Non Threatening Boys*: Zachariah Porter on Sketch Comedy, New York City & the Thrill of Live Performance
For a good chunk of time, a large portion of short form video content was dominated by men pretending to be women for laughs, wearing a cheap wig – or occasionally, a tea towel – and acting out skits to camera. These ranged from nagging wife, to nagging girlfriend, to nagging customer, to nagging coworker. In each, the woman depicted was the butt of the joke, the point being to laugh at the neuroses, whininess and irrationality of girls.
That’s why, around this time, Zachariah Porter – whose skits couldn’t come from a point of view more opposed to making fun of women – was such a breath of fresh air. His roster of characters have their own individual identities from the aunt who offloads on you to Mrs Claus, and from voice to backstory, Porter has thoroughly considered not only the comedic beats of his women, but what point they serve in the internet discourse machine.