‘It felt like a scene from The Handmaid’s Tale’: US comics on the dangers of political satire

‘A fun, risky little ride’ … Sam Jay on her Edinburgh routine. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

In April, comedian Jena Friedman had a strange encounter in the Vancouver airport. She had just performed a Ted talk about the future of comedy and was heading home to the US, when someone she thought worked for airport security quizzed her about her visit.

Thinking he was probing for visa infringements, “I just said I was doing comedy. Then he asked: ‘What do you joke about?’ Stupidly, I lightly flirted with him, and was like: ‘Everything other than airport security!’ He didn’t react at all. Then I realised he was US border control. He asked again: ‘What do you joke about?’”