The Climate Comedy Cohort Wants to Make Global Warming… Funny?
Every comedian will be talking about climate change in 10 years, says Esteban Gast, a standup comedian who helped launch a paid fellowship for climate comedy.
“When it comes to delivering climate messaging, we need every voice and we need all the voices,” says comedian Esteben Gast.
Photographer: Kiel PhillipsClimate change isn’t known for giving anyone the giggles: Temperatures keep breaking records, extreme weather is getting more extreme and a growing number of people are dying from heat.
But Esteban Gast, a Los Angeles-based standup comedian, says even the most dire climate headlines still leave room for humor. He would know: In 2022, Gast helped launch the Climate Comedy Cohort, a nine-month paid fellowship for comedians to learn from climate experts and develop content aimed at raising awareness and driving action. Gast describes the fellowship, which is backed by clean energy advocacy group Generation 180 and American University’s Center for Media and Social Impact, as Climate 101 meets “writers’ room-style training.”