why absurdist comedy is having a moment (my crackpot theory)

QUESTION: Why is absurdist humor, surrealist comedy and post-irony seemingly everywhere now?

MY THEORY: ART, HUMOR AND COMEDY BENDS TOWARDS THE ABSURD IN TIMES OF CRISIS.

From Greek tragedies to Italian commedia dell'arte, Dadaism to Surrealism, Monty Python to Airplane! and Wayne's World ... absurdist humor is nothing inherently new.

HOWEVER, I think this form of humor is cyclical. It moves in waves. And today? Maybe we're in its peak season again.

This video traces the past 3 decades of modern humor through the lens of comedy movies, shows, memes, and gives some potential reasons why we're seeing such a strong revival.

Now... did I cherry pick a bunch of comedies and shows to try to prove a thesis I backed myself into a corner with? Possibly! But that's the fun of media theory, right? Make observations and have fun creating a thesis around them.

Anyway feel free to disagree, it’s all open to interpretation. :)

"The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world" - Albert Camus

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro
00:22 - The '90s (Observational Comedy)
01:30 - 2001-2007 (Political Satire)
04:16 - 2008 (Humor's Turning Point?)
08:05 - 2008-2013 (Absurdist Humor Comes Back In Fashion)
09:28 - 2014-2019 (The Rise Of Socially Conscious Comedy)
10:22 - 2020-Now (Absurdism Fully Sends)
12:16 - Rating Memes On The Absurdism Scale

Tags:

#cinemalovers #cinema #cinema #absurdism #memehistory #comedyanalysis #mediaanalysis #videoessay #comedyhistory #moderncomedy #postirony #metairony #observationalhumor #observationalcomedy #absurdistcomedy #absurdisthumor #comedymovies #sociology