Post by Teddy Bear on Jul 24, 2011 20:02:24 GMT
The state of comedy, or lack of it, in the UK, that used to be renowned for its genuine humour, is analysed in a tongue in cheek way here by Damian Thompson in the Telegraph.
Throwing pies at Lefty 'comedians'
By Damian Thompson Politics Last updated: July 23rd, 2011
From Saturday’s Daily Telegraph
Why was I not surprised to learn that Jonnie Marbles, the obese pie-thrower at the Murdoch hearing, was a “comedian”? Simple: a couple of years ago my Twitter account was deluged with spiteful Stalinist messages from a troll calling himself “Jonnie Marbles” and describing himself as a stand-up comic. Now, I can’t prove it was the same guy – but, if it was, let me assure you that this bloke’s wisecracks are no better aimed than his custard pies.
At about the same time, another Twitter bore started hassling me with faux-naif questions every time I said anything remotely Right-wing: “What exactly do you mean by that?” etc. He was called Robin Ince, and he turned out to be another “comedian”, one with a reasonably successful career. Admittedly, the Left-wing stand-up is a familiar feature of British comedy. As a young man, I used to cringe when Ben Elton, nephew of the Cambridge historian Sir Geoffrey Elton, got “a li’l bi’ poli’cal”. Elton, a genuinely smart performer, learned that just saying “Thatch” produced a bigger laugh than a carefully crafted punchline, and that made him lazy. Then along came Mark Thomas, Mark Steel and Jeremy Hardy, who turned the trick on its head: they weren’t primarily comedians but hard-Left activists who knew how to be funny. The Beeb was very turned on indeed by such “edginess”.
And so the word went out to comics – and to audiences: British stand-ups would henceforth have to choose between sneering at (a) Middle England, (b) Middle America, (c) the Tories and (d) the Republican Party. This kept commissioning editors happy for a few years, but then along came the New Atheism and Climate Change, and so they added (e) religion and (f) “climate deniers” to the menu.
The consequences were toe-curlingly awful because comedians of very modest talents indeed – the sort of men who, in an earlier era, would have worn bow ties and appeared on Celebrity Squares – were forced and flattered into getting a little bit political and a little bit atheist. Step forward Marcus Brigstocke and the aforementioned Robin Ince. I’m not denying that Brigstocke can be funny: his pompous tweets in favour of the Alternative Vote campaign had me in stitches. But to hear him regurgitating half-remembered Christopher Hitchens tirades against religion is excruciating: it’s like watching Noel Edmonds trying his hand at King Lear. As for Ince, hunt down his lame anti-Creationist rant on YouTube. Then compare it to the late, great Bill Hicks savaging Creationists with surrealistic cruelty. And weep.
British stand-up comedy is stuck in a trap. It takes its subject matter from the Guardian, the BBC and Channel 4, the last two of which painstakingly assemble audiences whose views coincide with the Left-liberal consensus and laugh out of loyalty. There was a lot of this “loyal laughing” going on during the train-wreck that was 10 O’Clock Live, a smugfest that telly critic Charlie Brooker would have eviscerated if he hadn’t been presenting it. Younger Lefty comics, meanwhile, protect themselves from criticism by turning into UK Uncut activists. Jonnie Marbles was one of them, until (as is its wont) the outfit disowned him at the first whiff of bad PR.
Anyway, I’ve had enough. Somebody rescue British comedy by telling a joke, for God’s sake, rather than making the audience feel good about itself. And if that doesn’t happen, perhaps some taxpayer might get “a little bit political” – by landing a custard pie in the face of a state-subsidised comic just as he’s mouthing off about the cuts.
By Damian Thompson Politics Last updated: July 23rd, 2011
From Saturday’s Daily Telegraph
Why was I not surprised to learn that Jonnie Marbles, the obese pie-thrower at the Murdoch hearing, was a “comedian”? Simple: a couple of years ago my Twitter account was deluged with spiteful Stalinist messages from a troll calling himself “Jonnie Marbles” and describing himself as a stand-up comic. Now, I can’t prove it was the same guy – but, if it was, let me assure you that this bloke’s wisecracks are no better aimed than his custard pies.
At about the same time, another Twitter bore started hassling me with faux-naif questions every time I said anything remotely Right-wing: “What exactly do you mean by that?” etc. He was called Robin Ince, and he turned out to be another “comedian”, one with a reasonably successful career. Admittedly, the Left-wing stand-up is a familiar feature of British comedy. As a young man, I used to cringe when Ben Elton, nephew of the Cambridge historian Sir Geoffrey Elton, got “a li’l bi’ poli’cal”. Elton, a genuinely smart performer, learned that just saying “Thatch” produced a bigger laugh than a carefully crafted punchline, and that made him lazy. Then along came Mark Thomas, Mark Steel and Jeremy Hardy, who turned the trick on its head: they weren’t primarily comedians but hard-Left activists who knew how to be funny. The Beeb was very turned on indeed by such “edginess”.
And so the word went out to comics – and to audiences: British stand-ups would henceforth have to choose between sneering at (a) Middle England, (b) Middle America, (c) the Tories and (d) the Republican Party. This kept commissioning editors happy for a few years, but then along came the New Atheism and Climate Change, and so they added (e) religion and (f) “climate deniers” to the menu.
The consequences were toe-curlingly awful because comedians of very modest talents indeed – the sort of men who, in an earlier era, would have worn bow ties and appeared on Celebrity Squares – were forced and flattered into getting a little bit political and a little bit atheist. Step forward Marcus Brigstocke and the aforementioned Robin Ince. I’m not denying that Brigstocke can be funny: his pompous tweets in favour of the Alternative Vote campaign had me in stitches. But to hear him regurgitating half-remembered Christopher Hitchens tirades against religion is excruciating: it’s like watching Noel Edmonds trying his hand at King Lear. As for Ince, hunt down his lame anti-Creationist rant on YouTube. Then compare it to the late, great Bill Hicks savaging Creationists with surrealistic cruelty. And weep.
British stand-up comedy is stuck in a trap. It takes its subject matter from the Guardian, the BBC and Channel 4, the last two of which painstakingly assemble audiences whose views coincide with the Left-liberal consensus and laugh out of loyalty. There was a lot of this “loyal laughing” going on during the train-wreck that was 10 O’Clock Live, a smugfest that telly critic Charlie Brooker would have eviscerated if he hadn’t been presenting it. Younger Lefty comics, meanwhile, protect themselves from criticism by turning into UK Uncut activists. Jonnie Marbles was one of them, until (as is its wont) the outfit disowned him at the first whiff of bad PR.
Anyway, I’ve had enough. Somebody rescue British comedy by telling a joke, for God’s sake, rather than making the audience feel good about itself. And if that doesn’t happen, perhaps some taxpayer might get “a little bit political” – by landing a custard pie in the face of a state-subsidised comic just as he’s mouthing off about the cuts.
