<
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/aug/12/it-felt-like-a-scene-from-the-handmaids-tale-us-comics-on-the-dangers-of-political-satire>
"In April, comedian Jena Friedman had a strange encounter in the Vancouver
airport. She had just performed a Ted talk about the future of comedy and was
heading home to the US, when someone she thought worked for airport security
quizzed her about her visit.
Thinking he was probing for visa infringements, “I just said I was doing
comedy. Then he asked: ‘What do you joke about?’ Stupidly, I lightly flirted
with him, and was like: ‘Everything other than airport security!’ He didn’t
react at all. Then I realised he was US border control. He asked again: ‘What
do you joke about?’”
Friedman is a veteran of
The Daily Show and
The Late Show, and her standup
comedy often features excoriating routines at the expense of the political
establishment. “I just froze because I am a political comedian and I didn’t
know what to say. Then he said: ‘Do you joke about politicians?’”
She made it home, but the incident stuck with her. Friedman lives in LA, and
the recent actions of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement “detaining
anyone and everyone who looks a certain way” put her on high alert. “It was
such a quick, on its face benign, interaction,” she says. “But it did feel like
a scene out of
The Handmaid’s Tale. I’m a blonde, white woman who looks like
a Republican’s wife and I have an American passport. But what if I had said
‘Yes?’ Don’t we want to live in a country where we can joke about politicians,
where we can joke about anything?”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
