In 2017, Rollie Williams was a struggling comedian when he came across a copy of “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore’s book about climate change.
A New York Times review described the book as “lucid, harrowing, and blatantly effective,” but Williams was surprised by its comedic potential. Ten years have passed since the former Vice President's passionate appeal, and the Earth continues to heat up.
“I thought having Al Gore on the ‘I Said Tour’ would be the premise of a comedy show,” he said, and the resulting product was a hit.
Williams, who lives and works in Brooklyn, currently produces comedy videos about the environment. He is part of a growing movement that tackles the climate crisis with humor. From Hollywood films like Adam McKay's “Don't Look Up” to independent sketches on YouTube and TikTok, comedians no strangers to tackling difficult topics are increasingly getting to the heart of one of the greatest existential threats to the planet. Looking for
Many people find the topic of global warming boring or depressing because it poses an apocalyptic risk. But even some scientists and activists agree that climate change has a messaging problem.
“Academics are trained to write in their native language and look up in the dictionary for every three words,” said Sarah Finnie, founder of the 51% Project, a Boston University initiative that aims to help people better communicate about climate change. .” She said, “Humor is a really good way to calm the two-headedness and panic that can paralyze people.”
During his two years hosting “Inconvenient Talk Show,” in which he played talk show host Gore, Williams realized how easy it was to recruit top scientists to interview. Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and renowned marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson attended.
“They said, ‘Someone actually wants to hear about climate change, and not like these depressed people who are already researching it,’” said Mr. Williams, who finished the show in 2020.
Scientists have also connected with comedians on 'Climate Science Translated', a collection of British short videos that turn research and data into relatable jokes. “Climate science is complex, so we’re translating it to humans,” the video’s introduction states.
The series is planned to debut in the United States in time for the presidential election later this year, said Ben Carey, co-founder of Utopia Bureau, the group leading the project.
Climate activists have also noticed the effectiveness of humor. Marc Weiss and Rahwa Ghirmatzion are part of a coalition that successfully campaigned for New York's Climate Act, legislation that would require the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and at least 85% by 2050 It was. Last summer, their concerns grew. Pro-business groups lobbied to relax the law.
Mr. Weiss, a fan of “Don't Look Up,” which compared a world-ending comet to climate change, was interested in collaborating with Mr. McKay, who had just started a new organization. ‘Yellow Dot Studios’ was released in May last year. The non-profit media studio produces short videos (mainly comedy) about climate change.
The encounter with Yellow Dot led to a new comedic campaign targeting the state's fossil fuel industry to raise questions about climate laws and raise awareness of efforts to slow them down. The campaign plans to target specific energy executives. For mean mockery.
(According to thousands of scientists, the main cause of global warming is humans burning fossil fuels. Global warming carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal, natural gas and oil for energy are expected to reach a record 36.8 billion tons in 2023 It's possible. .)
This is the first time Yellow Dot is running a local campaign. If successful, Executive Director Staci Roberts-Steele said she would be interested in further collaboration. “This is a bit of a trial run,” she said. “But it’s a really fun way to look at specific laws.”
For Mr. McKay, humor offers a way to approach the truth about climate change rather than relying on slick language. “The problem with communicating the scale and immediacy of the climate crisis is that there is a tendency to use approaches developed by advertising agencies, PR firms, corporate news and commercial entertainment,” he said.
In many of the videos Yellow Dot produces, Yellow Dot targets everyday scenarios that lend themselves to comedy. Sketches include mothers arguing over whether they can leave their babies on an induction stove and a gas nozzle acting like a jealous boyfriend when he catches the driver passed out over an electric car. It also uses star power. The latest video features Rainn Wilson, best known for playing Dwight Schrute on “The Office,” as a climate scientist who comes from the future to warn the characters of “Game of Thrones” about fossil fuels.
Not only does humor help convey messages about climate change, but it has often become an essential element of many social movements or transitions, said Caty Borum, executive director of the Center for Media and Social Impact at American University.
“Comedy played an important role in the American civil rights movement, and the use of memes on social media was critical in the Arab Spring uprisings,” Mr. Borum said, giving two recent examples.
Andrew Boyd, a humorist and one of Union Square's Climate Watch activists, believes laughter can help people who feel despair about global warming.
In his new book, “I Want a Better Catastrophe,” Mr. Boyd applies the five stages of grief about climate change and adds a sixth stage: gallows humor. “We are faced with an impossible situation. “That’s what gallows humor is designed to deal with,” he said.
During the pandemic, Ms. Williams earned a master's degree in climate and society from Columbia University. His YouTube channel, Climate Town, currently has over 550,000 subscribers, and he hosts a podcast called 'The Climate Deniers Playbook' with 'The Daily Show' writer Nicole Conlan.
Recently, he began working with Climate Changemakers, a non-profit organization that encourages simple steps people can take to influence politicians and other leaders.
But Mr. Williams said he hopes his comedy can do more than persuade people to sign a petition or forward a link. “My ultimate goal is to inspire people to make systemic changes rather than just trying to recycle. additional Stiff.”