Ben Bankas can't take a joke



Ben Bankas pondered fascism as he waited for the Cybertruck.

His enemies on the left have branded his comedy “right-wing fascist” bigotry. They’re not entirely wrong: He is right-wing, and his comedy is bigoted. One of his taglines is “I’m racist.” And there’s his Chinese human-monkey hybrid character:

Bankas radiates a kind of unpredictable energy that either offends or enthralls people, as tonight’s crowd would soon discover.

But does that really make him a fascist?

Bankas slumped in a black hoodie on a bench outside the Hampton Inn where he was staying. November darkness had descended over Tulsa, layering the air with an autumn cold.

He sprang up when the metallic shape of my friend’s Cybertruck glided into view. Everyone in the parking lot froze and gawked. A mother yanked her curious child away from the vehicle, muttering about bad people.

“Definitely a Kamala voter,” said Bankas as he slid into the back seat. “Anything Elon does is automatically fascist to liberals, and she is definitely a liberal.”

He immediately began chattering with my two friends, as the official photographers.

Two days earlier, Donald Trump had won the 2024 presidential election. And now Bankas was in Oklahoma, where every county has been Republican since 2000, so people were even happier than normal. In my little town outside Tulsa, people set off fireworks every night for a week.

Bankas, a Canadian, recently moved to Austin, Texas. He was happy with the Trump win. For one, he has a toddler, a little girl, and a baby boy on the way. Liberal nonsense is personal to a family man.

At 32, he feels a growing presence, the itch of fame and its potential, amplified by the buzz from the release of his fourth special, “Elect This."

Early in his career, he was inspired by Trump's statements about how the cure for depression is just working really hard. He thinks about it any time he wants to rest, like earlier that day, when he took an afternoon nap.

Hustle

On the drive to the Loony Bin, Bankas asked about Oklahoma, pulling out tidbits of local culture that would reappear in his set. Any anxieties were offset by the shiny, almost alien presence of the Cybertruck gliding through Tulsa’s quiet streets.

The recent change back to Standard Time made everything darker, just a smidge off-kilter. This intensified when we arrived at the Loony Bin, which occupies the gap between a Halloween store and a Cinergy, with a whiff of Red Lobster.

The crowd in the lobby went quiet as we entered, heads turning nervously, maybe stealing a glimpse of tonight’s headliner.

It’s hard to tell, in part because Bankas, as a persona, radiates a kind of unpredictable energy that either offends or enthralls people, as tonight’s crowd would soon discover.

Stout and forward-tilting, Bankas resembles a warthog of a running back, swift but still fond of a bit of cruelty.

Greenroom

In the greenroom, we raided the beer fridge. Soon, the coffee table succumbed to empty Miller Lights and recording equipment. Within ten minutes, we had to start a tab.

The club owner told us his unbelievable origin story, so traumatic that it was confusing. He and Bankas shared a few winky jokes, but moved on to small talk about various comedians. Later, the owner would complain that he had actually lost money on the show. He probably did, but it was hard to tell what he really meant.

My friends were amazed by how normal Bankas was. One of them kept forgetting that the occasion was a proper interview. To be fair, we all did, and by the end of the night, the waitress at the steakhouse said, “Lord have mercy I’m about to earn my money.”

Thirsty to attack

The only usable part of our interview came before Bankas walked out of the greenroom and onto the stage. A few cigarette breaks, some more beers, lots of pregame pacing — he was calibrating the chemical and physiological equation for a feverish set.

This was his locker room, and he was about to step out into the light and compete. That shakes anyone up.

"It's not always about being funny," he confided. "It’s about not screwing up."

His muffled anxiety made him more likeable, a vulnerability that contrasted sharply with his persona as a flamethrower who lives to offend. Defenses down, he talked about his childhood and his mother.

He mentioned how he played the violin as a kid but quit because he thought it was "gay."

He added, “It was just me and a bunch of Chinese kids, and my parents made me wear stupid sweater vests with a turtleneck.”

Freed of his stuffy winter outfits, he joined the hockey team, “because that's where all the cool kids were.”

Oddly enough, the position he played was left wing. But he also briefly played defense and scored a ton of goals, a dynamic that appears in his comedy: Even when he’s receding, he’s thirsty to attack.

After high school, Bankas played hockey at various levels, including single A, which he described as “just a bunch of people who thought they were gonna go to the NHL and be a**holes.”

He still plays sometimes, but not competitively since college.

Then he said, “I used to sell photocopiers.” He repeated the sentence. And again. After a pause: “I lied on my resume.”

Capacity

Bankas’ opening act was a laid-back and delightful local comedian who also shot video footage at the club. His routine was clean — a lovely performance.

Loony Bin’s room seats 250 people, but that night, only about fifteen showed up. And they were all crowded around the stage.

Bankas peeked out of the greenroom: “Is that everyone?” he asked, then returned to the pre-fight hype session, an iPod in one ear blaring feel-good rap. The warthog was ready to feed.

The set

His entrance song puttered out of the house PA like the horn of a lowrider: “Can’t Take a Joke” by Drake. He paused for a couple of moments, as if he expected the audio quality to improve.

Once onstage, Bankas suppressed an “uh-oh” as the shape of the stage and the angle of the lights and the closeness of the crowd collided with his buzz from beers and Zyns.

His opening joke was more of a hemorrhage than a show-starter: “People have lost some f***ing minds because Trump won! And all the retarded people don't understand what's going on. By all the f***ing dumb women — the female, homosexual part of our society, right? They're all dumb, retarded, gay people and f***ing women that get like 40 abortions before they’re 30 years old.”

It just plopped out like vomit.

He was testing new material, following the recent release of “Elect This.” This should have been a neat moment when the audience gets to witness a comedian honing his craft.

Instead, he got sloppy. He told some great jokes. But the performance lacked flow, and Bankas had no poise.

Usually displaying great timing, with his pauses and sentence fragments, tonight Bankas fumbled through his material, prodding at his iPhone mid-set to scroll through notes. Dead air, marked by the unique silence of people looking down and scrolling.

This kind of set only works if the comedian steps away with an air of humility. “I failed a lot during that set, but I think I made some headway for the next special.”

Instead, Bankas leaned into warthog mode.

Hey, Joe

About 15 minutes in, he abruptly shifted to the audience. He’s known for his crowd work, especially hecklers. But tonight there was no heckling and hardly any crowd. Just a little gathering of friendlies, eager for a laugh on a Thursday night.

So Bankas torched them.

Over the course of his 90-minute set, the mood in the room soured.

Bankas berated a guy, an engineer. For the rest of the show, he didn’t laugh, and his wife occasionally rubbed his back supportively. I spoke with several audience members who felt the same.

Bankas’ meanness seemed like a crutch, a way to distract the crowd from his fumbling. And this approach was incredibly alienating for someone eager to build a giant audience. But he didn’t seem to notice this.

He believes that he should be part of Joe Rogan’s collective of famous comedians. Maybe he should. He mentioned Rogan a lot throughout the night. He actually closed his set by promising to fill the room next time he comes to Tulsa and to bring Joe Rogan with him.

Growing up

Bankas’ vituperative style has roots in hockey locker-room vulgarity and rebellion, which emerged when he attended Harbord Collegiate Institute in Toronto, a school known for the actors, comedians, and academics among its alumni.

His mom was a high school teacher. He threw wild parties at his house.

“The black kids loved it,” Bankas told me. “But they'd also trash … not really my house, but they'd run along cars on my street and just trash every car, and the cops would show up. Everybody was trying to sue my mom.”

His friend Jamal was one of the first people to compliment Bankas’ sense of humor, impressed by Bankas’ willingness to shout the N-word.

Bankas’ early career took him from Toronto’s local comedy clubs to his first professional gig in Sudbury, Ontario, where he performed in a sports bar and spent the night at a Super 8 motel.

Clique

In the polarized ecosystem of modern stand-up comedy, where subtle hints of conservatism used to be cloaked with disclaimers, Joe Rogan’s endorsement of Donald Trump marked a breakthrough. Comedians like Shane Gillis, Theo Von, and Tony Hinchcliffe also played a crucial role.

From the start, Bankas rejected this neutrality, planting himself squarely in the anti-woke camp without a whiff of hesitation or apology.

Bankas doesn’t just poke fun at liberals; he dismantles the “woke” worldview with a sledgehammer and finds humor in the debris. For him, the self-righteousness of progressive culture is a gold mine of contradictions.

These moralists are obsessed with identifying oppressors and victims yet fail to see their own hypocrisy. They denounce wealth but worship celebrity, preach representation while silencing dissent, and demand inclusivity but shame anyone who doesn’t comply with their dogmas.

Something about the way they squeal and whine amuses Bankas. He likes to see how far he can push the boundaries before they spaz.

Take Bankas’ own brief foray into politics. During a run for mayor of Toronto, he donned a rainbow suit and tie on the campaign trail, promising to “make Toronto fun again.”

He ran on a platform of unapologetic offensiveness, an approach that earned him a few hundred votes and the undivided attention of the Toronto Sun. His candidacy was a joke, but it was a joke with teeth. He had brought his anti-woke philosophy from the stage and unleashed it on the real world.

Turn on the lights

Back in the greenroom, Bankas was revved up like a prizefighter who just earned a belt. After a quick meet-and-greet, we all piled back into the Cybertruck and set course to B.J.’s Restaurant & Brewhouse. Bankas hadn’t been there, and I had promised steak. Everything fell apart after that, in an uninteresting way.

But the drive there was peaceful. No jokes, no laughter, just a glide, a drift.

“Turn on the Lights” by Future blared from the speakers. Windows open.

We floated through each quiet silhouette of Tulsa at night. Golf balls of cold air rushed into the Cybertruck. The pale yellow fabric of street lights flashed at us like paparazzi.

Performance review

I think, ultimately, I liked him, but he did make fun of every single person he interacted with all night, including me, repeatedly, with a bravado that I admire.

He wrestles with the offensive-funny ratio I wrote about in my profile of Gavin McInnes.

Offensive comedy is dangerous and beautiful. The more offensive the material, the funnier it has to be, a rule that Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin cemented.

But Bankas constantly risks excess that would make his offensive words hackneyed, much like the brilliant Ricky Gervais.

Bankas is an incendiary comedian with a talent for crowd work, but he’s still a few steps away from takeoff. It’s time for his comedy to mature. What his performance lacks most is storytelling. He needs to build scenes, characters, and anecdotes. Not by softening his approach, but by grounding it. A strong offensive joke doesn’t just shock; it spotlights the human condition.

From there, if he’s lucky, Bankas can become a philosopher-king like Chappelle, Burr, Carlin, and their ilk.

Of course, plenty of talented comics never make this move. Stephen Wright, Dimetri Martin, Mitch Hedberg, and Rodney Dangerfield all excel with one-two punch blitzkrieg delivery, but even they weave story into their sets.

Punching all around

In a world where liberal and conservative comedians are waging war over who gets to define what’s funny, Bankas’ commitment to punching in every direction reminds us that culture is athletic, something we have to engage with and perform.

The left wants Bankas to be held accountable; the right wants to claim him as its own, but Bankas resists either label, for the most part.

As a provocateur, his persona thrives in the tension between the audience’s expectations and his own refusal to cater to them. His persona doesn’t want applause; he wants the visceral response, the kind that shakes people out of their comfort zones.

Comedy has always had a communal aspect, a way of determining who belongs. Laughter is the signal; if you laugh along, you’re in on the joke.

So you either laugh with Bankas, signaling your willingness to challenge boundaries, or you sit stone-faced, unamused, excluded from the insiders’ club. This is the essence of Bankas’ style: communal in its alienation, cannonball architecture.

At a glance, this maneuver looks straightforward. But Bankas is pulling a ton of levers. Imitation is fundamental to his process. Mimicry can easily spike the offensive-funny ratio, especially if the impression features any kind of failing or disfigurement — terrain that Bankas uses for joyrides.

Henri Bergson observed that deformity is funny only when it can be convincingly mimicked by someone who is able-bodied. But this decree takes us right back to beauty of comedy’s paradox: The only comedians who can say “retarded” are the ones who can imitate retardation.

'People like Mr. Rogan prey on people's vulnerabilities': Australian broadcasting exec goes on unhinged rant about Joe Rogan



An Australian broadcasting executive said comedian Joe Rogan preys on the population with malevolent intent.

Kim Williams, a former media executive who is now the chair of the state-run Australian Broadcasting Corporation, spoke at the Australian National Press Club this week about the growing threat of "misinformation" and "disinformation."

'I personally find it deeply repulsive.'

Williams consistently made references to floods and tsunamis regarding an alleged increase in "false information," stating that the government broadcaster needs to do a better job of providing "lifeboats" to citizens, especially young ones.

When the executive was asked why he believes Rogan is so successful at capturing a large market share, he began spreading his own claims about the comedian.

"I have a question about Joe Rogan," an audience member began. "He's obviously the world's most popular podcast host. He has three billion listeners. ... I'm just wondering if you had any observations about what's behind the Joe Rogan effect, how you believe he's managed to so successfully capture this huge market."

Williams first responded in jest, saying that he wasn't sure whether he was the right person to ask given that he is not a "consumer or enthusiast" of Rogan's work. However, the government employee then immediately launched attacks at the American.

"I think people like Mr. Rogan prey on people's vulnerabilities. They prey on fear. They prey on anxiety. They prey on on all of the the elements that contribute to uncertainty in society," Williams claimed.

In a video clip of the statement on X, the 71-year-old claimed Rogan spreads "fantasy outcomes and conspiracy outcomes" as if they are a "normal part of social narrative."

"I personally find it deeply repulsive," Williams continued. "And, to think that someone has such remarkable power in in the United States is is something that I look at in disbelief."

The Australian added that he was "in dismay" that people find Rogan entertaining given that he is "treating the public as plunder" and is "quite malevolent."

Rogan shared the video with a simple, "LOL WUT," response.

'As the poisoned waters of the Tsunami rise, it's good to get the young especially into lifeboats.'

This was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Williams' remarks at the event.

Williams also claimed the predominant sources of "false information" in the world are: Vladimir Putin-funded bot-farms, Andrew Tate's "poisonous" videos, and artificial intelligence.

Therefore, he decried, the ABC "will require extra investment."

As the poisoned waters of the Tsunami rise, it's good to get the young especially into lifeboats — they are particularly vulnerable to the flood. Their minds are precious assets, needed for our future success. But lifeboats are always flimsy protections against surging tides. And one day our young will have to swim for themselves in the poisoned seas. So they and everyone else will need to be better prepared.

Williams then called for an increase in government-backed "fact-checking," children's programs, and curriculum.

He concluded his speech by saying the ABC needs to attract younger audiences as a matter of "intergenerational equity" and also "train a new generation of young journalists."

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WATCH: Bud Light pokes fun at marketing missteps in latest Shane Gillis ad



Just when you thought woke weirdness in commercials couldn't get any worse, along comes Jaguar as if to say, "Hold my beer."

Just as the iconic British carmaker drives its brand off a cliff with its latest ad, Bud Light continues to win back customers with its latest effort — its second spot starring stand-up Shane Gillis.

The Gillis campaign returns Bud Light to its pre-woke era, when the brand embraced comedy to appeal to its young, male customer base

As Blaze News reported in February, the beloved beer brand signed a marketing deal with Gillis in an attempt to repair the damage caused by its disastrous partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.

The latter caused conservatives to spearhead a boycott, which caused Bud Light to drop from the top-selling beer to the third, while parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev lost roughly $1.4 billion in sales. In a bit of meta-commentary, the spot — entitled "Wrong Commercial" — finds Gillis showing up at what he thinks is the set of his latest Bud Light commercial — only to encounter a snake-handling femme fatale and an existentially depressed guitarist (all shot in black and white).

"I think I'm in the wrong commercial," the flannel-clad Gillis announces, Bud Light in hand. "Yeah dude, this isn't right."

Meanwhile, the actor who is supposed to be in the avant-garde fragrance ad is at the Bud Light set: a raucous sports bar where he has the time of his life drinking beer, eating wings, and watching football.

Gillis' first Bud Light commercial debuted in September.

The Gillis campaign returns Bud Light to its pre-woke era, when the brand embraced comedy to appeal to its young, male customer base in a series of memorable ads, including "Real Men of Genius," "Bud Light Institute," "The Hitchhiker," "Paper or Plastic," "Magic Fridge," "Swear Jar," "Dog Sitter," and "Rock, Paper, Scissors."

This run ended in 2022 when the company promoted Alissa Heinerscheid to vice president of marketing, the first female to fill the role.

From the start, Heinerscheid was outspoken about her intentions to shake things up. During an interview in March 2023, Heinerscheid declared that Bud Light needs to welcome more "inclusivity."

"So I had this super clear mandate. It's like, we need to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand," Heinerscheid proclaimed. "And my ... what I brought to that was a belief in, OK, what does evolve and elevate mean? It means inclusivity. It means shifting the tone. It means having a campaign that's truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different and appeals to women and to men."

Heinerscheid expressed disgust for Bud Light's previous marketing campaigns.

"And we had this hangover. I mean, Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach," she stated.

You can watch the Shane Gillis Bud Light commercial below.

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Mark Levin ROASTS ‘comedian’ and ‘pretend’ intellectual Jon Stewart: ‘He’s a shrimp’



Comedian and host of “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart, is still reeling from the mandate Donald Trump received from the American people, who voted to put him back in the White House as the 47th president of the United States.

From Stewart’s unfunny jokes to his pathetic political analysis, Mark Levin knows what he is: a part of “the phony corporate media,” who deserves a good roast.

“This guy pretends to be some kind of intellectual. Based on what? ... He also pretends to be a comedian. Based on what?” Levin asks. “I notice when he debates people, he gets in their face, and he yells at them, like he's a tough guy,” but, “He's a shrimp.”

“He’s very upset his Kamala lost. He can’t understand why,” says Levin. “Because you’re out of touch, you jacka**, that’s why.”

Following Trump’s victory, Stewart said to his audience, “We're all going to have to wake up tomorrow morning and work like hell to move the world to the place that we prefer it to be.”

“In other words, to try and destroy the Trump presidency, to double down on this stuff that is tearing this country apart,” Levin corrects.

Stewart then laughed at the idea that Barack Obama’s 2008 victory signaled that we were “moving towards a post-racial America” — “That lasted a day!”

“What would [Democrats] do without racism? What would they do without the allegation of racism?” Levin asks. “There'd be no Project 1619, there'd be no CRT or DEI or ESG.”

“The greatest country on the face of the Earth, the most beneficent country, the most diverse country on the face of the Earth, where specifically people who are minorities — whether skin color, whether other physical aspects and characteristics, whether faith — this is the place to be,” he adds, “but with these clowns on the left, everybody's a victim.”

Stewart also condemned Trump’s comments about illegal immigrants from Mexico and expressed his disbelief that Hispanic voters voted red in record numbers.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime; they’re rapists,” Trump said during one presidential campaign announcement.

Stewart couldn’t fathom how such a racist message could possibly be “the winning message.”

“Maybe Jon Stewart doesn't know anybody who died from fentanyl; maybe Jon Stewart doesn't know any of the women who were sold into slavery; maybe Jon Stewart can help us find one of 325,000 unaccompanied miners who've gone missing,” says Levin.

“Do you realize how irrelevant the phony corporate media are in this country?” he asks.

To hear more of Levin’s roast, watch the clip above.

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'There's supposed to be freedom of speech': 'Saturday Night Live's' Kenan Thompson says movie studios suppress edgy comedians



Veteran "Saturday Night Live" cast member Kenan Thompson said actors and comedians no longer have the freedom to write edgy material, and those who do are "suppressed."

Thompson, who has starred in movies like "Good Burger" and "D2: The Mighty Ducks," said that comedians sometimes struggle to align their comedy to public "sensibilities," especially when they are used to speaking a certain way in their private lives.

The 46-year-old noted that while some comedians can emerge out of the industry's blanket censorship, most edgy comedy is shut down by film studios.

"There's supposed to be freedom of speech. They keep trying to suppress, but then you have the [comedians] that pop up out of that suppression," Thompson revealed.

'That's where it felt like was the end of the road for the freedom of wanting to be funny.'

During an interview with comedians Mark Normand and Sam Morril, Thompson said it was disheartening to see how few comedies get a green light in modern Hollywood.

"There's not enough comedies anymore. There's no comedies to be seen right now. It's so sad."

"Of course the classics like the 'Tropic Thunders' of it all, but that's where it felt like was the end of the road for the freedom of wanting to be funny kind of thing. ... I'm looking for that era," Thompson explained.

Ben Stiller's "Tropic Thunder" received very little backlash when it was released in 2008 despite its frequent use of the word "retard" and the simple fact that actor Robert Downey Jr. was in blackface for nearly the entire film.

Thompson also cited movies like Mike Myers' "Austin Powers" and "Baseketball" as edgy movies that likely couldn't be made today.

"It should be allowed to be done!" Thompson declared.

Host Normand then asked Thompson about recent episodes of "Saturday Night Live" in which comedians Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle took a moment to acknowledge how sensitive the show's audience has become.

"Everybody was like, 'This is crazy; this is so offensive,'" Normand recalled. "Did you find it was a little touchy over there?" he asked the cast member.

"It's touchy everywhere," Thompson replied. "That audience comes in and like, there is some clutching of the pearls."

Thompson implied that the studio audience at SNL is usually on edge and afraid to laugh at anything that could be deemed offensive. This results in comedians often receiving little "support" from the live viewers when they perform stand-up comedy on the show.

Despite this, the actor claimed the executive producer of SNL, Lorne Michaels, is reasonable in his approach about what can or cannot be said by performers. He said Michaels will simply say "good luck" to a comedian and let the audience reaction do the talking.

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‘Saturday Night’ Reminds Us How Far The Unfunny Partisans At SNL Have Fallen

'Saturday Night' is a wonderful celebration of a cultural moment, and pulls together a wonderfully cathartic story.

Comedian Andrew Schulz credits podcast circuit for connecting Trump to voters while legacy media sells 'depression pills'



Comedian Andrew Schulz says he thinks Donald Trump's appearances on podcasts helped him build a connection with voters that drove them to the polling stations.

Schulz was speaking with co-host Akaash Singh on his podcast "Flagrant" when he began discussing the now-limited reach of mainstream media.

"Was Kamala [Harris] so bad that even with the influence of legacy media they couldn't get [her] over the hump? For example, if Michelle [Obama] was running or if Barack was running with legacy media in its current state, I think they might be able to still get it over," Schulz speculated.

Schulz then blamed legacy media for convincing Americans that "up until election night" the presidential election was a close race.

"[It's] legacy media that is constantly pushing narratives that not only is it close, 'she might be ahead! Iowa's going to her; she's going to flip all the [swing states]; it's going to be an absolute mauling,' right? That is legacy media pushing a narrative and people believing said narrative."

'It wasn't exactly the free-form speech that we're kind of used to.'

Schulz then went into detail on how Trump, much like popular comedians with podcasts, was able to create an emotional connection with audience members who were then inspired to go out and support him.

"If you look at the biggest touring stand-up comedians in the world, they all have podcasts where they've built this amazing community and connection, and we talk to people every single week," Schulz outlined. "They know intimate details about our life. To me what that's proven is that just because people are famous doesn't mean you go out; connection is actually what makes people go out."

It was that connection with Americans that Schulz explained he felt Vice President Kamala Harris didn't have. She appeared on some podcasts that were more like "short, very contrived interviews."

"It was very controlled. It was things edited out. It wasn't exactly the free-form speech that we're kind of used to," the comedian claimed.

Trump appeared on the "Flagrant" podcast about a month before the election, along with other podcasts with Joe Rogan and Theo Von.

Harris' biggest podcast appearance was on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, which predominantly focuses on promiscuity and college life. She later appeared on "Club Shay Shay," a podcast with former NFL player Shannon Sharpe. That appearance did not even crack the show's top 50 most viewed episodes, however.

Schulz went on to point out that podcasts are about connecting people, while legacy media is about selling "depression pills" from sponsors.

The comedian added that voters came out to support Trump because of the "connection" and that people voted for President Biden in 2020 because they didn't have to leave the house.

After Trump's appearance on his podcast, Schulz had a large arena cancel his gig, claiming he was not "the right fit" for the venue.

At the same time, Trump's podcast circuit likely bolstered his status with young men, who voted for Trump in larger numbers than in 2020. Trump garnered 56% of the 2024 vote with men ages 18-29.

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Culture Did A Way Better Job Of Signaling Trump’s Win Than Broken Polls

As Bob Dylan famously sang, 'You don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.'

Exclusive: Hollywood 'hypocrisy' over harsh Jan. 6 sentence for 'Bob's Burgers' actor: 'The whole LA comedy scene piled on'



“‘Bob’s Burgers’ Actor Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Role in Jan. 6 Riot” crowed the New York Times as the funniest man I’ve ever met was leaving D.C. and heading back to L.A. to pack up his life.

Jay Johnston wasn’t just Bob’s rival Jimmy Pesto; he was the officer on the "Sarah Silverman Program" who said, “As a cop, I’ve seen things that would make you crap a book on how to puke.”

I hate that Jay is going to prison for a year, but I love this story because it is a perfect example of the brutal hypocrisy of Hollywood, the left, and everyone who thinks they’re 'creative.'

True comedy fans know him more for his incredible performances on "Mr. Show," including “The Story of Everest,” where he knocks down his parents' thimble collection eight times.

Slapstick is his forte. The guy is about a hundred feet tall or, as Andy Dick once called him, “a legal giant,” so when he falls, it’s hilarious.

Jeepers cheapers

I wrote a TV pilot with him once called “The Two Bennies,” where we updated the slapstick of Benny Hill with over-the-top lunacy. Instead of a woman slapping one of us for being fresh, she chopped our heads off with a chainsaw.

I remember pitching him certain ideas and ending with, “Do you think that’s funny?” to which he would pause and say, “Let me ask you something … do you think that’s funny?”

I’ve known this guy for a quarter of a century, and he was never political.

He was a hard-drinking, heavy-smoking madman who drove a Jeep with no sides or windshield so that when you got in, he’d hand you a coat and goggles to stay alive.

He’s Hunter S. Thompson meets RanXerox but he’s also an incredibly moral and courageous person who will run down the street chasing a purse snatcher into hell.

We’d go on vacation together every year with a bunch of other people in the funny community, and the discussions were always retarded.

Once when I picked Jay up at the airport in Saint Martin, we got lost trying to get out of the airport. He said, “This parking lot was originally designed by the infamous municipal planner William P. Nillard, known to his friends as Willy Nilly.”

Jay often mocked me for being a typical Scottish cheap-ass. On one trip, he went to open the door for me, but it only went halfway because it got stuck on a rock.

“Sorry,” he said insincerely. “I’m cheap too.” I pulled it shut hard over the pebble, and the loud bang led Jay to add, “Take it easy, Slammy Davis Jr.”

Blind man's baseball

I remember in Jamaica in 2003, David Cross ("Mr. Show") was giving me s**t for being a Republican, and Jay asked, “You’re a Republican? Why? Don’t you see that diversity is ultimately better for everyone and all that?”

This was one of the only remotely political things I ever heard him say, and his response was typical of the L.A. comedy scene back then. They talk about politics the way British people talk about baseball: blindly.

The next time politics came out of his big mouth was in 2016 when Trump was running for president. He was at Starburns Industries, and Dan Harmon ("Rick and Morty") was talking about how important it was that Hillary win.

Johnston dared to disagree and said that he liked the idea of Trump shaking things up.

It was as if he had said, “I don’t know. You have to admit at least SOME toddlers are sexy.”

Everyone in the room was gobsmacked, and Dan turned purple with rage before giving Jay a screaming diatribe that sounded like Mussolini in a bad mood.

I spoke to Jay soon after that and worried that one incident was going to get him blackballed, because Harmon basically runs comedy over there.

“I don’t think it’ll be that bad” he replied. “Maybe brownballed.”

Refusing to embrace Trump derangement syndrome was Jay’s first scarlet letter, but it wasn’t the end of his career — possibly because he wasn’t politically active. Yes, he dared to blaspheme Hillary, but to hang out with this guy was 99% workshopping comedy bits.

Transformers convention

I used to grab drinks with him and other people way funnier than me, like Jeff B. Davis and Dino Stamatopoulos at the Rustic Inn in L.A. “I just flew back from a Transformers convention, and boy are my arms tires,” one of them would quip.

The table became incredibly serious after that as each guy tried to outdo the other. “George W. Bush just flew back from seeing the devastation Katrina caused, and boy are his farms mired” got some groans before someone added, “Bush just flew back from Afghanistan, and boy are his armies tired.”

I think it was Jay who ended the volley by saying he just flew back from a Hitler convention, and boy is his arm tired.

Little did he know that joke would become reality in Biden’s America and that he’d be going to prison for an arm that wasn’t even tired because it didn’t even do anything.

Social distancing

Jay’s 2016 transgression remained a minor black cloud above his career until Dino had a party in 2021 at the tail end of COVID. Johnston arrived with no mask and was hugging everyone and shaking hands like it wasn’t an instant death sentence.

The lefties of La La Land had moved on from Hillary and had focused all their attention on health protocol. Jay’s negligent behavior confirmed their worst fears about him. This guy is a right-winger after all.

This wave of ostracism annoyed Jay and made him more interested in what the “evil” right had been up to all these years. He started to follow Trump more closely. When he heard of the January 6 rally, he texted me. “Are you going to check this out?” he asked.

“F**k no,” I responded. “I will be avoiding it like the plague.” This exchange ended up in court.

When the big day arrived, Jay was curious. Again, this is a British person at a baseball game, so he wasn’t experienced enough to know how these things usually go. At the ripe old age of 53, this was his first rally.

Giant injustice

During the chaos, Jay was handed a police shield because he’s 6’4” and could easily get it out of there. His girlfriend later joked that Jay was on trial for "being tall." He passed it over his head to police.

In the footage, however, he could just as easily have been using it to attack police. You can’t tell. The FBI began circulating his image and asking the public if they knew who he was.

The sh**bags in L.A. couldn’t wait to respond. This is why I hate those people so much. They have no honor. They don’t just lack the courage of their convictions. They lack courage.

Tim Heidecker (known to many as the guy who got Sam Hyde canceled) couldn’t wait to point out Jay’s involvement. Jeff B. Davis went a step farther and actually spoke to the FBI himself, sharing texts that included Jay saying, “The news has presented it as an attack. It actually wasn’t. Though, it kind of turned into that. It was a mess. Got maced and tear gassed and I found it quite untastic.”

Jeff and Jay must have spent a thousand hours together. I think Jeff is the one who came up with “boy are his farms mired.” I always suspected Jeff was jealous of Jay’s sense of humor, and the backstabbing confirms it.

It wasn’t just Jeff and Tim who couldn’t wait to string up the kindest guy I’ve ever known. The whole L.A. comedy scene piled on. Jay’s 13-year-old daughter was taking an improv class because she wanted to be like her dad. Unfortunately, what got her into the class also got her out, because she was sent home for the sins of her father. "Bob’s Burgers" fired him, his new film "Wing Dad" was shelved, and his entire career came to a screeching halt.

Rat pack

This was going way past brownlisted. A friend of mine was at David Cross’ 60th birthday party recently (David and I were very close, but we broke up after he got TDS). This guest is still friends with Jay and me, but he hates Trump, so he still gets invited to parties. He was pleading with everyone there to see Jay’s side.

"You don’t think it's insane that he’s facing serious jail time?” he kept asking.

Do you think they gave a s**t about the nuance of the police shield? Do you think any of them had even heard about the shield?

They all — to a man — shrugged their shoulders and harrumphed, “F**k around and find out.” Not one of them showed any sympathy (or dared let anyone else know they felt sympathy) despite knowing Jay for almost 30 years — funny, that.

Three years after Jay’s visit to D.C., he was charged with violation of 18 USC 231, “Obstructing law enforcement officers during a civil disorder,” and sentenced to 366 days in prison as well as two years of supervised release.

I hate that Jay is going to prison for a year, but I love this story because it is a perfect example of the brutal hypocrisy of Hollywood, the left, and everyone who thinks they’re “creative.”

The drama-club nerds don’t grow up with empathy and the ability to see outcasts for the human beings they really are. They grow up to be bitter victims hell-bent on revenge. If that means throwing your buddy in a cage for disagreeing with you, so be it. These are the neighbors who will rat you out to the Stasi if communism ever takes over.

This is why it’s so important that we win this election. The other side is so immoral that it’s not funny.

I donated to Jay’s GiveSendGo. You should too.

Comedian refuses to apologize for joke at Trump rally — but what these Puerto Ricans said will anger Democrats even more



Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe is not going to apologize.

Hinchcliffe became the subject of social media backlash on Sunday after making a joke about Puerto Rico at Donald Trump's rally in Madison Square Garden.

'These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his "busy schedule" to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist.'

"There's a lot going on. Like, I don't know if you know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it's called Puerto Rico," Hinchcliffe said.

As a comedian, Hinchcliffe's job is to write and tell jokes. He is famous for his joke writing, and he went viral earlier this year for his set of jokes at the Tom Brady roast. To be fair, the Puerto Rico joke bombed at the rally, but as a comedian, Hinchcliffe is no stranger to some jokes not performing well. Comedians refine their jokes over time, using audience feedback — good or bad — to improve them.

Democrats, who compared Trump's rally to a Nazi gathering, lost their minds over the joke, claiming it is evidence that Trump and his supporters are racist.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, for example, tried to spin Hinchcliffe's joke as reality.

Specifically, Ocasio-Cortez claimed "that's what they think about you," meaning she claimed that Hinchcliffe's joke demonstrates that Trump, his supporters, and Republicans believe that Americans are literal pieces of garbage. That is, of course, not true; Hinchcliffe's joke was a joke.

But Hinchcliffe, who is no stranger to outrage mobs, made it clear he is not going to apologize, responding directly to Walz and Ocasio-Cortez.

"These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his 'busy schedule' to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set," Hinchcliffe said late Sunday.

"I'm a comedian Tim," he added, "might be time to change your tampon."

— (@)

Meanwhile, Puerto Ricans who attended Trump's rally at MSG said Hinchcliffe's joke did not offend them.

"We like jokes," one Puerto Rican woman said.

"We do, and we understand the importance of a comedian having the freedom to push the envelope because that's always been what has separated comedians from 'everyday' folks, right? They can push the envelope to make you laugh or make you think or challenge you," another Puerto Rican woman said.

The first woman added, "Obviously, we're proud Puerto Ricans, I will say that it is not a little floating pile of trash ... it's OK to have different opinions. That's what makes America great."

"We're not offended," the first woman went on to say.

Other Puerto Ricans were asked outside MSG if they "even give a f*** about" Hinchcliffe's joke, and they made it clear they do not and agreed they are members of "Puerto Ricans for Trump."

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