'What are we willing to do to combat pure evil?' Late-night comedians grapple with mass murder in Las Vegas.

There's nothing funny about mass shootings, and late-night TV is sick of talking about it, too

Americas late-night hosts grapple with Las Vegas
(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Daily Show, Conan, The Tonight Show, Late Night)

Monday night was a somber one on late-night comedy TV, as it was in much of the U.S., as comedian-hosts tried to find words of comfort and outrage at the mass murder of at least 59 people and wounding of 527 more at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night. Police say one 64-year-old man, Stephen Paddock, caused all the casualties and injuries with a collection of high-powered automatic rifles from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. It was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

"Jokes aren't appropriate to address the shock and the grief and the anger we all feel," Stephen Colbert said on The Late Show. "This afternoon, the president called this an 'act of pure evil,' and I think he's right. So what, then, are we willing to do to combat pure evil? The answer can't be nothing. It can't." The warm, bipartisan welcome Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) got when he returned to Congress last week after being shot at baseball practice gives some hope "that Congress might work together for the common good," Colbert said. "And the bar is so low right now that Congress can be heroes by doing literally anything."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.