Affective shifts in political comedy: the move to seriousness in Late Night television In the wake of major moments of crisis, the tone of political comedy often undergoes dramatic shifts, with comedians showing strong emotions as part of their performance. This paper introduces a no...

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The full article is open access here:
📄 doi.org/10.1080/2040...
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Affective shifts in political comedy: the move to seriousness in Late Night television In the wake of major moments of crisis, the tone of political comedy often undergoes dramatic shifts, with comedians showing strong emotions as part of their performance. This paper introduces a no...

AFS help political comedy adapt to a media system where trust in news is low and emotions are high.
These moments aren't just cathartic — they’re persuasive.
They redefine what comedy can do in times of crisis and the future role of political comedy.

Affective shifts in political comedy: the move to seriousness in Late Night television In the wake of major moments of crisis, the tone of political comedy often undergoes dramatic shifts, with comedians showing strong emotions as part of their performance. This paper introduces a no...

In Colbert’s Jan 7 monologue, the most egregious example in our dataset, we found 4 distinct AFS:

He moves from jokes to visible anger and moral outrage.

He names names. He critiques institutions.

Then he returns to levity — giving the audience space to feel and process.

Affective shifts in political comedy: the move to seriousness in Late Night television In the wake of major moments of crisis, the tone of political comedy often undergoes dramatic shifts, with comedians showing strong emotions as part of their performance. This paper introduces a no...

🔍 AFS are more than tonal shifts. They allow comedians to:

1. Voice critique without trivializing

2. Build trust via expressing emotion (pathos + ethos)

3. Frame events like journalists (attribute agenda setting)

Comedy, in short, becomes a form of opinionated journalism.

Affective shifts in political comedy: the move to seriousness in Late Night television In the wake of major moments of crisis, the tone of political comedy often undergoes dramatic shifts, with comedians showing strong emotions as part of their performance. This paper introduces a no...

We studied how Late Night comedians use AFS during crisis events (Jan 6, Covid, Roe v. Wade etc).
📺 Shows: Colbert, Meyers, Noah
📊 Methods: Sentiment analysis (N=14,451 sentences) + case study of Colbert’s Jan 7 monologue.

Affective shifts in political comedy: the move to seriousness in Late Night television In the wake of major moments of crisis, the tone of political comedy often undergoes dramatic shifts, with comedians showing strong emotions as part of their performance. This paper introduces a no...

You know when Colbert or Kimmel suddenly drop the jokes and speak directly to the audience after a tragedy?
Those moments are not failures of comedy.
We call them Affective Shifts (AFS) — deliberate rhetorical moves from mirth to seriousness.

Affective shifts in political comedy: the move to seriousness in Late Night television In the wake of major moments of crisis, the tone of political comedy often undergoes dramatic shifts, with comedians showing strong emotions as part of their performance. This paper introduces a no...

🆕 Just published:
“Affective Shifts in Political Comedy: The Move to Seriousness in Late Night Television”
with @beerprakken in Comedy Studies (open access!)
👉 doi.org/10.1080/2040...
🧵Thread on what we found 👇