Clusterfest 2018 is set to take over the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco with music, food and some of the biggest names in comedy this weekend.
The all-star gathering, which includes John Stewart and Trevor Noah, comes amid a national firestorm over controversial remarks made by high-profile comedians Roseanne Barr and Samantha Bee.
"I think comedy can be incredibly disarming," said Comedy Central Correspondent Desi Lydic. “And sometimes a great way to open up a conversation between people who may not agree otherwise."
At the event, visitors will have much to talk about including a Donald Trump twitter library featuring battles and a collection of his most infamous nicknames.
"Again, our president is undefeated on the internet," said Ronny Chieng.
Yet the calling card of the event is "coming together through comedy," a point emphasized by many of the Daily Show’s brightest stars in the wake of racist comments from Roseanne Barr and misogynistic words from Samantha Bee.
"I think you always just sort of have this scale and you have to check in with yourself and go, 'Ok, do I feel right about this? Or is this crossing the line,'" Lydic said.
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For Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr., who is set to perform Friday night, context is everything.
"It’s easy for people to say, 'the line is the line! And you cannot ever cross the line.' But the line is dictated by the level of outrage of the people and the sponsors," he said. "It's a tough argument with Sam Bee because that is a woman using a word traditionally used to slander women, against another woman. So, maybe that will make the line different for Sam Bee than it does for Roseanne."
No matter what, comedians like Ronny Chieng from the Daily Show want everyone to remember they are in the business of jokes.
"I've never apologized. That’s my policy! I've never apologized for anything," Chieng said. "I've never apologized to my wife, I've never apologized to my mother and I've never apologized to anyone, anywhere."
