Episode 254 of KK&F brings you a convo on comedy from two experts — there’s Kyle, of course, and our special guest Gianmarco Soresi! Gianmarco is a razor-sharp comedian who delivers scathing commentary on the insane capitalist hellscape we’re living in, and in this discussion, he and Kyle trace the lineage of political comedy as it extends through liberal commentators like Jon Stewart and right-wing favorites like Joe Rogan. Here are our thoughts on how the hard right turns — and the responses of the left — have shaped comedy alongside the American political landscape. Watch below:

Gianmarco shares some of the major influences that have shaped his approach to comedy, with many immediately recognizable names: Maria Bamford, Jeff Asmus, Chris Fleming, John Mulaney. He’s taken cues from the greats in modern stand-up comedy and has become, in his own right, an extremely successful comedian beloved for his unique style. So it’s a treat to get to talk to him about the state of American political comedy during a moment in our country’s history that feels like it couldn’t get any worse — and yet, every day, somehow does. What does it mean to turn to political satire when the state of our nation feels beyond parody, and what kind of revelatory and radical potential does comedy really have? Now seems like the time to find out.

Gianmarco and Kyle share their takes on perhaps the biggest trend in political comedy since 2016: Trump material. Kyle’s view is that in 2025, unlike in the late 2010s — when Trump comedy could seem a little overplayed — anybody without Trump material is probably “an insane fascist.” Ruthlessly clowning on Trump for his absolute destruction of American democracy is, in other words, an imperative for leftist comics (and leftists in general). As Gianmarco points out, there’s the kind of anti-Trump joke your liberal family members make: the awfulness of Trump’s fake tan, “that Cheeto-looking bitch,” as he memorably puts it. These jokes don’t even measure up to seeing pictures of the man himself, though — so comics have to add their own angles and insights, precisely because Trump’s latest nonsense so quickly becomes replaced and what was funny a couple of tweets ago has become hack material.

How do we keep clowning on Trump as successfully as possible, and how does comedy fit into the landscape of political action against this evil, oafish, endlessly mockable man? We offer some answers in Episode 254, and we hope you’ll find them both insightful and, of course, funny! You can listen to this episode when it’s released tomorrow on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Substack, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more.