Cranky doesn't write essays too often. Bear with me. The purpose of comedy is to make you laugh. The purpose of satire is to poke holes in pomposity or, when it is really well done, make you sit up and think about why you are reacting to what you see in the manner in which you are reacting. That's where the comedy aspect comes in.
Satire is a sneaky little monkey . . .
That last sentence, viewed in the proper historical manner with the correct set of blinders on, is a very racist statement. Or, perhaps, if you're African-American, in which case the reference has an entirely different meaning. For those that are too young to know what blackface came to represent, it's because most of the modern media images have been wiped off the face of the earth. Blackface originated in 19th century minstrel shows in the Deep South. It was, by then current standards, incredibly popular, spreading to the circuit that became vaudeville and from there to the radio and the movies.