Burning Questions: Comics Take on Riots, Reason & Rage

(Spotlight. Jon Stewart steps on stage, casual suit, holding a crumpled stack of notes and a water bottle. The crowd quiets. A faint backdrop of burning headlines and protest clips plays silently behind him.)

Jon Stewart:
So… tonight we’re going to laugh about riots, ideology, cancel culture, and the slow erosion of Western civilization.
Sounds fun, right?

Look, I know what you’re thinking:
“Can you really make jokes about the collapse of order, philosophy turned Molotov, and universities that now give out bullhorns instead of diplomas?”
Yes. Yes, we can.

Because when society starts to look like a parody of itself, comedy becomes… just journalism with better timing.

This show isn’t about left or right.
It’s about up and down.
Like, “How did we go this far down the tunnel of madness where setting fire to a Foot Locker somehow equals moral clarity?”

We’ve invited ten of the funniest minds—living and ghostly—to sit down, crack jokes, roast ideologies, and hopefully remind us that behind every absurdity is a choice we’re making… or avoiding.

If the world feels like it’s on fire, then humor might be the only extinguisher we have left that anyone will actually pick up.

Let’s begin.

 (Note: This is an imaginary conversation, a creative exploration of an idea, and not a real speech or event.)

Topic 1: Blueprints & Bricks – Were the Riots Actually a Group Project?

Scene: A smoky comedy club basement called “The Laughing Collapse.” A brick wall with a giant chalkboard blueprint of a city in flames. The comedians are seated on mismatched stools. A cardboard box of pre-printed protest signs sits stage right. Laughter and applause fade in as the host speaks.

Host (Dave Chappelle):
Welcome to Burning Questions, where the only thing hotter than the takes are the buildings. Tonight’s question—were the riots a spontaneous act of justice… or just a really messed up group project with a Gantt chart and matching shirts?

Ricky Gervais:
Oh come on, of course they were planned. Half these protests had better stage lighting than my last Netflix special. One guy had a drone shot of himself throwing a Molotov. What is this, Les Misérables: TikTok Edition?

Bill Burr:
I’m tellin’ ya man, it’s like someone ordered a riot off Amazon. “Same-day delivery, includes bricks, slogans, and a complimentary latte.” You think regular people just carry spray paint that matches their outfit?

Ali Wong:
Bro, I went to a protest where the chant leader had an assistant… with a clipboard. I’m like, are we overthrowing capitalism or filming a spin-off of The West Wing? I need to know what genre of rebellion I’m in.

Jon Stewart:
You know it’s organized when the crowd has more QR codes than signs. I scanned one—it took me to a Google Doc with color-coded zones for burning, looting, and posting on Instagram. I mean… what happened to just yelling and running?

Chris Rock:
Back in the day, you protested with your feet. Now? It's Canva templates, dog. “Graphic design is my passion... and also down with the system.” People showing up in riot-themed merch. Like—who’s your sponsor? Nike? BLM™ x Supreme?

Tim Dillon:
Listen, if you think chaos is random, you’ve never met a bored elite with a hedge fund and a god complex. These things are more choreographed than a Beyoncé tour. I saw a riot plan that had vegan snack breaks and a media-friendly fire zone.

Andrew Schulz:
Real talk—if your riot’s got a brand consultant, it’s not rebellion. It’s Coachella for people who hate their dads and deodorant. And the cops? Half of them are like “Please let us riot too. We wanna feel included.”

George Carlin’s Ghost (via AI):
People used to fight for freedom. Now they fight for attention. You’re not revolting—you’re refreshing. Don’t burn the system—just post it, tag it, monetize it, and pretend you’re oppressed from your iPhone 14 in Starbucks.

Norm Macdonald’s Spirit (dryly):
Yeah, I saw a guy filming himself looting a Foot Locker… with a ring light. I guess revolution's more about lighting than lightning these days.

Dave Chappelle (closing):
So here we are. In a world where revolutions come with a social media kit and a playlist. But hey—if your rebellion has sponsors and a media plan, maybe it’s less about the movement... and more about the movie deal.

(Crowd laughs, fade out with slow jazz remix of “Fight the Power.”)

Topic 2: Caution: Philosophy Ahead – How Abstract Thought Got Us Molotovs

Scene: Same club, “The Laughing Collapse.” Behind the comics is a chalkboard reading “Nietzsche walks into a riot…” There’s a stack of unread philosophy books being used as coasters.

Host (Bill Burr):
Alright folks—next topic. How did we go from Socrates asking questions to undergrads lobbing Molotovs while quoting Foucault? At what point did philosophy stop being about thinking and start being about throwing bricks?

Ricky Gervais:
It’s simple—once the philosophers stopped having jobs. I mean, if you spend six years reading Marx and never get laid, you have to burn something. Otherwise you just become a barista who hates everything that pays your rent.

Ali Wong:
Yo, I had a Tinder date once who quoted Nietzsche during dinner. He said, “God is dead,” and I was like, “Yeah, and so is this appetizer conversation.” These people think suffering gives them moral superiority—bro, you're just hungry and angry.

Jordan Peterson (guest cameo, storming the stage):
Listen! The hierarchy isn't oppression! It’s a map! Without it, you’re just tearing down scaffolding while the house is still being built!
(pauses)
Also, please clean your room before you torch the city.

Chris Rock:
You ever notice how the people quoting Michel Foucault are always the ones with no accountability? “Power is a construct!” Yeah? So is rent, fool. Try yelling “social theory” at your landlord when your card declines.

Jon Stewart:
The real twist? These kids aren’t even reading the full books. They’re getting radicalized off Twitter threads. “Did you know Descartes was problematic?” Like… dude. You read one meme with a Plato quote and now you're throwing soup on a Van Gogh.

Tim Dillon:
It’s hilarious. They turn dense French philosophy into Instagram captions. “I riot, therefore I am.” Meanwhile, Derrida’s in the grave like, “Please misquote me harder.” Academia’s a fever dream run by tenure-track chaos goblins.

Andrew Schulz:
Bro, half of these people treat ideas like Pokémon. “I choose you—intersectionality!” Boom! Smash a Starbucks window. No idea what the word means, but it sounds righteous as hell on a podcast.

George Carlin’s Ghost (AI deepfake):
Philosophy used to be about understanding your place in the universe. Now it’s about justifying why you’re mad you didn’t get enough likes on your activist thirst trap.

Norm Macdonald’s Spirit (deadpan):
Yeah, I remember when Descartes said, “I think, therefore I loot.” I think the full quote was, “I tweet, therefore I riot, therefore I get a book deal.”

Bill Burr (wrapping up):
So basically, we took 2,500 years of deep thinking and turned it into a Buzzfeed listicle that ends in arson. You know what Plato’s Republic didn’t have? Wi-Fi. Maybe that’s why it lasted.

(Crowd erupts in laughter. Light dims as the spotlight shifts to a single burning copy of Being and Time used to warm someone's hands.)

Topic 3: Woke U – Higher Ed’s Newest Major: Advanced Outrage

Scene: The same club. Behind the comics is a neon sign that flickers between “SAFE SPACE” and “TRIGGERED.” Onstage is a fake campus bulletin board covered in protest flyers, vegan bake sale notices, and one angry note that says “We demand more feelings.”

Host (Ali Wong):
Welcome back to Burning Questions. Tonight’s lecture is brought to you by the Department of Emotional Thermonuclear Studies.
Topic 3: When did college stop being about education and start being about revolution cosplay?

Chris Rock:
You used to go to college to get a job. Now? You go to get offended. “I majored in Microaggressions with a minor in Public Screaming.” Like, congrats. You’re $200K in debt and allergic to eye contact.

Ricky Gervais:
At this point, campus is like a sitcom where everyone’s miserable but thinks they’re saving the world. “Today in Feminist Glaciology class, we explored why snow is sexist.” I’m sorry—what? Snow?! It doesn’t even talk.

Bill Burr:
Dude, I saw a kid yell at a biology professor for saying “male and female.” The kid was like, “That’s violent language.” Violent?! The most dangerous thing in that room was the cafeteria meatloaf.

Jon Stewart:
It’s not even education anymore—it’s guided resentment therapy. You pay fifty grand a year for a four-year identity crisis and a hoodie that says “Existence is problematic.”

Tim Dillon:
Higher ed is like Hogwarts for the emotionally unstable. “Welcome to Woke U! Here’s your pronoun wand and your first-year cry circle. This semester: Critical Astrology and The Queering of Calculus.”

Andrew Schulz:
And have you noticed how everyone’s a revolutionary… on campus? But the moment real life shows up—like rent, taxes, or a job—they suddenly believe in capitalism real fast. “Down with the system—unless it’s my dad’s credit card.”

Jordan Peterson (barging back in):
They've turned universities into indoctrination camps! There's no room for logos—only chaos! These kids don’t need safe spaces—they need a semester in a lumberyard!

Os Guinness (from the crowd, sipping tea):
In my day, university was where you studied revolution. Now it’s where you live it—between brunch and your 3pm protest against air conditioning.

Norm Macdonald’s Spirit (deadpan):
I visited a college recently… they had a therapy dog in every building. Back in my day, the only therapy was your roommate saying, “Suck it up.” Now if someone spells your name wrong, it’s a federal case.

Ali Wong (closing):
So yeah, college used to be about preparing for life. Now it’s about preparing to cancel anyone who lives. You walk in with questions and leave with a manifesto and a TikTok series.

(Audience explodes as a guy in the front row quietly drops his “Post-Capitalist Poetry Thesis” under his chair.)

Topic 4: The Protester’s Playbook – Performance Art or Political LARPing?

Scene: The club is now decked out like a mock protest site—cardboard signs, fake barricades, and a fog machine labeled “Tear Gas (Essential Oil Edition).” A protester mannequin stands frozen mid-chant, holding a selfie stick. Audience members are given glow sticks labeled “Rage.”

Host (Tim Dillon):
Welcome back to Burning Questions, the only show where we peacefully assemble for punchlines. Tonight’s topic: Are today’s protests about change… or is this just political cosplay for people who failed improv class?

Ricky Gervais:
Look, if your protest has a sponsorship booth and a hydration station, it’s not revolution—it’s Coachella for overeducated anarchists. “Down with the system! But first, kombucha.”

Chris Rock:
You ever see those protest TikToks? It’s not “fight the power”—it’s “light the algorithm.” Everyone’s out there voguing between chants like it’s Project Runway: Civil Disobedience Edition.

Ali Wong:
Bruh, I saw a girl hand out protest schedules. Schedules! “We riot from 2 to 3, then do yoga and post about our trauma at 3:15.” Like—what kind of rebellion has a snack break?!

Andrew Schulz:
They’re not marching anymore—they’re livestreaming. “Smash the state... but don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe.” If Che Guevara had a ring light, he’d be an influencer.

Jon Stewart:
And have you noticed the chants are starting to rhyme too well? Like, too professionally well? That’s not rage—that’s ghostwritten dissent. Some of these signs got better fonts than New York Times headlines.

Bill Burr:
You see a dude in a $90 hoodie screaming about oppression while drinking a $7 oat milk latte. Dude, you’re not in the revolution—you’re in an Urban Outfitters catalog that caught fire.

Jordan Peterson (once again barging in):
Protest used to be the expression of conscience! Now it’s a costume party for the ideologically possessed! If you're wearing matching anarchist vests—you’re not revolting, you're rehearsing!

George Carlin’s Ghost:
I marched in the ‘60s. Back then we had purpose, conviction, and blisters. Now? You need an Instagram filter just to scream. “Hey Siri—start the revolution.”

Norm Macdonald’s Spirit (dry):
I went to a protest once. Someone asked if I had an NFT of my sign. I said, “No, but I’ve got a memory of a time when people actually meant what they said.”

Tim Dillon (closing):
So yeah—if your revolution has merch, press kits, and fire emoji RSVP links... maybe you’re not changing the world. Maybe you’re just really into theater. But hey, at least the lighting’s good.

(Crowd cheers as someone yells, “Down with photogenic activism!” from the back. Fog machine kicks back on dramatically.)

Topic 5: God, Guilt, and a Crumbling Statue – The Moral Tug-of-War Show

Scene: The stage is split in half. On the left: a golden spotlight on a glowing chapel-shaped cutout. On the right: a flaming papier-mâché statue of “Human Ego” with a mirror for a face. A tug-of-war rope stretches between them, labeled “Meaning.” Smoke machines hiss every time someone says “oppression.”

Host (Jon Stewart):
Alright, folks, we’ve arrived at the philosophical boss level. The eternal showdown: transcendent faith vs. secular reason. It’s God vs. Guilt. Humility vs. Hashtags. A moral tug-of-war with the soul of society at stake.

Bill Burr:
You know what cracks me up? The same people who say, “There is no absolute truth” will absolutely scream at you if you disagree with them. Like—you just said nothing is true! Except you yelling at me. That’s apparently sacred.

Ali Wong:
I grew up with religion. Now everyone’s worshiping “The Algorithm.” It’s like, “Forgive me, Google, for I have searched.” These people light sage and manifest energy but panic if they lose Wi-Fi. Girl, you need more than a crystal for this spiritual war.

Chris Rock:
Let’s be real—nobody’s humble anymore. It’s all “I’m speaking my truth!” What if your truth is dumb? Huh? What if your truth is burning a Walgreens because you got ghosted?

Tim Dillon:
Transcendence is dead. Now people meditate just so they don’t scream in Whole Foods. Used to be: “What would Jesus do?” Now it’s: “What would my therapist say about keying my ex’s car during Mercury retrograde?”

Ricky Gervais:
I don’t mind atheism—I am one. But today’s version isn’t “There’s no God.” It’s “I am God… and you’re canceled.” That’s not enlightenment, that’s just narcissism with a sociology degree.

Jordan Peterson (swooping in like Batman):
You remove God, and what do you get? You. You, with your ego and your mood swings and your activist hoodie. Civilization can’t survive on your serotonin levels, people. Structure is sacred. Order is holy.

Andrew Schulz:
We replaced the Ten Commandments with the Ten Hashtags. “Thou shalt not disagree with me online” being number one. Forget Moses—today people climb the mountain just to record a TikTok.

Norm Macdonald’s Spirit (dry as ever):
Used to be, you’d kneel at an altar. Now people kneel for Instagram photo ops. “Look at me being humble!” That’s not humility. That’s marketing. Even the Pharisees are like, “Wow, chill.”

George Carlin’s Ghost:
You take away God, and you think people will become free thinkers. Nope—they become fanatics of themselves. You don’t get a utopia. You get Twitter. Which, frankly, is hell.

Jon Stewart (wrapping up):
So here we are. One side believes in grace. The other believes in algorithms. And stuck in the middle? The rest of us, just trying to make sense of the fire and the fury—without burning down the last chapel standing.

(Audience erupts. Stage lights dim. A single flickering sign reads: “Now entering the post-truth era. Good luck.”)

Final Thoughts – George Carlin

(Lights dim. A smoky spotlight illuminates an empty mic. Carlin’s voice plays over the PA, stylized with subtle grain like a lost recording, but clear. The room stills.)

George Carlin (tribute voice):
You ever notice how the people screaming about oppression are usually holding the microphone?

They talk about justice like it’s a tweet, protest like it’s a concert, and riot like it’s a resume builder.
And you know what? It works.
Because we stopped raising thinkers.
We started raising performers.

Used to be, if you didn’t know the answer, you shut up and learned.
Now? You scream it louder—and God help the person who asks a question.

See, when you kick God off the throne, someone’s gotta sit in that chair.
And surprise—it’s usually a college sophomore with a sociology minor and a complex about everything.

We replaced meaning with momentum.
We replaced reverence with retweets.
And somewhere along the way… we confused activism with acting.

So what do you do?

Simple:
You laugh.
Then you speak truth.
Then you shut up and do something that actually helps.

Because while they’re busy burning books, rewriting history, and monetizing rage…
You’ve got the last weapon they can’t take from you.

A mind.
And a mouth.
Use both—before they tell you that’s violent too.

(Fade out. Applause rises slowly. A soft exit sign glows: “THINK.”)

Short Bios:

Jon Stewart
Political satirist and former host of The Daily Show, Stewart is known for blending comedy with cultural critique, making him the ideal voice to open this series with sharp clarity.

Bill Burr
A master of the rant, Burr tackles everything from cancel culture to modern absurdities with raw honesty and explosive humor.

Ricky Gervais
British comedian, writer, and professional sacred cow tipper. Gervais skewers ideologies and hypocrisy with dry wit and unapologetic candor.

Chris Rock
Stand-up icon and cultural commentator, Rock brings razor-sharp takes on race, class, and politics, wrapped in high-energy delivery.

Ali Wong
A bold voice in comedy, Wong mixes personal insight with savage commentary on modern culture, identity, and progressive double standards.

Tim Dillon
Equal parts conspiracy theorist and showman, Dillon's satire targets everything from elite hypocrisy to the cult of self-expression.

Andrew Schulz
Known for his unfiltered crowd work and fearless commentary, Schulz thrives in chaos—and turns ideological tension into punchlines.

Jordan Peterson
A clinical psychologist and author turned cultural lightning rod. Not a comedian, but his intense academic energy is used here for comic contrast and unintentional hilarity.

Norm Macdonald (Tribute Voice)
Deadpan genius and beloved comic’s comic, Norm brought absurdity and dry reflection to even the darkest topics. His voice adds a calm, ghostly jab to the madness.

George Carlin (Tribute Voice)
One of the most influential satirists of all time. Carlin’s legacy of truth-telling through humor makes him the perfect closer for this ideological autopsy.