The climate crisis is a notoriously somber topic, but comedians in the entertainment industry are taking a different approach to help reach more people — they're making it funny. ABC News interviewed a group of comedians to learn more about their work and their jokes.
Kaycee Conlee, a standup comedian, performs every Friday night at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank, California. The comedian shared that her goal is for audience members to laugh at the jokes but also to leave the show wanting to know more about climate topics brought up during the set.
One of Conlee's jokes makes the analogy that smart and cool electric vehicles are the iPhones of cars, and Conlee doesn't want to be caught riding around in an Android (a gas-powered vehicle).
Trying to make one of the least funny topics — the climate crisis — palatable and hilarious is a daunting task. But many other comedians are also up for the challenge.
ABC News chatted with American University's Climate Comedy Cohort. One member, Leah Bonnema, shared a joke about how, as a replacement for air conditioning, the wind is making a comeback.
Climate issues sometimes show up in the media, but it's often through the lens of catastrophe. Many comedians feel that this doom-and-gloom approach isn't working to mobilize people to take bold action.
Caty Borum from the Center for Media and Social Impact at American University founded the comedy cohort. One of the first studies she conducted compared the experiences of two different groups: one that watched a funny climate documentary and another that viewed a long-form journalistic product.
The study found that while people in the comedy group didn't learn as much, they felt a lot. Specifically, they felt that impactful action was possible and that their own actions could make a difference.
Esteban Gast, a comedian-in-residence and member of Generation180, described how the group is using comedy to change the way people think about climate.
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Often 😇 ABC News reported that recently, a study of nearly 40,000 television episodes and movies was conducted, and only 2.8% of them referred to the climate crisis.
At the Hollywood Climate Summit, though, celebrities, including Jane Fonda, Quinta Brunson, and directors The Daniels, discussed their efforts to change those stats.
"I am living for the moments where I can make Ava say something about the climate crisis in Abbott," said Brunson, the Abbott Elementary show creator. "That is so inspiring, and there's so much gold to be mined there."
While some environmentalists are offended that people would joke about climate issues, and other people don't want to be preached to, some comedians feel there is a large number of people who are open to learning more about climate if the information also makes them laugh.
"Part of what I talked about is wanting to have more of a message and meaning behind my standup," said Conlee to ABC News. "It's a real challenge to be like, OK, here's information that's pretty dry, sometimes depressing, make it funny and relatable."
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