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Political Satirist Will Durst Has Too Much Material These Days

Junior Hansen Jr.

While there are aspects of the news coming out of Washington that sound like satire, it’s hard to be sure. With Will Durst, an award-winning political satirist and Milwaukee native, you can be sure it's satire. Though he now lives in California’s Bay Area, Durst is back in his home state for shows in Madison and Milwaukee before touring in Europe.

"I know what you're going to ask and I don't know!" Durst says right off the bat. "I've heard that people are so tired of hearing about Trump, I've heard that people can't get enough of Trump."

Durst explains that he's even more unsure about how much specific American material to include while overseas. The way comedy works has to do with shared references, he says, and if the audience doesn't understand those references, it can make the comedian's job more difficult.

"The hard part here is just keeping up," he says before listing off the latest in in American political events that not everyone overseas might be aware of or concerned with.

Though the political news of the day can seem like satire sometimes, Durst promises his American audiences at least some catharsis.

"The show is half therapy, half comedy; I'm a thera-median," Durst concludes.

Will Durst performs Friday, Sept. 14, at Barrymore Theatre in Madison and Saturday, Sept. 15, at ComedySportz Theater in Milwaukee.

Bonnie North
Bonnie joined WUWM in March 2006 as the Arts Producer of the locally produced weekday magazine program Lake Effect.