Comedic acts can contort political and social issues, keeping the mass audience ignorant of the importance of these happenings.

At the same time, comedians can spotlight the irony in politics and social controversies through their candid jokes, raising awareness about major global issues.

Comedy can serve as a savvy tool in showcasing many social and political issues. Comedians can make people laugh simply by highlighting the ridiculous ironies in social and political controversies without being terribly scrutinized.

Daniel Tosh, a Saturday Night Live comedian with his own show “Tosh.0,” will perform stand-up at 8 p.m. Saturday April 24 at the Arlington Theatre.

His stand-up usually contains random ramblings of the “funny things in life,” but he, like other comedians, satirically bashes government policies and decisions. He uses comedic power to mock the ambiguity in major global issues like the war in Iraq.
“When it’s all said and done I have a message at my show,” Tosh said on the radio talk show Dave and Jimmy. “And it’s to bring the troops home.”

He continued to mock the war’s ridiculousness by joking: “And I think we should bring the war here. And we can have (it) in Nebraska because we don’t need that horrible state.”

On April 9, political commentator and comedian Bill Maher interviewed comedian Chris Rock on his HBO show “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Maher shot some hardball questions toward Rock about the nation’s major political and economic issues. Mostly, Rock beat around the bush. His answers were primarily jokes. However, Rock seemed to understand the issues and empowered his opinions through his satirical jokes.

Maher started by highlighting the controversy about the health care system being partial to ethnic minorities. He asked Rock if he saw president Obama’s health care plan as a civil rights issue.

“Maybe. Anything that Obama does, they’re going to put a racial spin on it. The problems with the Democrats in a lot of ways are that they want to win a fight without taking a punch. You have to get hit to win.”

Rock added his personal experience with health care, explaining the major differences in his parents’ health care treatment before and after he became wealthy.

He certainly articulated his answers, weaving jokes throughout. Still, Rock, like many other comedians own the “comedic license” to be able to express highly controversial opinions through their lighthearted jokes.

How can this affect the public, though, with taking action on major global issues? It depends on how you look at it.

For some, watching comedy that implements serious matters will keep them ignorant of the severity of the issues. For others, it will show the blatant hypocrisy and irony in political and social controversies, heightening their awareness on the issues.