"One of the first killer jokes in the stand-up act of Louie Anderson was about the meanness of older brothers."

"Imitating one of his own in an intimidating voice, he warned that there was a monster in a swamp nearby. With childlike fear in his eyes, Anderson reported that he avoided that area 'until I got a little older and a little smarter and a little brother.' Pivoting to the future in an instant, he adopted the older brother voice, pointing to the swamp and telling his sibling: 'That’s where your real parents live.'"

From "Louie Anderson and the Compassion of America’s Eternal Kid/He displayed an empathetic humanity that he shared offstage with his friend Bob Saget. The loss of both comics represents the end of an era" by Jason Zinoman (NYT).

When you think of the 1980s comedy boom, the first artist that comes to mind for many is Jerry Seinfeld and his clinically observational brand of humor. For others, it might be the rock-star flamboyance of Eddie Murphy or Andrew Dice Clay. But in the days of three major networks, the culture incentivized a warmly inclusive, rigorously relatable comedy that could appeal to a broad mainstream and, at its best and most resonant, had an empathetic humanity.

The outpouring of love for Bob Saget... was in part...  because of a vast audience that saw him as the friendly paternal face on “Full House” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”... Anderson fit seamlessly into an equally idealized role as our culture’s eternal kid. There was a boyish innocence and sweetness to Anderson that never left him, even when he was playing a mother on “Baskets,” a remarkable and sincere performance....

I haven't kept up with network sitcoms, so "Baskets" was news to me. I enjoyed this, showing clips from the show, him getting made up as Christine Baskets, and his very sweet account of how he's bringing his own mother back to life:

And here are Saget and Anderson in a podcast conversation (recorded last May). 

ADDED:

"Has political satire lost its power? Or has reality become so absurd that it’s now beyond parody?"

That's from the intro to "Why Are People So Mad About Don’t Look Up? Climate change is a tough subject for any film, let alone a satire."

It's a podcast — audio and transcript at the link — with various Atlantic staff people (Kevin Townsend, Sophie Gilbert, David Sims, and Spencer Kornhaber). I have seen the movie, by the way.

I think the quote I put in the post title is trite and foolish. The difference between the present and the past is the present is where you're living now. It's self-involved to believe that in the past, you could do parody and satire, but now — now! — things are already so absurd that there's nothing to add, no way to exaggerate, and we're suffering in some extreme new way that makes comedy impossible.

But let's see what these people have to say:

Sims: You could make a more straight-ahead blockbuster movie.... But... this flirts with being... more like a Dr. Strangelove kind of movie. A pure anarchic satire that is set in the real world, but every character is cartoonish, and there’s no sense of humanity whatsoever. But Don’t Look Up tries to retain this core of humanity... 

Gilbert: [T]here was the idea that Trump defied satire, because he was bigger than it could ever manage to be in its wildest imagination. I also think it’s really hard to satirize things when you’re in the middle of them.....

Kornhaber: I think this quest for movies to deliver a message that changes people’s minds is maybe quixotic. There aren’t a ton of works in history like that.... True, you can’t really satirize Trump. He’s kind of beyond parody. But you can call attention to the dynamics of the way that people relate to him and the effect he has on the world around him—and on the viewers themselves.

Comedy is hard! It's not enough to sign up a lot of stars and spend a ton of money and pick an important topic. Why would you expect it to be good in the first place? Dr. Strangelove is great, but you have to make some choices and exercise discipline. Sims reveals, based on an interview with the director....

DiCaprio was obviously interested in the project and the message but was not going to commit until they’d figured out his character. He clearly did not want to be in a cartoony pastiche movie.

That precluded the Strangelove approach. I'd like to see a comedy about making "Dr. Strangelove" in which all the actors are divas insisting on their character's humanity. 

4 Lessons in Self-Deprecating Humor from a 14-year-old

Jack Carroll in Britain's Got Talent shows a wonderful sense of humor, and an understanding in how to connect with the audience.

- Are you addressing any elephants in the room when you speak?

- Do you use his method of using 'The Voice of the Audience', as he does when he starts with 'I know what you're thinking....'

- Do you construct humor in your speech in the form of a story with an unexpected twist at the end, as in his closing joke?

- And finally, are you confident enough in yourself to totally sell out - that is, go ALL IN with your speech?

When you are, you'll be a lot closer to learning how to Speak....& Deliver.

Public Speaking - How To Overcome Hesitation And Speak Confidently

Have you encountered this before? You were giving a presentation in front of 100 participants. You were nervous because you were afraid of making mistakes and your participants might be laughing at you.

I know how embarrassing it could be because I personally encountered such situation before. Nevertheless, this is not the end of the world. With some help from more experienced trainers, I have learnt how to overcome this and speak confidently in my training sessions. In this article, I am going to share with you 3 great tips that allow you to overcome hesitation and speak confidently in your next presentation and hopefully you will find my sharing useful.

Tip No 1: Preparation helps to overcome hesitation

In my opinion, hesitation is an indication that the trainer on the stage does not appear to be confident. I am not sure if you agree with me here. As a trainer, my job is to transfer my energy to my participants so that they can learn. Honestly, I strongly believe that if I am not confident enough, my participants can feel it. What will happen next? This can have an adverse impact on my credibility as a trainer in front of my participants.

To overcome hesitation and improve your confidence level, choose your topic carefully and make sure that it is something you are familiar with. Prepare an outline of your presentation and decide in advance the following:

the key objectives of the training; the learning outcome for your participants; and the key points or messages in your training

Tip No. 2: Set out your rules of engagement with your participants properly at the beginning of your presentation

Did you encounter this before? During your presentation, one of your participants challenged a point you made. As this came as a surprise to you, you were hesitant in deciding what to do next. Further, it disrupted the flow of your presentation and other participants were not impressed with your inability to deal with this situation and gave your negative feedback.

One thing I have found useful is to set out my rules of engagement with my participants properly at the beginning of my presentation. From my experience in using Extended DISC profiling tool, some of the participants have C-Style and this means that they tend to be judgemental and look for the trainer's mistakes.

Here is my rule to deal with the potential problems created by my C-Style participants. I will ask all my participants not to believe the words I say because what I share in my presentation represents my experience only. Therefore, there is no right or wrong, true or false; or good or bad experience. My C-Style participants will find it more difficult to challenge me.

Tip No. 3: Decide when to take questions from your participants

I know some trainers prefer to take questions from their participants during the presentation and some prefer to take questions only after the presentation. Whichever way you prefer, you must set out your rules clearly with your participants. Here is my experience. If I am extremely familiar with the topic, I will invite my participants to ask me questions during my presentation because I can use these questions to reinforce what my participants have learnt. If otherwise, I would ask my participants to ask questions only after my presentation so as not to disrupt the flow of my presentation and make me nervous.

In case you are not aware, it is normal if you cannot answer your participants' questions immediately. What I will do in such cases is to assure them that I will look for the answer and revert to them. It is risky to say something I am not sure if I am correct and my participants will feel it. Do you agree that your participants will appreciate you more if you are sincere and honest?

I hope you realise that you are able to overcome hesitation and improve your confidence level in your next presentation. I hope the tips I share in this article will be useful to you.