Comedians can't say "anything" anymore.

On the latest episode of Factually, comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff (@ClassicShowbiz) joined me to talk comedy, cancel culture, and censorship. Listen: Watch:

you never heard this before

Anthony Jeselnik quoted Andy Worhol on a podcast saying, "The art is getting away with it." If you have a strong point to make, and you're punching up, you can say whatever you want. That's the art. Being a bigot for the sake of being a bigot isn't going to fly anymore.

Comedians whining about how they can’t be funny anymore is just a self own to me.

Love this!

10000%

@marcellacomedy Gonna go listen to this but it’s always untrue to say “you can’t say anything anymore.” Hasn’t it always been a given that if you work clean, you are more marketable?

Heh, reminds me of the Lindsay Ellis video on 911 and how Dixie Chicks got cancelled for opposing the war on terror because people in the US were frothing at their mouths for blood. Meanwhile these days you can take any political stance and someone will be clapping for you...

The “comedians” who whine about not being able to say anything anymore are just upset their offensive unfunny hacky material doesn’t hit anymore.

Comedians can make a joke about anything, as long as it's funny. The problem is that a lot of what happens onstage now isn't designed to get laughs or be funny, whether its Michael Richards using racial slurs or Chappelle doing his version of a TED Talk.

Interesting to see him complain about people exaggerating the "anything" while he's downplaying what's going on to saying "only specific slurs". It IS less than "anything" but it's also more than "only specific slurs".