Thoughts and Prayers

The title bit of his 2015 special, and Jeselnik's most pointed piece of social commentary. He takes aim at people who respond to mass shootings, natural disasters, and other tragedies by posting "thoughts and prayers" on social media.

His argument: these posts aren't about the victims—they're about the poster. "Thoughts and prayers" is a way of inserting yourself into a tragedy without doing anything. It's narcissism dressed as compassion. "Don't forget about me today."

It's the rare Jeselnik bit that isn't built on misdirection. He means exactly what he says, and he says it with the cold precision of a prosecutor. The audience laughs, but they also squirm—because most of them have posted exactly what he's describing.

The bit became his most culturally relevant material, quoted and shared after every subsequent tragedy—which is, of course, exactly the irony Jeselnik would appreciate. A comedy bit about empty performative gestures became itself a performative gesture people shared after tragedies.