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A clip from a comedian’s set mocking Gen Zers prompted a backlash on TikTok from young people dunking on their elders.
Karen Morgan, who has two specials on the show “Dry Bar Comedy,” talked about some of the differences between Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and boomers in her latest stand-up.
But some people from Gen Z took offense at jokes about their supposed inability to complete offline tasks.
“Gen Z doesn’t know how to write a check, they don’t know how to address an envelope, they don’t know how to read cursive, they don’t know how to read a paper map, they can’t get anywhere unless there’s a GPS app on their phone,” Morgan said.
“All I’m saying is that if Gen Z takes over the world, it’s going to be pretty easy to get it back.”
The clip on the Dry Bar Comedy account has a modest viewership, amassing 34,000 views in the past day since it was posted. But some comebacks from perturbed Gen Z viewers reached much larger audiences, prompting hundreds of comments retaliating.
Gambian content creator Labin Touray, better known as MaximBady, posted a response to Morgan’s set that was viewed over 10 million times. In it he said the tasks Morgan picked up on in her set were obsolete anyway.
Bank transfers and email are both faster than offline versions, and “we are trying to save the turtles by less paper waste.”
“Why are you people laughing?” he asked. “You are our mother. You are supposed to teach us all these things. It’s your fault that we don’t know it and you are laughing at us.”
Money With Mark, a personal-finance creator, mocked the set by acting as if Morgan was an older colleague who couldn’t unmute themselves on Zoom.
Some Gen Zers defended themselves by pointing out the shortcomings they perceive in older generations.
“Probably asked her kids to set up her phone,” says one, while others ask, “Can she open a PDF?” or “Bro, can she take a screenshot?”
“Ok, change the TV from HDMI 1 to HDMI 2,” another comment said.
A TikToker called Nicole chimed in with her own video, saying “boomers don’t know how to draft an email or pay their bill online, or rotate and save a PDF.”
“That’s a lot of bold talk coming from somebody who probably still lists typing as a skill on their resume.”
Creator Shamar Alion also posted a response, asking “do you know how to hunt for your own food, or churn butter?”
“Why are you all so scared to move on with the fucking times?” he said. “Are you still making your food on an open fire outside because you refuse to use a stove? It’s too modern for you? Who needs to know how to balance a god damn checkbook?”
In the full video of Morgan’s standup, she said that all generations seem to be fighting with each other, and sometimes it was confusing working out “who we’re supposed to be mad at.”
While just a short clip made it onto TikTok, Morgan addresses all generations in her 10-minute set, with each getting a hefty dose of teasing. She says the “silent generation,” those born between 1920 and 1940, are “scared of the microwave,” that boomers “perfected smoking,” and that “everybody’s mad at millennials” for avocado toast.
The majority of her set is focused on her own generation, Gen X, which she says is the one everyone forgets.
“Here’s all you need to know about Gen X,” she said. “We don’t care.”
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