Andy Borowtiz: ‘We’re vital in an age that defies satire’

These are tough times for satirists. When a boss tweets a consistent tide of component like “covfefe,” what’s a comic to do?

“We’re vital in an age that defies satire,” pronounced Andy Borowitz, a New Yorker’s satirical columnist.

“You have a boss of a United States who is a former diversion uncover host. That sounds like something that would occur on a Sharknado sequel,” Borowitz told Brian Stelter in this “Reliable Sources” podcast conversation.

“It’s unequivocally tough to make a daily diet of comedy out of something that’s already ridiculous,” Borowitz added.

Borowitz isn’t seeking for sympathy. He’s a veteran “fake news” writer. His column, The Borowitz Report, has been chronicling absurdities in American politics given 2001.

When he started essay a column, Borowitz never suspicion it would turn “a genuine job,” as he puts it. But his posts gained traction and were republished by vital outlets like Newsweek and The Huffington Post.

The Borowitz Report has been a tie of The New Yorker’s revamped website given 2012, when editor David Remnick decided to acquire a column.

Borowitz got his start as a sitcom author for shows like “Square Pegs” and “The Facts of Life,” and he combined “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” in 1990.

Sitcoms and domestic joke have one pivotal component in common: character-driven humor. Like sitcom characters, politicians also have “characteristics that we brand them by,” Borowitz said.

Related: Listen to a full podcast with Borowitz

In Trump’s case, a many distinguished evil for comics to brand is narcissism. Borowitz captures it in columns like “Trump Boasts That His Impeachment Will Get Higher TV Ratings Than All Other Impeachments.”

A lot about Trump as a character, however, defies a playbook Borowitz used in a past to execute politicians. Compared to “straight and square” total like Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, Trump “is vouchsafing us know who he is on such a unchanging basis, he leaves really small left on a list for us to play around with,” Borowitz said.

Borowitz’s essay is a content chronicle of his demeanor: With a straightest face, he delivers zingers so clear that they can, and spasmodic are, mistaken for serious, even when they are clearly noted with a “Not The News” banner.

Adding that additional disclaimer on a mainstay was a difficult decision. For a comedian to have to mention that he is, in fact, joking, is “the comprehensive anathema,” Borowitz said. But he wanted to make certain everybody knew that he is “not perplexing to hoax anybody.”

Borowitz doesn’t try to burlesque all of Trump’s tweetstorms. “It would roughly seem like we was only echoing what he’s doing,” Borowitz said.

Instead, he pokes fun during Trump by reframing what he says. Broaching a theme of meridian change, Borowitz focused on Trump’s explain that he is a best negotiator: “Calling Earth a ‘Loser,’ Trump Vows To Make Better Deal With New Planet.”

Related: Subscribe to “Reliable Sources” podcast on iTunes

Borowitz concurred that many domestic comedy right now, his included, is “preaching to a choir.” His joke is a “palliative” that is “keeping people sane.”

But he believes amusement can motivate people to take action. That can be volunteering for a internal campaign, or even only starting a Change.org petition to plea a standing quo. “It can work,” he said.

And if people only chuckle, that works too.

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