Hey fans! I’m in Chicago, finally relaxing from Chicago SketchFest. Yes, I’m on a sketch team now too.
I’m finally figuring out how I want to aim my comedy. I’d love to do something like John Oliver’s program, Last Week Tonight. The show blurs the line between actual journalism and a comedy show. They bring up stories the media isn’t really going into detail about, and both entertains and enlightens (me) with important issues, like local voting:
I looked up the stats: 60% of us vote for Presidential elections. 40% vote for midterm elections, and an exciting 20% of us vote in local elections. While one vote may not statistically matter, 80% of the vote does. This maybe coincidental, but things are really great for the top 20% of incomes in the US, and a bit of a struggle for most everyone else. Maybe they’re the 20% that vote in every election. Of course, corruption is another factor, but most of us are giving up what little voice we have.
Research has shown, and this is crazy, but the more minorities and lower-income people vote, the more spending they get directed towards them. Or the other way, the less you vote, the less money goes towards anything that would help you. Here’s a great article on it: http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-voter-turnout-municipal-elections.html
Anyway, these types of posts are more what I want to do. I’ll weave in some stuff about my own life when its exciting, but I’m more interested in researching and joking about ways to reduce inequality, because that will make me feel like my comedy is more than just a distraction! Hooray!
Tom Dunlap 