Image via Laughing Liberally
Laughing Liberally Milwaukee had been tweaking reactionaries and making sport of right-wing nitwits in comedy clubs for several years before going virtual (and adding a Shepherd Express podcast) during the pandemic. They recently mounted a virtual variety program to mark the demise of Trump called the “Delouse the White House Inauguration Show.” They are returning with another virtual show, the “Pan-niverary Extravaganza,” to coincide with the anniversary of COVID’s arrival in Wisconsin.
The lineup for “Pan-niversary” will include standup comedy from Chastity Washington, Shawn Vasquez, Dana Ehrmann and the Accountants of Homeland Security plus an activist interview with Santera Michaels from Black and Pink Milwaukee, an organization supporting LGBTQ incarcerated people in Wisconsin.
In planning “Pan-niversary,” Laughing Liberally’s Milwaukee impresario, Matthew Filipowicz, asked himself, “what can we do to help fight off pandemic madness?” as we hit one year of this drawn out, slow motion tragedy. “We thought it made sense to acknowledge what we've all been through, what we're all still going through, and to get together virtually and make each other laugh,” he says. “Why suffer alone? Suffering is so much more fun if you do it together!”
What’s funny about COVID? Not the sickness itself or the toll it has taken on lives, but the political absurdity that made a bad situation even worse. “There are responses to the pandemic that are very ripe for comedy. From lying politicians, to anti-maskers—who are often the same person, especially if you're a Republican in Wisconsin. What's unfortunate for society is often fortunate for satire.”
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Check out the “Pan-niverary Extravaganza,” 8 p.m. Friday, March 19, streaming Online at https://laughingliberallymke.com. Cover is $5 per household.
