14 Problems Only Comedians Will Understand

1. Comedy Is Getting Harder, And That's A Good Thing

There was a time when people didn't really care about the levels of ironic or unironic offensiveness in jokes. That time is passing.

We are living in an age of increasing scrutiny when it comes to the political correctness of gags. This is a good thing, for the most part. Comedians have not lost their right to offend, they just have to work harder to make sure that they're not just being shocking for shock's sake.

Those taking shots at easy targets, or recycling hack points that only serve to further regressive cultural stereotypes have had the spotlight shone on them like never before, making the crafting of comedy that much more a focused labour.

But when it works, it works like gangbusters.

Which is like being a comedian in a nutshell.