When truth is funnier than fiction
The Signal group chat scandal is the gift that keeps on giving comedy gold
There’s a basic rule of comedy writing that requires you to escalate your jokes to drive the humour of your story forward beyond a single gag. While one would hardly assume members of Donald Trump’s government have read a guide to comedy writing, it seems someone in the Trump 2.0 administration might have attended a comedy screenwriting class at some stage.
How else to explain the absurdism of this week’s Signal group chat scandal — the comedy gift that keeps on giving with increasingly unbelievable payoffs? What are real comedians supposed to do when real life provides such crazy material that you couldn’t make up a better version? Even prescient US political satire like Mike Judge’s 2006 Idiocracy, the Coen Brothers 2008 Burn After Reading or Armando Iannucci’s Veep couldn’t imagine the shocking stupidity of those given positions of power within the mad farce that is the second Trump presidency...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.