Jason Meier, the Director of Student Engagement and Leadership at Emerson College, was able to take part in a very interesting debate panel discussing the role of comedy and taking things too far. Alongside other panelists with a journalism, education and comedian background, this group spent their time discussing how comedy is used in their work, how it has transformed over time, and how this current time period can handle personal jokes regarding sensitive subjects.  

Jason Meier was able to give a fresh perspective of how comedy can be used to help open a new perspective if used correctly.  Meier mentions that if a joke is written poorly, constructed poorly, delivered poorly, or even if someone think the intent of the joke was distasteful, then it will be challenged by the audience. Especially with media being able to spread so much content on a multitude of platforms, comedy can be very funny or possibly be taken as offensive.  

This panel was very open to discussing the current issues that are going on today and how comedy’s role plays a part in it. While this panel did not have the magic solution for comedy to be funny and not offensive, the panel did start a conversation that does not happen often because of a possible clash of ideas. To find out more about Meier’s thoughts, see the interview above.  

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