One of the ways these speeches have functioned historically is that you can talk about things without talking about them. Humor gives you the ability to shift the burden to the audience to come up with the joke.

Don Waisanen

I actually think the most interesting thing about what's going to happen here is that this speech is going to be a real test case for what is comedy in the US in 2022, it used to serve as: Let's find some humanity here, let's find the lighthearted. In 2022, things are so partisan and so tribal, is there anything beyond the most pointed partisan humor?