Punching Up vs. Punching Down

I thought this was an interesting piece in Buzzfeed about why comedy that "punches down" is basically never funny, and why "punching up" in comedy just works. Feels so relevant to us and Commedia. I would love to have a conversation about that, and like, what *is* power? I think I know the answer but I want to think about it more. How do we know when we're punching up and punching down? Is there like a list you could make of who's who, or is it a "you know it when you see it" situation? Does it change based on the audience? Can a group evolve from being low-power to high-power or vice versa, and how does that change the way we look at comedy about that group? I also wonder about "punching in" (that's a thing I made up) - comedy about "your own" people... how does that compare on the up/down scale? Also, if you identify with multiple groups of people (who doesn't), how does the relative power of those groups affect your identity, especially in terms of comedy?

- Liam