Dobie Maxwell is a Milwaukee-grown comic based in Chicago who contributes a blog to OnMilwaukee.com. Recently, he lamented that political satire – exemplified by Will Durst (also a Milwaukee-area native) – has become more difficult with “audiences getting dumber by the minute” because Americans no longer follow current events. There’s even a university study suggesting that viewers of Fox News are less informed than consumers who say they don’t pay attention to what’s going on.
All this is a long-winded way to remind you that Talking Points is making its monthly appearance. Talking Points is an improvised comedy show that is informed and inspired by news and current events – and prompted by audience suggestions.
From the web: “Milwaukee’s Improvised News/Talk Show heads to the North Pole this holiday season! Real news stories, real improvised debate, really real comedy. Really.”
The detes: Talking Points, 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 16, 420 S. 1st St., $5 cash.
Perhaps dumber audiences and (if that university study is correct) Fox News consumers choose to stay away from shows like Talking Points. But maybe they should go to learn a little more about the issues and events that are affecting our times.
Just after Walter Cronkite died, I had a discussion with a writer for “The Colbert Report” who went on at some length with great passion about how good professional journalism informs and inspires his work. I pointed out to him that his work – political satire – is useful in that it uses humor to cut through some of the crap that’s not neatly dismissed through conventional journalism.
Efforts such as Talking Points remind us that good comedy doesn’t just make us laugh. It makes us feel, and it makes us think.