The Uncomfortable Truth
Adam Conover on “Michelle Wolf Did What Comedians Are Supposed to Do”:
Comedy has no rules, per se. But in my 15 years of writing and performing, I’ve come up with a few guidelines that I find helpful:
- Be funny.
- Tell the truth.
- Make people in power uncomfortable.
By that math, in her performance at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night in Washington, Michelle Wolf did exactly what a great comic is supposed to do. She made the crowd of assembled journalists, politicians and guests laugh; she made them squirm; and she made them gasp in astonishment (and yes, a little delight) when a sharp sliver of the truth cut a little closer to the bone than they were expecting.
I don’t know it for a fact, but I know it is true that Wolf received so many negative criticisms because she’s a woman who happens to be damn good at roasting politicians. From pussy-ass President to ball-less Speaker of the House to neck-circumcised Republican Majority Leader, she did not hold back.