CBC 'comedians' spend 15 minutes reviewing a conservative comedian they didn't even watch
The CBC proves once again that when ideology trumps comedy, no punchline is safe ... even if no one has actually seen the show.
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Article by Rebel News staff
Ben Bankas is a success story. The Toronto-based comedian has grown into a commercial hit, selling out tours across North America. Unlike most Canadian comedians, he made it big in the United States, a rare feat. But while the public applauds his rise, government-funded CBC comedians seem to seethe with jealousy.
On a recent CBC panel, three self-proclaimed comedians spent fifteen minutes dissecting Bankas’ comedy without ever showing a single joke. Two hadn’t even seen his material. One refused outright. And yet, they condemned him at length. This isn’t just criticism; it’s the blind leading the blind.
CBC comedians, paid by the state, inhabit an odd contradiction. Comedy, at its best, speaks truth to power, challenges authority, and provokes laughter through risk. But a government paycheck seems to stifle risk. The result? A panel of “critics” who, rather than engage with the jokes themselves, invent straw men and attack a caricature of Bankas’ material.
One segment focused on a tragic mass attack in British Columbia. Bankas’ commentary, often dark and gallows-humor style, was twisted into an imagined offense. No quotes, no context, just speculation and moralizing. The CBC panel mocked him for “punching down,” even as Bankas targeted powerful figures like public health officials, people who dictated lockdowns and curfews with immense authority. In the world of comedy, mocking the powerful isn’t punching down; it’s exactly the opposite.
The absurdity continues. Banks pokes fun at cultural phenomena, including prominent figures and controversial issues, but CBC commentators distort context to frame it as offensive. They psychoanalyze his intentions and the audience’s reactions, all while refusing to present a single joke accurately. It’s a masterclass in character assassination disguised as criticism.
At its core, this is about ideology, not comedy. Conservative, Jewish, controversial ... Banks ticks boxes that the CBC panel evidently cannot tolerate. And when comedians, paid by taxpayers, attack someone else for exercising free speech in public venues, it exposes a disturbing dynamic: state power being used to police humor.
GUEST: Amanda Achtman, Religious Freedom Fellowship Director at The Democracy Fund joins the show.
COMMENTS
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john reynolds commented 2026-02-21 03:35:37 -0500So BEN BANKUS will have to skip MINNESOTA on his next tour ???
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PITY.
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Paul Scofield commented 2026-02-20 11:10:14 -0500Mr. Schoutsen’s patient is mostly correct. I’d say that 90% of Americans can point to where Canada is on a map but that is about it. No offense to Canadians, but Americans are notoriously self-focused and, sometimes, self-absorbed. Most Americans wish Canadians well for a given situation, if they are aware of it. Should Albertans decide to leave Confederation, they would gain nearly instantaneous recognition as a new nation by the United States.
For Americans, Carney comes across as a globalist tool, Ford as an entertaining clown, [Premier] Smith as reasonable, the LPC as an equally idiotic version of the American Left, the CBC as purveyors of lies and bullshit, and the letting in of Third World Gaza, Muslim and Islamic trash as insane. South of the 49th Parallel, Canada is seen as not nearly as screwed up as Europe, but heading in that unfortunate direction. Lastly, most Americans do not want to have Canada as a 51st state — especially if it was an all-or-nothing proposition. We have enough problems of our own without taking on the likes of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. We would entertain some kind of negotiated cooperation with Alberta and Saskatchewan, however, should they so desire. FWIW. -
Gary Schoutsen commented 2026-02-20 09:53:20 -0500I had a patient who was American working here in Canada and he was telling me that Canadians would ask him what Americans think of Canadians. His answer was “They don’t”, that is Americans don’t think about Canadians.
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Denyse O'Leary commented 2026-02-20 00:18:07 -0500Like Victor, I very much appreciate what Ezra does. But Matt below has a point. It could well be that more people knew about the CBC comics’ sleep aid from Rebel News than from the CBC. We could just let the unfunny men fail quietly unless they are doing things that pose an actual danger. -
Silver Feet commented 2026-02-19 22:32:15 -0500That mayoral run announcement video made me burst out in laughter, because it was just funny. What made it funny was that Ben was mimicking people in power/governance who do batshit crazy stuff and they legitimately think they are doing it for the betterment of mankind. The CBC people are downright delusional, they are the welfare DEI class, it is an afront to them if someone works hard at their craft and makes it to success on their own merit, this goes against their leftist loser-ism ideology.
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Matt Abrahams commented 2026-02-19 22:00:46 -0500I wish you’d stop this, Ezra. Nobody but you and about a hundred weirdos watches that garbage. More people saw that video on Rebel News than on the CBC. You only dignify them when you play their videos.
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Bruce Atchison commented 2026-02-19 21:30:12 -0500I wanted to be a comedienne but no one took me seriously.
I’m glad there’s somebody pushing back against Christian and Jewish persecution. We need to do that. -
Denyse O'Leary commented 2026-02-19 21:13:26 -0500What the civil servant comics are doing is probably what the CBC’s remaining viewers want. They want to be reassured that they and their tastes are superior to What Is Out There, and there is no reason to actually watch Bankas’s act in order to provide that reassurance. We are all compelled to support it financially.
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Peter Wrenshall commented 2026-02-19 21:06:24 -0500Ben Bankas is a real comedian. In contrast these pompous asses sound more like CBC model employees than real comedians. I imagine that the only place these deadbeats’ material will play in, besides on the CBC, is Teheran.
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Victor Farrell commented 2026-02-19 21:06:00 -0500Thank Ezra. I really appreciate your work.
