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Towards the end of March I noticed almost an instant change in the way businesses were advertising:

“We’re all in this together.”

“We can help you be safe.”

“Let us provide for you in this time of need.”

Did you notice it, too?

I think the constant barrage of hashtags and clickbait and soundbites has exponentially increased my level of cynicism in recent years, but in this case I think it’s wholly justified.

Don’t for a second think that these business have your best interests in mind. They don’t. It’s all about their bottom line, plain and simple. It’s all about the bag.

This is part of the reason I dropped social media last year. There’s a need for “influencers” and “brands” to weigh in on every single issue and event. It’s exhausting. They have to change their profile pictures and bios, release a statement, and go live on instagram so they can “be visible” - oh, wait, I mean “take a stand”. You saw brands do it with coronavirus and now they’re doing it all over again with Black Lives Matter.

Take HBO Max. Did you even know what HBO Max was when it came out? Of course not. It was confusing and no one was really talking about it. Then they remove “Gone With The Wind” to address some concerns for a while and suddenly everyone was saying “HBO Max Removes Gone With The Wind” From Their Platform.”

I could almost hear a corporate executive screaming, “Yes, we did! And that’s HBO MAX…M-A-X…sign up now!”

Companies finding ways to market themselves during a time of crisis make me sick. It’s a disgusting, awful way to do business and yet, many people seem to be celebrating corporations instead of seeing through the thin veneer of their opportunistic virtue signaling.

Recently we see this with the companies boycotting Facebook’s advertising platform. Russell Brand had some good thoughts on the matter and, as usual, said them in a much more intelligent way than I could:

The problem with all of this is that people are fed up with Facebook and are probably posting about their frustrations with them right now on THEIR FACEBOOK FEEDS. I’m not even on there but I guarantee you its true.

Everyone I know hates their social media. It makes them anxious and takes up too much of their time. They get in disagreements on it or find themselves getting more and more depressed. But, they’re convinced they can’t leave or even better, might be able to stay on and make some change.

But, if you really think any of these companies care about you then think again. They don’t. The social media companies don’t care and neither do the ones boycotting them. It’s all about the bag.

Whether they stay on the platform or not, the companies are all getting press out of it and we’re all forced to sit here and celebrating them for being “brave” and “supporting the cause”. And it seems hopeless, like there’s no escape.

But there is…

Don’t celebrate the brands. Don’t support the platforms that give them a message. Delete your social media. And don’t fall for shameless marketing that takes advantage of the current political climate.

Opt out.

Numb

It’s easy to think that what you do doesn’t matter…especially when you get paid to tell jokes and read minds onstage. It’s tempting to trivialize it, especially when other people are doing such important work around the world.

But I think that what I do does matter…especially now. I’d argue it may matter more now than ever before. I’ve seen a shift in my audiences lately and it all started last November.

A year ago I muted the TV and stared out my apartment window in total silence. If you’ve followed me for any amount of time it should be obvious that I’m a progressive liberal atheist artist and I didn’t handle the results of the 2016 election well. 

For the past 365 days I’ve woken up fearful of what I’d find on the news or read on twitter. Most days, the alerts are too many and the negative actions of this administration are too much to handle. I’ve done my best to stay informed and take action but after a while I started to grow numb to what’s happening in the world.

When terrible things happen but you can’t do anything about them, it makes you feel helpless. It seems pointless to sign petitions or protest or raise awareness when it feels as if nothing ever changes.

After the most recent mass shooting (in Texas at the time of this post) I found myself silencing my phone and ignoring updates. I couldn’t bring myself to read about it for fear of feeling the crushing weight of the world bearing down on my shoulders. When things get really bad you have to step away for a while. We aren’t programmed to handle this much sorrow.

That’s why my shows are more relevant than they’ve ever been. People need a respite from the tweets. They need relief from everyday life. It may sound cliché, but I have a chance to give people that escape. I have a chance to let them step away for a second, then get back to the real world. And giving other people an escape is my way of escaping, too.

A woman approached me after a recent show to let me know that her son had died a year ago and she was looking for a way to get out of the house around the anniversary to forget about things. Somehow she ended up at my show.

She told me she hadn’t laughed that hard in a really long time and thanked me for a fun show. Then she turned and walked away before I could say anything else.

I was flabbergasted.

It’s easy to forget that what you do matters. But it does. And we should all remember that when things are too hard to bear. 

Things may seem bad at the moment but that doesn’t mean they won’t get better. They already are and it’s up to us to keep the momentum going. There’s so much you can do and it all matters, no matter how small it may seem.

Stay informed. Stay involved. Donate. Volunteer. Run for office. VOTE.

And find an escape when you need one, whatever that means for you.

Just whatever you do, don’t let yourself grow numb.