Sometimes, a joke can seem funny the first time you think about it. An idea pops into your head and it can make you laugh and laugh and you think it’s the most creative and hilarious idea you have ever come up with. It’s only after a little time passes that you realize that while they may be elements that are comical, the crux of the idea as a whole was a stinker and this was one of those things that needed a person to tell you, “Hey… let’s really think about why you think this is funny and what it’s about.”
This is exactly what happened when comedian Nate Bargatze hosted Sunday night’s Emmy awards. Bargatze, last year’s highest-grossing comedian and someone I believe is one of the best joke craftsmen working today, brought with him a through-line that he believed was going o be the star of the broadcast. However, what happened was the joke fell flat, he was wildly criticized, and television’s biggest night became the kind of thing where you had to cover your eyes every time the host stepped onstage.
Let’s talk about what happened, why it didn’t work, and the easy way to have made the joke a lot funnier.
Continue reading “When A Good Idea Becomes A Bad Joke: Recapping the biggest mistake the Emmys may have ever seen”
