For those millions of parents struggling to
work from home and teach their housebound
children, she’s preaching to the choir. Witness
this widely shared meme: a photo of an elderly,
white-haired woman with the caption: “Here’s
Sue. 31 years old, home schooling her kids for
the last 5 days. Great job Sue. Keep it up.”
Michael Knight, a 29-year-old musician and a
caseworker for people with mental disabilities,
has been breaking the tension by posting
memes like: “They said a mask and gloves were
enough to go to the grocery store. They lied.
Everyone else had clothes on.”
“It helps me decompress,” said Knight, of
Plymouth, Massachusetts. “It kind of offsets
the paralyzing effects of the bogeyman that is
the pandemic.”
Rhodes, who’s out more than $30,000 after
three festivals and her first taped special
were canceled, is trying to see the humor in her
own predicament.
She recently posted iPhone video of herself
pretending to work a nonexistent crowd on an
outdoor stage she happened upon during a
walk. “How’s everyone not doing?” she cracks.
“The best material comes from a place that’s
very truthful and somewhat dark,” Rhodes said.
Her prediction: When life eventually edges back
to normal, “Saturday Night Live” and the latest
Netflix standup specials will be powered by
quarantine humor.
“Just a month ago, who would have appreciated
being given a roll of toilet paper?” she said. “I
mean, the whole world is upside down.”