Ashlee Simpson, Monty Python, And The Last Time America Laughed Together

I still remember one of the last times America shared a laugh.

It was a silly blunder that occurred on “Saturday Night Live,” involving an unfortunate rising pop-star named Ashlee Simpson. By now, you might already recall the story. While performing her hit single “Pieces of Me,” poor Ashlee flubbed her lip-syncing, stopped performing, looked around awkwardly, and began dancing the hoedown to her own vocal track. Fade to commercials. Oof.

Today, such a story might be mentioned on a few entertainment sites or be shared on a few neatly curated social feeds, but this was 2004. Netflix was still a DVD mailing service. Our entertainment options were limited. “SNL” was still funny. And everyone saw it.

The following Monday, school was buzzing with talk of Simpson’s slip-up. Millions of little conversations and shared laughs. Millions of little human connections. Thanks, Ashlee! And sorry for your luck.

The very next year, YouTube went live for the first time. Two years later, Netflix began streaming. Then, the iPhone hit store shelves, and we all know the rest. America’s shared culture shattered into millions of algorithmically tailored little pieces. The communal experience of an entire nation curled up on the couch to watch Leno or Letterman turned into 300 million Americans scrolling endlessly through mini-cultures personalized just for them. At the time, we had no idea what we had lost.

We have a better idea now. And we’re all on the verge of killing each other.

The final nail in the coffin came when late-night institutions gave up on trying to entertain the “deplorable” half of the country. CBS replaced Letterman with an angry, bitter, partisan hack named Stephen Colbert. “SNL’s” Farley, Sandler, and Farrell gave way to Kate McKinnon performing somber eulogies to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. And on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, you’re just as likely to see a washed-up Biden Administration cabinet member as you are a glamorous movie star.

Now, all the jokes are strained variations of “F*ck Trump.” Get it? No?

As it turns out, even most leftists hate this dreck. Late-Night ratings are at record lows, with critics now calling the medium antiquated and dead.

But is it, really? Is it possible to go back? The hunger we all feel for the days of shared experiences is undeniable. It’s one of the most fundamental human needs, and, as a great man once said, “Life finds a way.”

We’re seeing this now among younger generations who grew up in our atomized culture. Kids are looking for something — anything — that can connect them with others. The manifestations are as banal as can be. Last summer, “The Minecraft Movie,” something most humans objectively agree is a pile of steaming hot garbage, made almost a billion dollars because the practice of watching a crap movie with friends while erupting into applause every time Jack Black’s character said “chicken jockey” became a meme.

But it gets even sillier than that. Over the last year, GenZ and GenAlpha have united around the shared experience of saying “6-7.” That’s it. That’s the whole meme. You say “6-7” and everyone laughs at a meaningless little gesture that feels more meaningful because we all share it.

The hunger for nationwide shared experiences is clearly there.

The Babylon Bee rose to prominence by serving up jokes that half the country embraced and the other half ignored — or actively scorned. It’s a fun gig, but it’s always mingled with melancholic memories of better days, when Americans could all laugh at a joke together.

The question is, can we ever have something like that again?

I think we can, but it won’t be easy. Entertainers on both sides will have to find love and respect in their hearts for the half of the country they disagree with. Comedians need to see themselves as service providers again, and their audience as customers deserving of human dignity. They’ll have to leave the preaching to others.

Comedy is noble work, and the only people truly up to the task are those willing to check their pride and self-importance at the door. John Cleese, in a Babylon Bee interview, called on comedians to discover “pointless silliness” again. Sage advice for a media landscape dominated by sneering, meta-irony, narcissism, and disdain.

But in a nation so divided, can we even still laugh at the same things anymore? Are we too different? If you want an answer to that question, find a friend of a different political persuasion and invite him or her to watch Monty Python’s “The Fish Slapping Dance” on YouTube together. Good luck not giggling at that.

Can we save late-night? I think it’s worth a shot, but there’s only one way to find out.

Maybe we can have a shared laugh again, if only to keep us from killing each other.

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Joel Berry is the managing editor of The Babylon Bee, a Marine Corps veteran, and the author of “The Postmodern Pilgrim’s Progress.” Follow him on X: @JoelWBerry

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.