be mentioned in a joke (Scown). The fact is there is no

such thing as a universal “too soon”. Everyone recovers differently and gets over things on

different schedules. Taking humor away after a tragedy is disrespectful to the people who need it

so much to aid their mental health in times of distress. Nothing should ever be off limits as the

best comedy dabbles in the subjects we are all uncomfortable and uneasy about. Comedy of this

kind is needed and all the more after something like 9/11. Desperate times call for desperate

measures and the comedy of the era deserved a free pass as it sought to help all the souls needing

humor so badly.

Unfortunately, it cannot be said that all comics were responsible with their comedy.

Many came simply to shock the crowd, get attention and make headlines. They came intending

to surprise and leave the crowd with something to remember. That is not the comedian’s job

though. Their job is to produce laughter, but some had recognition on their mind more than that

and usually because they were not skilled enough to be an adequate comedian (Scown). There

was another group of comedians who showed the ugly side of the business. Several comedians

developed material based in Xenophobia and Islamophobia. Instead of focusing on healing the

city and the American people, they were focused on letting the crowd know they found an issue

with all Muslims and Islam as a whole because of what Al-Qaeda had done. Regular comedians

were expected to work in some political material, but already political comics turned it up to

eleven. Conservative comedians like Dennis Miller went on tirades over Islam and made

dangerous blanket statements about the situation, including jokes about refusing to sit next to

Muslims on airplanes (Scown). It was an era where many did not grasp the influence of their

comedy or understand how seriously they are taken by the public. Comic Mike Distefano once
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said on stage “Be more American. Punch a cab driver” (Gournelos and Greene 62). Assertions

like these were reckless as middle easterners of any faith were being victims of hate crimes

everywhere, even a Sikh man being killed in New York City the following month. In times when

unity needed to be on full display, some chose hatred as their anger overcame any better

judgment they may have had. Comedy deserved lots of wiggle room during this time as everyone

was still finding their footing in the changing landscape but irreprehensible, vile, and careless

spewing of irrational vitriol had no place behind a microphone then nor now.

Another dilemma that existed in comedy was the expected patriotism of every American.

Bill Maher’s ABC show Politically Incorrect was canceled after he said the U.S. military was

filled with “cowardly” armchair generals. He compared them to the hijackers, saying “staying in

the aeroplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, not cowardly” (Scown).

Regardless of how factual a statement may be, comedians had to remain tightlipped in fear of

censorship. After Maher’s comments, the White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer sent out a

warning that Americans need to “watch what they say…and this is not a time for remarks like

that. There never is” (Scown). One of the comedian’s most important functions in society is

taking everyone down a peg and keeping everyone’s ego in check, especially those in power.

However, this was a time when such a practice was dangerous and could be career suicide.

It became unorthodox and unseemly to laugh at any figure of authority, especially

President George W. Bush. The problem with that was Bush was rich with comedic material. He

regularly stumbled in speeches and carried himself more like a clumsy sitcom character than a

world leader. In the aftermath of the attacks, the plug was pulled on Comedy Central’s That’s

My Bush!, an entire program dedicated to parodying the POTUS who now had to be presented as

strong and powerful as possible (Kim). The satirical newspaper The Onion printed issues just a
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couple of weeks after 9/11 taking aim at Bush with headlines like “U.S. Vows To Defeat

Whoever It Is We’re At War With” (Scown). The Onion's critique only got more biting as the

years went on and people opened up to laughing at American authority again. In the following

years, things gradually got back to normal and Bush was mocked on the regular, and SNL went

back to parodying people like him and Guiliani.

Janeane Garafalo had a famous feud with FoxNews for her criticism of American action

in the Middle East and “punctured the myth that being skeptical about the government was

unpatriotic” (Webber 39). She regularly faced harassment during this time and was blackballed

by several clubs (Scown). However, she presented a voice for those tired of instructed patriotism

and became one of the major faces in the protest against the Iraq war and the Bush

administration. 9/11 produced a patriotism which made anti-establishment humor the victim of

heavy criticism, largely from the right. It was the botched response to 9/11 which also brought

the country out of a hole and more comfortable laughing about America and the attacks again as

“comedians and satirists took advantage of the daftness of the Bush administration” (Webber 47)

Politics were brought into everyone’s lives more intensely and The Daily Show, The Colbert

Report, Chappelle’s Show, and Team America: World Police became staples of what had

become post-9/11 comedy. Comedy some may find as unpatriotic or seditious proves that “if the

creation of national trauma relies on rituals of nationalism, then these jokes may offer the

opportunity to negate that ideology” (Scepanski 207).

After 9/11, the right largely vilified Islam and several Muslims hid their ethnicity and

religion to avoid the racism that irrational cretins ascribed to. Eventually, the country sought the

Muslim voice in popular culture and comedy was no exception. The Daily Show brought on

Aasif Mandvi as a correspondent and recently featured Hasan Minhaj to get a look into life as a
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Muslim in America from a comedic point of view. From the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour to the

Hulu Show Ramy, the Arab presence in comedy has grown heavily as their situation got so

complicated so quickly, and deserved platforms to express their experiences. American Muslims

were burdened with a great weight so unexpectedly after 9/11 as their people became the center

of so many political issues. It was only natural to let Muslim Americans themselves address

these very issues as head-on and honestly as possible.

As time has passed, an acceptable space for comedy surrounding 9/11 has grown. This

comes from the humor merely being 9/11 adjacent. Jokes about how air travel has changed or

people’s behavior after the attacks remained vague and were ultimately hopeful. People like

Robin Williams and D.L. Hughley had bits like this that remained safe and effective. The most

acceptable but trickiest form of comedy revolved around mocking the hijackers and Bin Laden.

No one hesitates to laugh at the most evil people on the planet but comes with the risk of being

dangerous when religion is regularly brought into it. Scripted TV and film remained fairly silent

about the attacks. This is no surprise as no one, especially from the comedic world, has an

obligation to speak on the attacks and they could not immediately respond as others could.

However, a major New York show like Friends faced some disapproval for not addressing the

attacks in any form (Spigel 131). It opened up the debate of how escapist or realist a piece of

media should be, even into the comedy world.

We now can take a look at where we have ended up in the present day. 9/11 is a subject

that is still not directly addressed that often in comedy. It is not because people have not tried it

or because we are not ready for it. It is simply that mainstream comics rarely take big enough

risks like that on stage as it is still a touchy enough subject to require a seasoned comic to work it

into a joke (Verderosa). It relates back to George Carlin’s evergreen rule that “you can joke
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about anything. It all depends on how you construct the joke” (Carlin). In 2011, the Comedy

Central Roast of Donald Trump provided an excellent look at humor surrounding 9/11 not ten

years later. Seth McFarlene introduced him as the “2nd biggest tragedy to ever hit New York

City” and Gilbert Gottfried came back to make the rounds in a piece of symmetry that proves he

was simply first to the table ten years prior. He joked that “Donald Trump has done so much

damage to the New York skyline, instead of calling him ‘The Donald’, they should call him the

20th Hijacker” (Gallen). The applause drowned out any jeers and what was once considered

edgy was now tame. Everyone from Louis C.K. to Joan Rivers and even Pete Davidson, whose

own father was in the NYFD and died on 9/11, have produced jokes about the tragedy. Chris

Rock caused controversy in a 2014 SNL monologue when he talked about how he refused to go

into the newly finished Freedom Tower, and asked “Does this building duck?” and “Who’s the

corporate sponsor, Target?” (King). SNL knew there was a time for mourning after the attacks

but Rock’s appearance emphasized that comedy needs to go on in its fullest and truest form.

Every year, the wound that made comedy once seem impossible gets healed and better, and more

cutting jokes are written about and around 9/11. However, it is worth noting many still find these

jokes told years later “too soon”. This goes to show that everyone will recover from a tragedy

and dissociate enough to laugh at it someday. We all will not arrive to that point on the same

day, but it will happen nonetheless. This reinforces the notion to joke about something as soon as

possible so we can stop kidding ourselves acting like there are sacred cows in comedy which we

cannot touch.

Comedy after 9/11 was a lesson in resolution and the power comedy has to do things only

it can. It is not a matter of smiling through the pain, but laughing the pain away. Comedy to heal

the mental scars of something so traumatic is not a universal prescription, but one everyone
 McNeill 18

should certainly try and at the very least acknowledge. It may take everyone different amounts of

time to get over something, laugh around and then laugh about it. That is perfectly fine and it is

imperative that we respect everyone traveling toward recovery at their own pace and method.

The fact is that the darkest moments often require the darkest material and that sooner is better

than later. Comedian Jimmy Carr said sometimes you need a “warm cadaver” to make the joke

work (Scepanski 201). The icon of “too soon” humor Gilbert Gottfried put it wonderfully when

he said that “comedy and tragedy are roommates” (Gournelos and Greene 178). They follow

each other around and comedy is always there to clean up the mess tragedy creates in people’s

hearts.
 McNeill 19

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