Conan O’Brien spoke to the challenges facing comedy in the age of Trump at the Oxford Union on January 6th, remarking that some comedians have been “lulled into just saying ‘F Trump.’”
“People who maybe know less about comedy, or haven’t given it a lot of thought, say, ‘Oh my god, Trump is president. This must be so great for comedy.’ And I think it’s actually not,” O’Brien said. “People say, ‘We’ve got a great Trump sketch for you. In this one, he’s kind of talking crazy, and he tears down half the White House to build a giant ballroom and says it’s going to be the new Mar-a-Lago.’ Well, no — that happened yesterday.”
As O’Brien sees it, “Comedy needs a straight line to go off of, and we don’t have a straight line right now. We have a very bendy, rubbery line. We have a Slinky. We have a fire hose that’s whipping around, spewing water at 100 miles an hour. Comedically, it’s been very challenging.”
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O’Brien thinks that comics are “being co-opted” by their anger, putting down their “best weapon, which is being funny.” He explained,
“I think some comics go the route of just saying ‘F Trump’ all the time; that’s their comedy. I think, well, now you’re being co-opted because you’re so angry. It’s like a siren leading you into the rocks. You’ve been lulled into just saying ‘F Trump, screw this guy.’ You’ve now put down your best weapon, which is being funny, and you’ve exchanged it for anger. That person might say, ‘Well, things are too serious now; I don’t need to be funny.’ And I think, well, if you’re a comedian, you always need to be funny. You just have to find a way. You have to find a way to channel that anger, because good art will always be a great weapon against power. But if you’re just screaming and you’re just angry, you’ve lost your best tool in the toolbox.”
He also expressed solidarity with Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert in their battles against Trump and their own network, predicting that both would land on their feet: “I wrapped up my show four years ago and I’ve never been busier,” he said. You can watch the clip below, with the relevant remarks beginning around 34:45.
O’Brien starred in the 2025 film If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You, which was one of Consequence‘s picks for Best Movies of 2025.
