Can you not stand to watch national news anymore? Do you feel vaguely panicked when the grim-faced CNN anchors tell you about yet another crazy situation, like the firing of the FBI director or Trump putting his hands on a freaky glowing orb in Saudi Arabia?
If so, you should take a little break from the real news, and watch a little bit of the "fake news." No, not that fake news - the other one, the one where comedians tell you what's going on in the country while making fun of everyone and everything in their path. Not sure where to begin? I can help you out.
Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah produces brand-new political comedy every day of the work week because he’s the host of the Daily Show, which airs, unsurprisingly, daily on Comedy Central. Are you in the mood to wake up every morning to brand-new segments of a South African comedian picking apart the American political climate with utmost sophistication and humor? Then Trevor Noah is for you.
A Joke: “Donald Trump is a Task Rabbit for Putin.” (Audience “oooo’s”) “You guys don’t like Task Rabbit, is that what it is?”
Where to Watch: Full Episodes on Comedy Central, and sections of them available on YouTube.
Seth Meyers
So Seth Meyers doesn’t host an entire show centered on political comedy like Noah, but he does manage to fit it into his gig as the host at Late Night by including a nightly segment called A Closer Look. During this time, he revisits his old SNL Weekend Update days by examining what’s going on in American politics and delivering awful news to his viewers with a joke and a witty smile to soften the blow. Each Closer Look segment is about 10 minutes long, hilariously entertaining, and perfectly paced. I watch it every morning so that I can stay informed, but also not get completely bummed out.
A Joke: (On Comey documenting his conversations with Trump) “Trump is so crazy, every time he leaves the room people go, damn, I gotta write this sh%# down!”
Where to Watch: All Closer Look segments are on YouTube.
Stephen Colbert
Currently the most controversial person on this list, Stephen Colbert never pulls punches when it comes to slamming the President. He begins almost every episode of The Late Show with a monologue in which he makes fun of a lot of things in general, but Donald Trump in particular. His monologues have been so cutting that Trump has personally critiqued the show, and #FireColbert was once trending in the conservative corners of Twitter. Of course, Colbert just turned that into a joke too.
A Joke: (on the Trump administration in Saudi Arabia) "But not everyone looked that comfortable at the party. Here's Steve Bannon realizing these aren't the kind of men in white robes he's used to."
Where to Watch: All monologues are on YouTube, but sometimes split into smaller clips
Samantha Bee
Samantha Bee is the queen of political comedy, both because she is always hilariously on point, and because she is the first and only woman to host an American political comedy show so far. She hosts Full Frontal with Samantha Bee every Wednesday on TBS. Her content isn’t daily like Noah’s, Meyers’, or Colbert’s, but it is just as fresh and perhaps even more woke. Her show goes, well, full frontal, with hugely important issues like women’s reproductive rights, and systematic racism.
A Joke: "This president has wiped his ass with the Constitution so many times, the National Archives started leaving him passive-aggressive notes asking him to chip in for toilet paper."
Where to Watch: All full episodes are available on YouTube and TBS.
John Oliver
It makes sense that John Oliver looks just like a high school algebra teacher, because his show is by far the most educational on this list. He's the host of HBO show Last Week Tonight, a half hour show which usually takes twenty minutes every week to delve into an American social issue in one long segment. Oliver's gone into great depth on subjects like Trump family nepotism, American incarceration, and the electoral college. Thank you, Mr. Oliver, I've learned so much, but I still hope there's no quiz on this.
A Joke: "The last seven days have been insane. So much so, that by Friday night, we may have broken Anderson Cooper."
Where to Watch: Full episodes on HBO, and long segments on YouTube
