No laughing matter: comedy in the wake of #MeToo

The #MeToo movement has revealed the widespread extent of sexual harassment, and brought down comedy legends like Louis CK. What impact will it have on the comedy industry as a whole?

Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Festival Club. Photo Credit: Jim Lee Photo.

In the wake of Weinstein and #MeToo, recent months have seen several high-profile male comedians challenged over reprehensible incidents and patterns of behaviour, with the likes of American comic, actor and Emmy Award Winner Louis CK called out and publicly shamed.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts