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How Soon Is Too Soon? (And Other Classic Questions And Conundrums About Comedy)

CHRISTEL ØVERLAND PRETENI
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flickr creative commons

humor = tragedy + time

OK, but then the logical next question is: How much time?

If it's OK, at this point, to joke about, say, The Spanish Inquisition... what about, for instance, the Holocaust? Or AIDS? September 11th? The #MeToo movement?

...Derek Chauvin?

There's a line there somewhere, right?

Or are some topics just never going to be funny?

GUESTS:

  • Mike Bent - Teaches writing in the Comedic Arts program at Emerson College, and he’s a performing comedian and magician
  • Shawn Murray - A stand up comedian and writer and a host of Fantasy Filmball
  • Carolyn Paine - An actress, comedian, and dancer
  • Ferne Pearlstein - A documentary filmmaker who directed The Last Laugh
  • Caleb Warren - Assistant professor of marketing at the University of Arizona

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe, Catie Talarski, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired February 21, 2018.

Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

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You just read trusted, local journalism that’s free for everyone, thanks to donors like you.

If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — Connecticut.

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