Pratima Mani (Late Show with Colbert), Rasheda Crockett (Adam Ruins Everything) and Sami Bronowski (New Yorker) among the nine comedians to join the 2023 cohort

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, UNITED STATES, March 15, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- They’re back! Generation180 and GoodLaugh today announced the nine winners of the second-annual Climate Comedy Cohort, a unique collaboration between climate experts and comedians coming together to save the planet. This year’s cohort is made up of nine comedic heavy hitters:

Pratima Mani (Late Show with Stephen Colbert);
Kaycee Conlee (The Tonight Show with Jay Leno);
Rasheda Crockett (Adam Ruins Everything);
Sami Bronowski (New Yorker);
Ashley Brooke Roberts (Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!: NPR);
Reem Edan (NBC Late Night);
Mark Kendall (CoolCoolCool Productions);
Leah Bonnema (Late Show with Stephen Colbert);
and Robert Mac (Last Comic Standing).

This blend of stand-up comics, comedy writers, performers and directors will create new comedy, informed by the latest climate science, and take their work on the road with a live variety show, new videos, and other out- of-the-box content. Generation180 and American University’s GoodLaugh initiative at the Center for Media & Social Impact (CMSI) co-created the program in 2022 to tap the power of comedy to combat perceptions of gloom and doom about climate change and to inspire action and a sense of agency around clean energy solutions.

“Comedians help inject hope and optimism into the climate conversation. Our country is at a very important moment in our transition away from fossil fuels toward clean energy, and we need all hands on deck to speed up this transition. We especially need more creatives on board. Comedians are an untapped resource to help spread the word and engage more people,” said Wendy Philleo, Executive Director of Generation180, a national clean energy nonprofit.

"We know from our research, and many others, that comedy is uniquely persuasive, memorable, and attention- getting when it comes to communicating and inspiring efficacy about serious issues like the climate crisis,” said Caty Borum, Executive Director of CMSI. “If we only tell climate change stories with fatalism, we are ironically motivating people to sit it out, at a time when we need them to take action the most. Comedy is a unique cultural force that can do just that.” Borum is also the author of two books about comedy and social justice, including The Revolution Will Be Hilarious: Comedy for Social Change and Civic Power (2023) and A Comedian and An Activist Walk Into a Bar: The Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice (co-authored with Lauren Feldman).

Research shows that the majority of Americans are concerned about climate change, but many lack information about meaningful steps to take. This year’s cohort will focus on popularizing solar, heat pumps, electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies that can significantly reduce carbon emissions. New tax credits and other federal funds – made available through the Inflation Reduction Act – will help millions of Americans pay for clean tech, but many people have never heard about it.

The diverse group of newly-appointed Climate Comedy Cohort fellows ranges from TikTok stars and accomplished stand-up comedians to writers and producers, all of whom want to amplify climate change solutions or already focus on environmental issues in their creative work. Fellows were selected from a pool of over 150 applicants from 15 states. The names and bios of the nine winners can be found on the Climate Comedy Cohort website.

The 9-month fellowship kicks off with a week-long intensive where fellows hear from climate and clean energy experts and then workshop their comedy ideas with one another in a collaborative “writers room.” During the program, fellows will create several short funny videos and stand-up material based on what they learn, culminating in a live comedy variety show in New York City in November.

“Few things are as powerful as taking a subject matter that scares, hurts, or intimidates us and churning it into something we are strong enough to process and laugh about. Climate change is a beast of a topic, but also one with a silver lining and solutions. We can’t wait to see what our cohort does with this material,” said Bethany Hall, Creative Director of CMSI’s Comedy Initiatives and cohort artistic Co-director.

“We were awed by the caliber and number of applicants for this year’s Climate Comedy Cohort. Artists and comedians really care about climate change and want to use their talents for the greater good. We are thrilled to welcome the latest Cohort and can’t wait to get started," said Esteban Gast, Generation180’s Comedian-in- Residence, who co-leads artistic direction of the cohort with Hall.

To receive updates on the cohort and get notified when new content is available, please visit the Climate Comedy Cohort website.

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About Generation180
Generation180 is a national nonprofit working to inspire and equip people to take action on clean energy in their homes and communities. Momentum for clean energy and climate action is at a high point and growing, putting us on the verge of a cultural shift away from fossil fuels toward a cleaner, healthier, more equitable future for everyone.

Generation180 works to accelerate this shift by providing individuals with clear pathways to action and popularizing a new narrative of agency and hope. The Climate Comedy Cohort is the newest initiative from Generation180 to use cultural strategies like comedy and creative communications rooted in behavior science to inspire climate action.

About GoodLaugh
GoodLaugh is a comedy production engine and knowledge lab that brings together the most talented minds in comedy, social justice, entertainment, and philanthropy to collaborate and create comedy and research to help repair the world and build a more just, equitable future. As a program of the Center for Media & Social Impact (CMSI) at American University, GoodLaugh facilitates comedy production, studies, and convenings with social justice at the core. By making new comedy, distributing new knowledge and understanding, and bringing together unlikely players to leverage humor for social good, GoodLaugh believes that “laughing in the face of injustice” can solve, well, almost anything.

Kay Campbell
Generation180
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