Punching Up vs. Punching Down in Comedy — Ep. 003

Punching up versus punching down is the question this episode puts to the test: is any topic fair game in stand-up, or does the target's power matter? Kelly, Robbie, and Kate of the Rose City Comedy Collective work through Louis C.K.'s homeless-guy bit, Mark Normand's "we all need somebody to hate," and Anthony Jeselnik's joke about his own mother and 9/11 to figure out what actually separates a sharp punch-down from a lazy one. They debate whether marginalized comics get a pass to punch down at their own group, dig into Ricky Gervais's "Pedo Pete" bit from Afterlife and Jimmy Carr's escalation technique, and land on why online outrage and a live room's laughter are two different audiences entirely.