“Comedy under Trump” became a subject of conversation almost immediately after the election: either we needed comedy more than ever or comedy wasn’t enough or we shouldn’t laugh or we couldn’t laugh. whatever sound you make when you get hit by the truck. There was none of the nervous, shocked laughter that comes after stepping back onto the sidewalk just in time, there was only. Reading the post now, obviously, is not funny - not because the memes weren’t good, but because the thing that was supposedly over wasn’t at all, and there was no sigh of relief. “People keep saying things like ‘It will all be over soon,’ and ‘Can you believe it's almost over?’ Do you think they are talking about the election or the 45-year mystery of ‘ Who is the Zodiac Killer?’Įither way, it's almost over. It wasn’t supposed to be dismissive of the major issues of the election, just a wry acknowledgment of all the absurdities we had narrowly avoided, and a celebration of the jokes that kept us afloat during 20 months of escalating fear. Last November, in preparation for a day that I was confident would be marked by the greatest collective release of breath in my lifetime, I put together an A-to-Z children’s coterie of the best (or most persistent) memes of the nightmarish 2016 presidential race.