Culture | No laughing matter

American comedy has become too safe on TV

The internet hosts livelier acts

President Joe Biden talks with Seth Meyers during a taping of the "Late Night with Seth Meyers".
No hot seats herePhotograph: AP
|Washington, DC

At the annual White House correspondents’ dinner comedians sing for their supper—and usually serve up a roast for dessert. Not this year. On April 27th Colin Jost, a host of “Saturday Night Live”, delivered a meek stand-up routine with some perfunctory barbs about the media and political elites, before thanking President Joe Biden for being “a decent man”.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “No laughing matter”

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