Though Phoebe Robinson and Alex Edelman have opposing opinions on ice cream principles, both stand-up comedians believe in the importance of reaching people through the power of making them laugh.
Robinson, who is also an author, podcast host and was the co-star of HBO’s “2 Dope Queens” joined Edelman, whose most recent Broadway show Just for Us recently premiered on HBO, at the TIME100 Summit on Wednesday in a conversation moderated by TIME Editor in Chief Sam Jacobs.
“If you’re making people laugh, they’re listening, and they’re receiving. So now maybe their hearts and minds are a little bit more open,” Robinson said. “We’re definitely missing a lot of levity right now. Everyone’s yelling ‘I’m right,’ ‘No I’m right’ on this point. Okay, everything can be right and then nothing gets accomplished. I really love comedy being that conduit to force openness and change.”
Edelman said the idea of empathy in comedy had played a significant role in the premise of Just for Us, in which Edelman, raised an Orthodox Jew, infiltrates a white supremacist meeting. “If you want to actually reach someone, you actually stand a much better chance by extending your empathy and trying to listen to them without trying to convince them,” he said.
Read more: ti.me/3UgmD4f
Subscribe to TIME Breaking News KZfaq Channel ►►: ti.me/3ROMUXY
Subscribe to TIME’s KZfaq channel ►► ti.me/subscribe-time
Subscribe to TIME: ti.me/3E3UCqt
Get the day’s top headlines to your inbox, curated by TIME editors: ti.me/48dFNwQ
Follow us:
X (Twitter): ti.me/3xTVwSk
Facebook: ti.me/3xWI2Fg
Instagram: ti.me/3dO9Rcc