Comedy as a Practice of Care: Restorative Laugher and Reciprocal Empathy in the Pandemic

This article considers comedy as a practice of care. Its analysis focuses on major US late-night talk shows produced during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. Drawing on interdisciplinary feminist scholarship about care and autobiographical reflection, I argue that comedy plays important roles in cultivating capacities for physical, emotional, and intellectual development; maintaining social ties; supporting well-being; and sustaining reproductive activities. I further suggest that bringing comedy and care together within a common frame can expand our understanding of the relationship between performer and audience as well as our definition of what constitutes care.