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Sometimes hard issues need a light touch, which is where comedian Jena Friedman comes in.
For Friedman, comedy comes first, serving to open up the door to more important discussion later.
Is that whatSoft Focusended up becoming?
Yeah, it was this Adult Swim thing.
Adult Swim was wonderful.
The show kind of evolved.
The collaborative process created a show that I think the audience is really going to enjoy.
We do a segment on campus rape.
The bulk of your comedy over the last couple of years has focused heavily on political and social issues.
For instance, yourmost recentConansetwas all about Nazis.
That pop in of subject matter is not that common on Adult Swim.
They just let me do whatever.
The first segment is a political showpiece and the second segment is totally off the rails.
They also had received criticism fornot hiring enough women, which trickled down to their content and their demographic.
I think its great that this show is going to mix things up a little bit.
Its still weird and funny, but also relevant and challenging.
I was on a podcast recently and they were like, How is rape funny?
or, How can you make rape funny?
It was something like that, a little interrogatory.
I quoted Jen Kirkman from her special when she said, Its not a rape joke.
Its a rape fact.
Im not trying to make rape funny, but its happening and we should be talking about it.
I tribute having worked atThe Daily Showto being able to navigate those waters in a thoughtful way.
The campus rape piece is not like an after-school special.
We actually tried to make it funny, first and foremost.
So many things that attempt to have messages come off as preachy.
One of the first political projects I did was this satire on American Girl dolls as refugees.
The play was really well-received there.
I want people to enjoy the comedy.
When you mentioned Jen Kirkman it reminded me of her bit on catcalling.
Instead of just saying, Catcalling is bad.
Dont do it, she offered some options and solutions.
But if you might use humor to peel up the corners, it might make them think first.
Its completely backwards, but sometimes its the only way to get through.
Yeah, but at least people are even listening now.
Other than this little snafu with Trump, I think progress has been made.
Part of me feels like it ebbs and flows, but maybe this is how we evolve.
In some ways, but you dont solve anything by putting out a five-minute comedy set.
You want to find different ways to tackle these issues.
I think artists sometimes take a theme and beat it to the ground.
I like to hop around a little bit more.
