Resource Guide for the Classroom: "Rock Out with Your Schnoz Out: The COVID Play"

Comedic Performance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic was a huge and massively impactful event for the world. As the pandemic wore on, many experienced trauma and fatigue as a result of the lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and the overwhelming amount of death that the pandemic brought. As the world sought a method for coping with the pandemic, many turned to comedy. 

In a New York Times article by Alex Williams entitled "It’s OK to Find Humor in Some of This," Williams describes how "laughter... is one of the main coping mechanisms during periods of sickness, death and anxiety," and thus it is appropriate to use humor in order to deal with some of the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, it is unsurprising that comedy centered on the pandemic was hugely popular in 2020.