Remember when Saturday Night Live skewered conservatives and liberals in equal measure? It can be hard to imagine centrist comedy in today’s insanely polarized pop culture, but when Al Franken (D) and writer Jim Downey (R) wrote the bulk of the show’s political bits, they felt they had a duty to avoid political bias and reward viewers “for knowing stuff about politics without punishing them for not.”
Then in 2017, Franken found himself the kind of fodder SNL uses to inspire their political satire: After being elected to the Senate, his career came crashing down around allegations of sexual misconduct. Though Franken was never charged with any crime, Chuck Shumer essentially threatened to turn his whole party against him unless he resigned, and thus Franken was one of the first casualties of the #metoo movement, which had just entered the cultural zeitgeist in full force.
Franken is in a unique position to tell insider tales of his outsized role in comedy and politics, as well to analyze current events – something he does regularly on The Al Franken Podcast. You’ll get the opportunity to witness his schtick in person this Fri., Sep. 29, 8:00 p.m. at UPAC in Kingston. Tickets are still available at bardavon.org.
Join the family! 
