’Good Comedy Can Upset People’: A Conversation with Bobby Wilson of The 1491s

In this interview Bobby Wilson (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota) of the comedy group The 1491s shares stories about life as an Indigenous comic artist. Tongue-in-cheek and often sarcastic, Wilson talks about turning tragedy into dark comedy in the play Between Two Knees (2019), the artistic merits of humor, and the intersections of politics, activism, and comedy. Part personal history, part origin story of the comedy group, the interview covers a host of different topics, ranging from the significance of colonial trauma to the ability to poke fun at themselves.