Comedian artfully explains what 'shock comics' get wrong about edgy humor
Anthony Jeselnik says there's a difference between being an artist and being a troll.

There's something weird going on with comedians.
Comic and writer Marc Maron recently wrote that it's comedians, of all people — a special new breed of them — who are spearheading the "anti-woke" movement, whether it's by paling around with Donald Trump and his supporters, or just going out of their way to offend as many people as possible.
Not to name any names, but you see this type of comic in the news A LOT these days. Comedians have always pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable to say in public. That's part of the job. But the newer generation of 'shock comics' has forgotten one very important ingredient in the timeless recipe. You have to be funny.
Comedian Anthony Jeselnik recently called out comedians who don't bother actually trying to be funny in their edginess. "You're just a troll," he says.
No one would ever accuse Jeselnik of being a clean-cut, PG entertainer. He's known for being ruthless and shocking in his stand-up sets. It's a character he plays, which he describes as the most vile and evil person you could ever imagine.
Here's a taste from one of his specials:
“When I was a kid, my parents had a gun. My parents said we had to have a gun. Gotta have a gun to protect their five children. Of course, they eventually got rid of it… to protect their four children."
Jeselnik says his brand of extreme humor is not as easy to pull off as it looks.
In a resurfaced clip — which Jeselnik himself just happened to repost to his own TikTok account — the comedian goes off on the types of comedians that he considers to be trolls.
@anthonyjeselnik Four weeks until Anthony Jeselnik: Bones and All comes to Netflix.
"People think like, oh as a comic, your job is to get in trouble. But they don't wanna get yelled at. It's like, it's okay to make people mad, but they don't want any pushback."
"As a comedian, you want to make people laugh," he says.
Which should be obvious, but it's something that's missing far too often in the name of pushing the envelope, or even being flat-out hateful. Jeselnik then invokes a quote from Andy Warhol: "Art is getting away with it."
"If you put out a special, and everyone's pissed," he says, "You didn't get away with it. ... You know, you need to make everyone laugh. .. That's art."
The key word there being 'everyone'. You need to make everyone laugh. A room full of white people laughing at the expense of Hispanics, or a room full of straight people laughing at gay jokes — that's not comedy, it's just punching down.
A joke about cancer that cancer patients can't help but laugh at? Jokes about blind people that blind people actually think are funny? That is art. That is comedy.
And that's what the great comedians have always aspired to. (Warning: NSFW humor)
Of course, everyone misses the mark sometimes, or unintentionally goes too far. But Jeselnik says getting criticized when you miss is just part of the job. He's famously said he has no sympathy for "cancelled" comedians like Dave Chappelle.
“He makes so much money. Your job should be a little hard. I don’t have sympathy for you in that. He says whatever he wants to, great, but when there’s pushback I don’t know why it bothers him,” Jeselnik said in an interview with Talib Kwelli for Uproxx.
George Carlin was another great who understood the art in bringing people together to laugh at touchy subjects. He once said it was a comedian's job to take the audience to a place they don't want to go, but that if you could make them laugh along the way, they'd thank you for it.
Just remember next time a famous person says "you can't make comedy anymore, people are too sensitive!" that there are comics like Jeselnik making jokes about burn victims and necrophilia — and they seem to be doing just fine.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.