Hear the one about the ICE agent? How local comics are weighing in.

How soon is too soon to want to laugh again? And about what?

We’ve been besieged and consumed by immigration enforcement news, and we’re in the international spotlight. With tensions high, people shied away from entertainment for a time, but within the past week the mood seems to be shifting.

Judging by the brisk business at local comedy clubs recently, Minnesotans could use a laugh right now — especially if fans know the performers will be dealing directly with current events.

“No one is coming to save us,” said Minneapolis comic Pearl Rose, who helped organize the Feb. 3 benefit “Roast of ICE.” “If someone is going to voice what’s happening here and bring some levity, we’re the ones having to do it. Every single Minnesotan has a role to play. We’re telling jokes. That’s our role to play.”

At the “Roast of ICE” event, the packed room at Sisyphus Brewing roared as some of the Twin Cities’ finest stand-ups tested out new material, much of it focused on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“If you want to be mean to immigrants, you can just be a manager at Chipotle,” said co-host Ben Katzner. Fellow comic Ethan Pedersen closed the show dressed as an ICE agent, threatening the crowd with an aerosol spray can and “accidentally” dropping his pants.

Nothing went over the line for audience member Molly Maslowski.

Clubs, like other entertainment businesses, have suffered in the wake of ICE-related shootings and protests. Ticket sales at Acme Comedy Co. have been down about 20% from normal since the death of Renee Good, according to owner Louis Lee. But the tide is turning.

Bob Edwards, owner of Comedy Corner Underground, said attendance had been down, but the northeast Minneapolis basement club was packed for a Feb. 1 show benefiting the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.

National headliners like Adam Ray, Bridget Everett and Mae Martin have sold-out shows in Minneapolis over the next six weeks. As of Feb. 9, it costs more than $122 to snatch a nosebleed seat for Dave Chappelle’s Feb. 16 performance at St. Paul’s Grand Casino Arena.

In previous weeks, providing laughs has mostly been up to locals, as national touring comics such as John Mulaney, Roy Wood Jr. and Charlie Berens postponed their visits.

At Acme on Feb. 4, Twin Cities comedian Greg Coleman was filling in for New York-based comic Nataly Aukar, who bowed out because of concern for the safety of fans.

After a few minutes of riffing on current events, he transitioned into reliable material written well before this past month.

“I’m still trying to figure it out,” he said, as he prepared to perform in front of an unusually full room for a Wednesday night. “But I’m not afraid to address the elephant in the room.”

The different paths comics are taking to broach Operation Metro Surge were on display at Acme’s Jan. 27 open mic night.

“I get a [lot] of sympathy points from hot chicks at the bar now,” Mexican American comedian Julian Diaz said during his three-minute turn.

Jesse Jacobs joked about wanting to boycott Target stores, but not being able to because the retailer sells the only kind of fiber packets that suit his bowel movements. Max Chapman showed his disapproval of Rep. Tom Emmer’s support of ICE by leaving a sarcastic voicemail on the Minnesota congressman’s staff-monitored phone line.

“Roast of ICE,” which she helped put together, raised money for Every Meal, which combats child hunger.

Sarah McPeck will headline a Feb. 11 show at Sisyphus to help out the Pride Cultural Arts Center’s food pantry. Proceeds from a Feb. 26 showcase at Comedy Corner Underground will go to Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee.

Local favorites like Khadijah Cooper and Tommy Ryman are part of “Bounce Back,” a Feb. 10 show at St. Paul’s Laugh Camp designed to help club owner Bill Collins offset money he lost when he canceled six sold-out shows featuring Ben Bankas, a comic who went viral after ridiculing Renee Good.

On the national scene, some comics have gone beyond just wearing “ICE out” pins on red carpets.

Jackie Kashian, who got her professional start in Minneapolis, emceed a Zoom show last month starring famous friends like Margaret Cho and Laurie Kilmartin with proceeds going to Foothold Twin Cities, a nonprofit that’s been offering emergency financial aid to families affected by ICE activity.

Katzner hopes more national names will show their support by booking shows in the area.

“Imagine if John Mulaney had done his shows and then donated some money,” he said. “It would be so great to have that surge of energy here. We could use that right now.”

For now, local comics are holding their own and keeping the laughs coming.

Before “Roast of ICE,” co-host Rose urged the crowd to be rambunctious.

“Go against your Minnesota instincts and really get mean-spirited tonight,” she said.

“It’s nice to have a normal laugh when we’re constantly in chaos,” she said.