Conan O’Brien believes his fellow comedians are more likely to focus on “screaming” about President Donald Trump and are not necessarily funny.
O’Brien was asked in an interview with the Oxford Union Tuesday about what impact Trump has had on comedy.
O’Brien said said Trump was not good for the genre because he has a habit of “talking crazy,” per Fox News.
This makes it harder to do a satire or parody or parody of him, O’Brien said.
He added constantly attacking the president undermines comedy.
“Some comics go the route of I’m going to just say ‘F Trump’ all the time or that’s their comedy. And I think well now…you’re being co-opted because you’re so angry,” O’Brien said. “You’ve been lulled. It’s like a siren leading you into the rocks. You’ve been lulled into just saying ‘F Trump. F Trump. F Trump. Screw this guy.’ And I think you’ve now put down your best weapon, which is being funny, and you’ve exchanged it for anger.”
“And that person or any person like that would say, ‘Well, things are too serious now. I don’t need to be funny.’ And I think, well, if you’re a comedian, you always need to be funny. You just have to find a way. And you just have to find a way to channel that anger into a way…because good art will always be a great weapon, will always be a perfect weapon against power,” he continued. “But if you’re just screaming and you’re just angry, you’ve lost your best tool in the toolbox.”
O’Brien called it “tricky” for comedians need to use comedy to talk about political issues.
“I have very strong political feelings and views, but my comedy is something that I don’t have that kind of control over,” O’Brien said. “In a way, it is there’s so much of what I’ve done in my life that’s impulse.”
The comedian did delve into politics a little.
He mocked Trump’s new ballroom, stating he’s tearing down half the White House to make a new Mar-a-Lago.
O’Brien had previously called out modern political comedy for focusing too much on saying Trump was an “a–hole” instead of being funny.
“I’m really going on a limb here saying that’s his greatest crime. I think he’s hurt political comedy by being so outlandish himself. I think the January 6 thing is a blip compared to how much he’s hurt comedy,” O’Brien said.
