Climate change has entered everyday conversation with greater urgency in the last decade. And although it’s a sobering topic, it’s become increasingly present in the comedy scene, too from stand-up specials to “Late Night” monologues.
It’s not that climate change itself is inherently funny — headlines about endangered animals and flooded cities don’t inspire laughs. But the heart of comedy lies in relatability, and as climate concerns become more ever-present, jokes about recycling, water usage, and overpopulation are popping up more and more.
In “The Tennessee Kid” special, between punchlines about football games and dog bakeries, Nate Bergatze seamlessly slips in jokes about climate change.
“I looked up a list: ‘All right, what are you supposed to do for global warming, as an individual?’” Bergatze tells the crowd. “And it was a big, long list, but the first thing on the list was my favorite. It just said, ‘Just talk to your friends and family about it.’”
Bergatze points out that those conversations are more difficult with distant relatives.
“I had a great aunt and uncle fist fight each other at a wedding,” he laughs. “Let me get in the middle. ‘Any chance this fight was about global warming? Because I just would love to get that conversation rolling, you know?’”
Jokes like Bergatze’s help alleviate climate anxiety. But Adam McKay, a producer-director known for projects like “Step Brothers,” “Anchorman,” and “Succession,” thinks that humor isn’t just something we should use to cope with climate woes — it should also be a tool for climate justice.
“I think laughter is absolutely key,” McKay told The Carbon Brief. “We’ve been doing these shows through Yellow Dot Studios with stand-up comics, the idea being: ‘Let’s find a way to laugh around these subjects.’”
Through Yellow Dot Studios, McKay has spent the last year producing sketch comedy videos and live comedy events headlined by stars like Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, and Nikki Glaser.
And every cent it brings in goes to spreading climate change awareness.
“Overall, I’ve been very happy with how it’s gone,” McKay said. “We can be silly. We can be angry. And it’s just a language that we’re trying to use that can lead to change, or be a part of a larger change.”
Climate change jokes that recently made their way into top comics’ sets:
- “[Overpopulation] is sort of like when you’re at a party that you know is dying down and then you get a text from a friend and they’re like, ‘Hey should I still come to the party?’ and you’re like, ‘Yeah! Jump in that Uber, girl.’” – Joel Kim Booster
- “I’ve been sending thoughts and prayers to the globe. I think it’s gotten worse, I don’t think it’s done anything.” – Eric J. Freedman
- “[People in 2284 will ask:] ‘Why did you travel in airplanes when you knew the pollution was irreversibly heating up the planet?’ [And we’d say:] ‘Oh my god, this is going to sound bad … to go somewhere hotter?” – Simon Brodkin
- “Is animal print fashion still cool?” – Taylor Tomlinson. “Yes, because with climate change, it will be good to remember what they looked like.” – Aparna Nancherla
- “It seems like we get fallout from the climate crisis everyday here in California: wildfires, floods, landslides — which are all amazing things to hear Stevie Nicks sing about, but not something you want to experience in life.” – Jimmy Kimmel
- “Evil gasses literally exploding out of the ground in Siberia, I’m no David Attenborough, but that s—t’s not right, is it?” – Kiri Pritchard-McLean
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2025 Environment Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
Header image via Netflix / The Tennessee Kid
