Since 2016, stand-up comedy has become a recurring battleground in the never-ending jobs program that is online culture war discourse. Comedians who once sought laughter now chase applause, pandering to their audience’s sensibilities and falling into the hackiest, laziest tropes.
In 2020, Tim Heidecker released an hour-long YouTube special that took the idea of bombing and stretched it into an art form. By delivering a performance filled with forced crowd work, hack premises, and faux-political grandstanding, he exposed the formulaic nature of modern stand-up. What does this say about the state of comedy, and why did an intentionally bad special feel more honest than most real ones?
Originally dismissed as just another internet horror story, Sonic.exe has defied expectations, evolving into a staple of gaming culture. The story, which first emerged in 2011, followed the familiar "haunted game" trope—a corrupted Sonic the Hedgehog game tormenting its player. While its writing was often criticized as cliché, its eerie concept, unsettling imagery, and nostalgic connection to a beloved franchise struck a chord with fans of horror and gaming alike. – clark202510 hours ago
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