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The full article is open access here:
📄 doi.org/10.1080/2040...
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#ComedyStudies #PoliticalCommunication #LateNight #Colbert #AffectiveShifts

AFS help political comedy adapt to a media system where trust in news is low and emotions are high.
These moments aren't just cathartic — they’re persuasive.
They redefine what comedy can do in times of crisis and the future role of political comedy.

In Colbert’s Jan 7 monologue, the most egregious example in our dataset, we found 4 distinct AFS:

He moves from jokes to visible anger and moral outrage.

He names names. He critiques institutions.

Then he returns to levity — giving the audience space to feel and process.

🔍 AFS are more than tonal shifts. They allow comedians to:

1. Voice critique without trivializing

2. Build trust via expressing emotion (pathos + ethos)

3. Frame events like journalists (attribute agenda setting)

Comedy, in short, becomes a form of opinionated journalism.

We studied how Late Night comedians use AFS during crisis events (Jan 6, Covid, Roe v. Wade etc).
📺 Shows: Colbert, Meyers, Noah
📊 Methods: Sentiment analysis (N=14,451 sentences) + case study of Colbert’s Jan 7 monologue.

You know when Colbert or Kimmel suddenly drop the jokes and speak directly to the audience after a tragedy?
Those moments are not failures of comedy.
We call them Affective Shifts (AFS) — deliberate rhetorical moves from mirth to seriousness.