According to Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host-of-the-week Jordan Klepper and his Wednesday guest, transgender comedian ALOK, debating transgenderism is dumb because life is meaningless and we’re all going to “[bleep] die.”
Klepper asked, “You didn't necessarily come from a comedy background. Is that fair to say?”
After ALOK replied, “Did you just ask me where I came from?” and some banter back and forth, ALOK continued, “That was just me kidding with you. I know that your community is so worried about getting it wrong and potentially getting canceled… Your discomfort is valid. We're just afraid of being murdered. It's not the same. I don't want to say that. It's not the same.”
Instead of calling out such fearmongering, Klepper got in on the bit, “You don't think I'm afraid of being murdered? I go to Trump rallies every other weekend.”
Getting back on track, he added, “What I find really refreshing and interesting about this special, you deal with big issues, but you also have a quote in here. You said, ‘Transphobia is merely a distraction from our shared humanity. We should be talking about the fact that we are all going to [bleep] die.’ Talk to me about that. Death is real.”
For ALOK, accusations of transgenderism being anti-biological reality don’t matter because:
The real biological truth in our society is our mortality, and so when people say, ‘We're erasing biology, we're erasing biology,’ I am like, okay, maybe, but just, you're pointing to the wrong thing… And so I kind of wanted to make a show that was basically about having to reckon with the fact that we waste so much of our time with absurd antics, like, hating other people, judging other people when, at the end of the day, we are all human, which means we are going to die. And if we remember that, then we have the potential for profound empathy, because we’re all in this together.
Then why discuss anything controversial? Because if ALOK’s claim is that the truth doesn’t matter because we’re all going to die, Klepper took it one step further, “Yeah, I love that. I love that. There's something unifying about that absurdism. If I were to make a pretentious reference, Albert Camus would talk about imagining Sisyphus happy. That is an absurd life that we live… Camus would say, 'Imagine Sisyphus happy as he pushes the rock up because all of existence is inherently meaningless and so reckon with that and connect with your neighbors.'”
If life is meaningless, why would one seek to connect with others? Logical problems aside, Klepper continued, “I want to quote you back to yourself. And I want you to talk about this too. You also say, ‘Humorlessness is what loses any campaign for social change.’ Talk to me about that.
ALOK replied, “What's really frustrating is most people think that trans people are just snowflakes, humorless, hypersensitive. But if you spend a couple of centuries surviving attempted eradication, you get kind of bored with being depressed. It is just a major buzzkill, you know?... And so what humor has become for me is a practice of resistance, of saying, “Oh, you are oppressing me? Thank you so much for the comedic material. You are going to keep me gainfully employed.”
Klepper can cite all the French philosophers and Greek myths he wants, claiming answering questions about reality is a waste of time because we are all going to die is not just a recipe for a sad and miserable life; it is inherently anti-intellectual. Yet, there is good reason to believe that Klepper will have a different stance on truth and debate the next time he goes to one of those Trump rallies.
Here is a transcript for the January 15 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
1/15/2025
11:23 PM ET
JORDAN KLEPPER: You didn't necessarily come from a comedy background. Is that fair to say?
ALOK: Did you just ask me where I came from?
KLEPPER: Oh, boy.
ALOK: In this political climate?
KLEPPER: I know, I'm sorry.
ALOK: Are you going to ask me about my genitals next?
KLEPPER: That was—I was going to warm up to the genitals. I always like to end with a good, classic genitals question. Everybody likes that.
ALOK: That was just me kidding with you. I know that your community is so worried about getting it wrong and potentially getting canceled.
KLEPPER: Yes, we are just trying to be allies.
ALOK: I can't imagine how difficult that must feel for you.
KLEPPER: Do you understand the difficulty I'm having right now just trying to walk the road of a—
ALOK: You are doing a very good job.
KLEPPER: Thank you very much.
ALOK: Your discomfort is valid. We're just afraid of being murdered. It's not the same. I don't want to say that. It's not the same.
KLEPPER: You don't think I'm afraid of being murdered? I go to Trump rallies every other weekend. Come on! What I find really refreshing and interesting about this special, you deal with big issues.
ALOK: Yeah.
KLEPPER: But you also have a quote in here. You said, "Transphobia is merely a distraction from our shared humanity.
ALOK: Yeah.
KLEPPER: We should be talking about the fact that we are all going to [bleep] die." Talk to me about that. Death is real.
ALOK: I don't know how else to tell you this, I'm going to die and you’re going to die.
KLEPPER: That's true.
ALOK: And we've created an entire society that pretends that is not the case, which is just ridiculous. So people keep on thinking that if they imbibe the blood of their 18-year-old son, that's going to stave off death. Or, like, find the next cryptocurrency or something, but you are going to die.
KLEPPER: Yes, yes.
ALOK: Actually, the real biological truth in our society is our mortality, and so when people say, "We're erasing biology, we're erasing biology," I am like, okay, maybe, but just, you're pointing to the wrong thing.
KLEPPER: Yeah.
ALOK: From the perspective of death, I believe that all living is just stand-up comedy, because death's kind of looking at us being like, "oh, my god, that is so funny and so cute that you think that new shoe is going to prevent you from dying.
KLEPPER: Yeah.
ALOK: Silly little bitch." And so I kind of wanted to make a show that was basically about having to reckon with the fact that we waste so much of our time with absurd antics, like, hating other people, judging other people when, at the end of the day, we are all human, which means we are going to die.
KLEPPER: Yeah.
ALOK: And if we remember that, then we have the potential for profound empathy, because we’re all in this together.
KLEPPER: Yeah, I love that. I love that. There's something unifying about that absurdism.
ALOK: Yeah.
KLEPPER: If I were to make a pretentious reference, Albert Camus would talk about imagining Sisyphus happy. That is an absurd life that we live. Can you give me my space? Will you give me my space?
ALOK: Sorry.
KLEPPER: Camus would say, “Imagine Sisyphus happy as he pushes the rock up because all of existence is inherently meaningless--
ALOK: Yeah.
KLEPPER: -- and so reckon with that and connect with your neighbors”
ALOK: I identify as a pretentious piece of shit.
KLEPPER: So do I.
ALOK: You are speaking my love language right now. I'm like, Camus, the GOAT.
KLEPPER: I want to quote you back to yourself. And I want you to talk about this too. You also say, "Humorlessness is what loses any campaign for social change." Talk to me about that.
ALOK: What's really frustrating is most people think that trans people are just snowflakes, humorless, hypersensitive. But if you spend a couple of centuries surviving attempted eradication, you get kind of bored with being depressed. It is just a major buzzkill, you know?
KLEPPER: Sure.
ALOK: So you have a lot of time on your hands to do something else so you start cracking jokes or whatever to survive and then you begin to realize actually, maybe part of the oppression is keeping you miserable, because whenever you’re in a space that's comedic, that is a space of possibility and expansion and so what I started to realize in my own life was, there are powers that be that want me to hate myself and to be sad and what's profoundly rebellious when you are a marginalized person is recognizing that people might have the ability to take your rights, they might have the ability to take away your safety, but it can't take away your joy.
And so what humor has become for me is a practice of resistance, of saying, “oh, you are oppressing me? Thank you so much for the comedic material. You are going to keep me gainfully employed.”
