While debates about cancel culture rage on at Edinburgh, a trio of performers are critiquing ‘edgelord’ humour, while still remembering to be funny
‘Cancel Anti Wokeflake Snow Culture” is not an out-of-context Piers Morgan quote but the title of comedian Sam Nicoresti’s new show. In it, they flip between being a curious leftwing standup exploring their own gender, and Nam Sicoresti, a cancel culture-obsessed livestreaming comic who is gearing up for an interview with Jordan B Peterson.
Cancel culture is not a new topic, but discussions on free speech in comedy and the right to offend have felt closer to the surface after a Jerry Sadowitz show at this year’s Edinburgh fringe was pulled after its first performance due to “content that was considered … extreme in its racism, sexism, homophobia and misogyny”. Meanwhile, Netflix specials from Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle have been the subject of much controversy, with some viewers labelling them as transphobic. Some of the purveyors of anti-cancel-culture comedy, such as Nicoresti’s character Nam, could be described as edgelords – troll-like figures whose primary purpose is to antagonise. “To my mind, it’s somebody who doesn’t have the courage to stand by their opinions, who believes in nothing, where the only thing that matters is causing outrage, because outrage generates engagement,” says Nicoresti.
