When USC alum Vincent Demonte scrolls through his phone, he’s quick to skip past the breaking news headlines.
“If I’m on social media and I’m hearing someone talk straight politics, I am more likely to turn to the next Tiktok or reel,” said Demonte.
Demonte suffers from political fatigue – a self-diagnosed condition that’s growing among young Americans. According to a recent poll done by the Harvard Institute of Politics, only 15 percent of young Americans believe the country is moving in the right direction, and 19 percent trust the federal government.
But there’s one kind of political content that makes Demonte pause.
“If it’s someone like Trevor Noah on his show talking about politics, I’m more likely to stick around and see what funny quip he has to do,” he said.
In recent years, late-night television and social media have seen a rise in both scripted and unscripted comedy that doesn’t just mock current events but explain them.
Hosts like Seth Meyes, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert have made politics a centerpiece of their nightly routines, delivering creative punchlines that poke fun at American leadership.
When President Donald Trump marked his first 100 days in office on April 29, Jimmy Kimmel, host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” opened his show by joking to viewers:“We have 100 days behind us and only 13 more hundred days to go. It’s been an historic 100 days — some would say prehistoric,” he said. “It is difficult to give Trump’s first 100 days a grade, but if I had to, I’d say it falls somewhere between ‘F’ and ‘U.’”
The comment was immediately met with laughter from the audience, but it also made a point.
For young Americans like Demonte, these programs are more than just entertainment. They keep them engaged with politics without feeling overwhelmed.
Soph Cimmino, a stand-up comedian studying both Politics and Comedy at USC, frequently gets their news from late night programs like “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
“Sometimes the news feels too real. So I turn to comedians to laugh about how crazy and messed up our world is,” they said. “Comedy makes complex issues easily digestible.”
To Cimmino, the relationship between comedy and politics is not coincidental, but purposeful – especially under the current Trump administration.
“Trump rose to political popularity because people laughed at him for being such an outlandish, ridiculous, almost cartoonish character. Now, because he reached his audience, and found people who would agree with what he had to say, people take him seriously,” they said.
In this context, comedians have taken on the role of what Cimmino calls a “soapbox politician,” a single influential voice, broadcasting its opinions through humor and a political edge.
Messages delivered with charisma are powerful. “If enough people hear it, some people might agree and follow along,” they said.
Comedians with large social media followings have adopted this approach as a way to address political fatigue among their audiences.
Iranian-American comedian Maz Jobrani built his career around political commentary. Recently, he launched a series of morning news comedy segments on Instagram, where he has over 800,000 followers.
“I’ve started to do my version of the Daily Show, where I take a serious news piece that comes to mind, and I try to present it with some comedy,” Jobrani said.
His audience spans the political spectrum, so he uses what he calls “subtle satire” to reach more people.
“I’ve learned that if you don’t say Trump’s name, you can actually make fun of his policies and get away with it,” he said.
In one recent bit, Jobrani addressed Trump’s tariff policies and Liberation Day by joking, “The only thing that was liberated that day was the money from my bank account,” before delving into a more serious explanation of the policy’s implications.
“I go, you should be worried. Even if you have an iota of sympathy or empathy, you should be upset,” he said.
Jobrani has been met with positive feedback. “I’ve had people reach out to say, ‘I enjoy your political commentary because it helps me understand what’s going on’.”
On a smaller, local scale, comedians at USC are joining the satirical movement too.
“Comedy-Live,” a student-run USC television show, brings satire to campus through scripted sketches and monologues. Ryan Kolderup, a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics major, is the showrunner of “Comedy Live” and oversees the selection of the sketches.
“One area where we had more room to poke fun at US or USC politics was usually the monologues. Those weren’t written until the week of, and would typically aim to laugh at common issues shared by the audience and cast,” he said.
Tim Rock, an MFA writing student and frequent writer for the show, sees comedy as a gateway to engagement. “Comedy is a great way to laugh through the barriers of very complicated issues,” he said. “People want to laugh, but to laugh you also have to listen.”
Rock, like many of his peers, finds writing political comedy not only therapeutic but also unifying. “We may not agree on the outcome, execution, or message [of comedians], but we can agree on the visceral reaction their work provides,” he said.
“I get to laugh a ton while writing my sketches and then I feel like maybe the world isn’t going to end,” he said.
Demonte echoed this sentiment. “If there’s always one consistent thing throughout time, it’s the power of comedy to bring people together, and to provide people levity,” he said.
He, too, has joined the satirical movement. Demonte is a member of USC’s Sketch Comedy Group, The Suspenders, where he writes sketches that use subtle satire to bring political commentary to the stage.
In a recent sketch called “House of Chaos,” Demonte parodied the vote to appoint Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the house by mimicking the style of the reality show “The Real Housewives.”
“The whole sketch was about something completely different, but we would drop little jokes
cracking fun at the structure of US politics,” he said. “This way we wouldn’t be turning people away who aren’t as politically involved or know what’s going on in the administration.”
The common belief among all comedians is that comedy serves a higher purpose – one that is rooted in democracy itself.
“The whole point of democracy, and the whole point of having a free society is that we should be able to make fun of each other,” Jobrani said. “If that is taken away in a nation, it becomes a dictatorship.”
Political distrust and unhappiness remains high among young Americans, but comedy is one of the trusted tools that makes politics more approachable, engaging and human.
“Particularly when politics has become so intertwined with entertainment, comedy has a unique power to reach and influence people who might have never been politically active if not for this exposure,” said Cimmino.
For now, at least, the punchline still carries power.