Comedy has always been a healing agent, helping people get past a tragedy or deal with something that doesn’t make sense. We laugh at funerals and wakes to help us deal with pain, and humor has been a touchstone that society uses to judge when we are on the other side of an ordeal or ready to deal with a major crisis.
Back in 2001, for example, “Saturday Night Live” famously went on air as scheduled 18 days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The show opened with producer Lorne Michaels asking then-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani “Can we be funny?”
“Why start now?” was the politician’s reply. It was a comedic signal to the country that we could, and should, at least try to move on.
“Too soon?” has become a common quip to a joke that might not land well after events such as earthquakes, floods, plane crashes and now, it would seem, a pandemic if people aren’t ready to laugh. It would appear that for months now, people have not been ready, but that may be changing. Comics and comedy clubs are beginning to ramp up with national acts hitting the road.
“Finally, the audience demand is back, sort of,” said actor/comic T.J. Miller.