The Wheeler Centre

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The Wheeler Centre

Episodes (100)

Tue Apr 14th Who's Afraid of a Joke?
Mar 31st Nell Zink: Sister Europe
Mar 17th Laila Lalami: The Dream Hotel

The Wheeler Centre

Apr 14, 2026
1¼ hours
57 MB

A host of Melbourne International Comedy Festival comics gather to explore how comedy survives, thrives and occasionally lands a punch on authoritarianism. The powerful often say they have a sense of humour. This turns out to be true – provided the joke is about someone else. From public denunciations to legal action and intimidation, comedians across the world are increasingly required to work within narrowing spaces, where the right punchline at the expense of the wrong politician carries the risk of personal and professional consequences. When laughter is policed this closely, what does it reveal about the...

The Wheeler Centre

Who's Afraid of a Joke?

The Wheeler Centre

00:00 -01:02:14