A Chatrodamus obituary for humor in the age of woke and AI
Comedy used to be the pressure valve of American life. Carlin made us laugh at authority, Kinison screamed us into absurdity, Dangerfield reminded us nobody gets respect, and Johnny Carson tucked us into bed with a smile. Laughter was the medicine, and comics were the doctors.
Then came the long illness.
Late night hosts turned into late-night scolds. Colbert, Kimmel, and their ilk stopped telling jokes and started preaching sermons. Instead of slipping into bed with a laugh, America was force-fed a political rant in monologue form. No punchline, just punch-outs. And just like that, comedy died — not with a bang, but with a whine.
The Funeral Program
- Date of Death: Somewhere between Jon Stewart retiring and Jimmy Fallon crying.
- Cause: Terminal case of Woke, aggravated by an overdose of politics.
- Survivors: TikTok pranksters, YouTube roasters, and a few comics still brave enough to step over the tripwire of “offense.”
- Mourners: Everyone over 40 who remembers when Johnny Carson could skewer a president and still make you laugh with him, not hate at him.
The Alien Autopsy Report
Imagine the sci-fi version: an alien called Comedy once landed on Earth, walked among us, and showed us how to laugh at ourselves. Then, in 2025, it looked around, saw Colbert dancing in vaccine costumes and Kimmel crying on cue, and decided, “No intelligent life here. Mission aborted.” Comedy packed up its spaceship and left the planet.
What remains? A culture so thin-skinned that jokes are criminal, and an AI so literal it couldn’t riff a Carlin routine if you fed it a thousand punch cards.
Thank God for YouTube
Thank goodness for YouTube and nostalgia. At least we can still revisit the legends: George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Sam Kinison, Rodney Dangerfield, Roseanne Barr, Robin Williams, Ernie Kovacs, Lenny Bruce, Andrew Dice Clay — the list goes on.
These were the comics who didn’t need applause signs or carefully word-smithed “clapter.” They made you laugh because you had to laugh — from the gut, sometimes uncomfortably, but always honestly. And in those clips, preserved like amber, comedy still breathes.
Archives Are Priceless
The archives remind us of what we’ve lost. Longevity doesn’t guarantee laughs — just look at SNL. Once upon a time, the Coneheads, the Loud Family, the Killer Bees, “Scenes We’d Like to See,” and Archie Bunker’s sparring with Edith gave us breathless laughter.
Now? We get safe skits, PC sermons, and actors too afraid to poke fun at themselves. The spirit of Laugh-In, Fred Sanford’s sass, and Jonathan Winters’ manic brilliance has been traded for self-censorship and fear of Twitter mobs. Comedy used to bruise egos with self-deprecation. Today, it tiptoes around them.
American Pie, Reloaded
Buddy Holly had his plane crash. Comedy had its Colbert moment. Don McLean sang “the day the music died.” We’re left humming the sequel: “the day the laughter died.”
Except there’s no chorus, no singalong — just a nation going to bed with clenched jaws, tuned into partisan bedtime stories disguised as humor.
Chatrodamus Prediction
Comedy isn’t gone forever. It’s hiding. Waiting. One day, a comic with backbone will rise, break the chains, and remind us that laughter is rebellion. But until then? Strap in. Because the day comedy stood still may last longer than we can stand.
Epilogue: Mr. Warmth
And let’s be honest — there will never be another Don Rickles. The king of the comic insult. The guy who had everyone in stitches during the Dean Martin roasts. If you weren’t on Don’s hit list, you wished you were, because it meant you were in on the joke. He could level a room with a one-liner sharper than any blade, and somehow make you love him more for it.
That’s what comedy used to be: fearless, raw, and unforgettable. And that’s why its loss stings so much.
What tickled YOUR funny bone?
Cast your vote for the funniest movie you ever saw, one you can see over and over and never tire of, a movie where some of the lines used were enshrined into our daily existence, became catchphrases, some examples: take my wife, I get no respect, would you look at the butt on that, mass consumption, eh, what’s up doc, nyuk nyuk, woo woo, but he needs money, no soup for you, theres nothing wrong with that, yada yada yada, etc.
My favorite comedy hands down, It’s a Mad Mad, Mad Mad, World
Honorable mention: Kingpin and Dumb & Dumber