Lee Camp has been known to hand out buttons with the slogan “Punch apathy in the dick.” It sounds aggressive, but we all know apathy is pretty much dickless. Rather, it speaks to the standup comic/activist’s passion for political involvement.

“I’d rather people violently disagree with me than be apathetic, because apathy is just really tough to deal with,” he tells the Straight on the phone from Washington, D.C., where he shoots his weekly comedy-news show, Redacted Tonight. “You can’t even have a conversation with someone who’s truly apathetic. I’d rather someone be wrong and passionate. I’m kinda sick of ironic detachment and apathy.”

When Camp started out in stand­up, he wasn’t taking on issues. He developed some comedy chops before delving into weightier matters. Now he’s able to speak truth to power while speaking funny to it, as well.

Many are quick to label him a political comedian, but he prefers the term cultural commentator. His last comedy special made just one mention of his president.

“I have never liked the term political comedian because I think it brings to mind somebody who’s going to make Obama and Mitch McConnell jokes all day long, which is not what I do at all,” he says.

He’ll also make fun of both sides, even though he clearly supports more progressive issues. “I do that because I feel, in the American system, the Democrats and the Republicans are not a right and left wing,” he says. “Both of them are pro-corporate, pro–Wall Street parties that actually represent a 10-percent difference, a very small-angle difference, in their view of the world and of America. So by saying I’m taking on both sides, I’m taking on the two corporate parties.”

His TV show (also available at Youtube) airs on the RT network—as in Russia Today, the English-language news channel. Redacted Tonight is like a low-budget Daily Show, with a staff of five and a studio audience of 20. But they’re putting out shows 50 weeks a year.

“I think I get phenomenal freedom,” he says. “Far more freedom than I’d get at any other network, because there’s no corporate advertisers on RT, which means I get to rail against all the corporations, which I feel are what truly is impacting our lives on a daily basis.”

He once auditioned for a writing job on The Daily Show. He would seem to have been a perfect fit, but Camp disagrees.

“A lot of my comedy goes after the corporations that, in my opinion, largely control our politicians and are impacting our lives, and that’s not really what The Daily Show does,” he says. “There’s not a lot of comedians doing political comedy to begin with, and the kind of full-throated activist political comedy that I do is incredibly rare. So in a lot of ways it seems like I would have been great for that show, but I’d kind of given up on the idea of even being on television, at least with my own show, because nowhere with advertisers wants to have me. So to find a channel without advertisers is incredibly lucky.”

Keeping up with what’s wrong with the world doesn’t get him down—at least, not with comedy in his life.

“I don’t think I find it hard to stay funny, because I think I desperately need to or else things become too grim,” he says. “But I think we’re at a pivotal time for our species because things could get very bad if we make the wrong decisions right now. But I also am very optimistic in the sense that I think the Internet age is changing everything. It’s unbelievable how quickly people are becoming informed and opinions are changing.”

If this all seems very serious, it is because the subjects are. But trust Camp to bring humour into them. And he’ll leaven the heavy stuff with delightfully absurd one-liners throughout his live show.

“I think those are important,” he says. “I think they give people a breather, and also if someone in the audience does disagree with whatever point I was just making, it brings them back into the fold. It subconsciously says to them, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll come back to a place we can all enjoy.’ ”

Lee Camp plays Yuk Yuk’s on Friday and Saturday (November 21 and 22). His special We Are Nothing is available at Lee Camp's website for a recommended donation of $5.