Jon Stewart wore his modern Princeton professor air for most of the clip below (Stewart grew up in neighboring Lawrence, New Jersey). Stewart even employed the 75-cent university word “metastasize” twice, warning that when we retreat to our own little corners of “misinformation,” tropes and stereotypes metastasize — and do more damage than they could if they were out in the open.
And then suddenly Stewart’s Princeton professor guise disappears and the unflagging comedian in him steps into the ring. Stewart turns to Stephen Colbert, his great friend, and says “I know you don’t like Jews. I can see it in your eyes.”
❤️💔❤️ pic.twitter.com/j1VZjEXP5W
— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) November 16, 2022
Deadbeat delivery, the pregnant pause of something dangerous dangling in the air, and then Colbert’s stunned and amazing face as he realizes the intensity of Stewart’s comic coup — just how good it was, how serious he sounds, almost like the legendary performances of Colbert’s retired alter-ego from The Colbert Report.
It’s brutal. Brutally funny.
Comedian Sarah Silverman, who often addresses the subject of anti-Semitism, bigotry and conspiracy theories, retweeted the clip. Silverman is herself enormously effective at punching poisonous tropes and conspiracy fodder in the face with balled fists of simple retort.
Below she asks: “If we controlled everything, wouldn’t we have better PR?”
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