- Stewart, Colbert, Maher, Oliver and co. belong to a type of late-night satire that’s typically characterized as liberal, skewering Republicans (and, less frequently, Democrats) for absurd statements or pompousness or flagrant hypocrisy. “The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Funny Or Die, and The Onion, while not partisan organs, all clearly have a left-of-center orientation,” wrote Jonathan Chait in The New Republic in 2011.This categorization, though, begs the question of why the form has no equal on the other side of the ideological spectrum. Some self-identified conservative comics argue that the biased liberal media hasn’t given them a chance to thrive. Others point out that Obama is a more difficult target than his Republican predecessor: He was the first African-American president, which meant comedians have had to tip-toe around anything with racial connotations, and his restrained personality has made him difficult to parody.
Fuckin' Atlantic. 1) "Liberalism" or "Progressivism" or "Leftism" or any other term you wish to use is a philosophy in support of change to the status quo. 2) "Conservativism" is a philosophy in support of preservation to the status quo. 3) Comedy is subversive of the status quo. Period. There is no comedy without an inherent "if things were different" take on subjects. Comedy exists to mock that which is, not that which could be. One can joke about politics by pointing out the failings of what is, not the failings of what has been suggested. One can write conservative jokes... but they're flightless waterfowl. A joke is a thing the powerless use to hurt the powerful and powerless conservatives are called reactionaries and they never have a sense of humor. A reactionary mindset is the sort of thing that bans humor because it recognizes the subversive nature of the art. That's why Dennis Miller has ceased to be funny ever since he sided with the Republicans: there's no inherent humor in "morning in america" when you're trying to defend it. And that's why the Blue Collar Comedy Tour hews carefully to physical humor, situational humor, and ethnographic humor - the philosophy of conservativism is diametrically opposed to comedy. This is not worth 2000 words describing why Rush Limbaugh's jokes aren't funny.
I would argue that conservatism is inherently anachronistic and rife with contradiction. It's not funny to make fun of people for being less fortunate than you. Daniel Tosh can do it, but his comedy isn't political, and it's also very self-aware and turns inward as often as outward. Rush Limbaugh's "jokes" take the form of "Equality is for white men," whereas John Stewart's take the form of "Equality is for white men, and that's fucked up." Protecting the status quo isn't inherently funny, because the status quo is what causes so much suffering. Trey Parker takes stabs at liberals all the time. I would say probably more often than conservatives. But he does it in a way that isn't about making fun of the less fortunate, but rather by pointing out the hypocrisy in their ideology (because all ideology is hypocritical to some extent), and the self congratulation with which they often treat themselves.