English politician and writer Horace Walpole once wrote, “The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.”
For all the thinkers out there, last week felt like a shot across the bow as a silencing blow ricocheted off late-night television, hitting one of the giants of comedy. The Late Show’s host, Stephen Colbert, announced Paramount, the parent company of CBS, was canceling the show.
He was not being replaced with a different host. They were canceling the entire show.
The announcement came days after Colbert mocked a $16 million settlement payment by CBS to President Donald Trump for a 60 Minutes edited interview that ran last year during the presidential campaign. Colbert referred to the payment as “a big fat bribe.”
The comedian’s joke alluded to the news that Skydance Media is attempting to merge with Paramount for a reported $8.4 billion. Both companies require the president’s approval before the deal can proceed.
CBS released a statement last week, saying the show’s ending was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.” The statement continued, calling the cancellation “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”
Others were not so certain.
Colbert’s former boss and fellow comedian, Jon Stewart, unleashed a profanity-laced diatribe against Paramount: “If you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourself so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king’s radar — Why will anyone watch you? And you are f——- wrong.”
U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren quickly issued statements demanding that lawmakers examine the Paramount-Trump settlement in relation to the Paramount-Skydance merger and the cancellation of Colbert’s show.
As shocking as the announcement was last week, the reality is that art is a prime target for dictators and authoritarian regimes attempting to exert their will on others and cover up their crimes against humanity. When the mass laughter in comedy is silenced, then the tears of oppression begin to fall.
My oldest son is a comedian, making his way through the Los Angeles improv scene. When he was attending Emerson College in Boston, he took a fascinating class titled ” Shakespeare to Standup.”
The premise of the class was that throughout history, it is comics that have helped us cope with our human dilemmas while delivering truth through laughter. Whether cajoling humans to laugh at ourselves or forcing us to confront the absurdity of injustice, comedians challenge the mind while sending the soul into a joyful discomfort.
The psalmist put it this way: “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced” (126:1-3).
Comedians, like prophets, inspire us to dream of different realities. They offer balm for the anxious and hurting soul, providing an opportunity to stare deep into the eyes of fear—and laugh.
For this, comedy is the enemy of tyrants. Tyrants feed off the fear of people and institutions, as we are currently witnessing the reactions of universities and corporations to tyranny’s threats.
One of the greatest comedians of all time, Charlie Chaplin, delivered a stirring monologue against tyranny in his 1940 film, The Great Dictator. I encourage you to watch the entire monologue, but for our sake today, I share these two moments:
“To those who can hear me, I say—do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed—the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…”
And:
“Let us fight to free the world—to do away with national barriers—to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!”
Indeed, these are days that try human souls, but I refuse to relinquish laughter to fear.
I refuse to let tyranny and greed silence comedy, for without laughter, life is doomed to a melancholy existence demanded by tyrants, permitting them to thrive in evil.
I refuse to be shackled by threats and rumors of threats, for laughter fuels the soul, setting mind and body free.
I refuse to stand idly aside and let the snickers of satire flame out, for one of the greatest weapons against dictators is shameful laughter.
I refuse to shut my mouth and quiet my laugh, for through these tears, laughing at comedy keeps me sane.
I refuse to let others attack comics, for many are the prophets of truth we need today.
Yes, I think the cancellation of a late-night comedian is a big deal because, for now, the greed of a corporation, driven by the pettiness of a weak tyrant, has won the day. But, as the late Tony Campolo used to remind us, “Sunday is coming.”
Today is the day the courageous and the faithful step forward, and together we laugh in the face of fear. The fear, greed and tyranny of a dictator do not stand a chance against the multitude of joyful souls.
Finally, let me end with the words of a devoted Roman Catholic, Stephen Colbert himself. During an interview with pop-star Dua Lipa, the singer asked The Late Show host about his faith.
Listen carefully to his answer: “Because the laughter keeps you from having fear of it, and fear is the thing that keeps you from turning to evil devices to save you from the sadness…So if there’s some relationship between my faith and my comedy, it’s that no matter what happens, you are never defeated, you must understand and see this in the light of eternity and find some way to love and laugh with each other.”
As long as there is laughter in our lungs, we will not be defeated. We will cling to hope.
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