...rather than rely on BBC diversity quotas to get on telly.
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I saw a comment somewhere else that right-wing comedians should just be funny...
(22 posts) (12 voices)
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right-wing comedians should just be funny ... rather than rely on BBC diversity quotas to get on telly.
Good idea. Maybe they might consider an equivalent requirement for left-wing so-called comedians as well. And also remove the obligation on all of them to make a lengthy statement about their sexual orientation each time they appear.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
You mean this one by Titus, written while people were still being burned alive in Grenfell Tower ?
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
I think, if I may be forgiven a generalisation, attributes of creativeness and adventure are more likely aligned with lefties, and also woth funniest, whereas attributes of pragmatism and conservative/moderate/unimaginative views more associated with right wing, and hence less righty funnies.
Some of the programmes mentioned are very funny, and I don't think necessarily take a skew, there's just more material on o aside than another.
You can spot th lazy 'Tory cunts stuff.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
ID - was that a problem with predictive text or have you been hitting the booze a little early? I can just about make out your point, though - and there may be summat in it. Problem is, I don't really believe that people choose their political party - most of the time it seems to be more a matter of following the local herd.
Right wing comedy needs 2 things, I think:
- Left wing targets - eg the 'loony left' (whether imagined or real, but obvs funnier if real)
- An actual right-wing ideology which makes sense, and which can be used to criticise the left wing targetsCorbyn could be described as left wing, and there was certainly plenty in his history to work with, but that would all be a bit desperate now he's relinquished control. Does Keir Starmer have a political philosophy? Anybody checked his circuits to see? I dare say there are loonies to shout abuse at on the left but they're pretty marginal characters in a bland world.
And then there's the question of right-wing ideology. It's perfectly possible to have one and not be a twat - I'd describe many of my views as right wing (jury's out on the twat thing) but the current Cons Party shows zero ideology, no ideas, no effing clue whatsoever. They appear inept and corrupt, so why would any self-respecting comedy writer try to defend them? They don't actually appear to stand for anything.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
There's a tendency to presume that a left-leaning comedian will only tell anti-right jokes. Et v.v
Some comedians are like that; the better ones aren't
I remember Ben Elton spitting out "Thatcher" every other sentence, until it got too boring for me
And, on that basis, who tells the anti-LibDem jokes ?
<waits patiently for the answer ...>
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
I have a Facebook page for vet jokes.26k followers now. We have a principle of 'taking turns' so we mickeytake nurses and surgeons, bosses and clients etc. Some feel good stuff too. We did some topical and political gags too, and made sure we took things reasonably in turn with regard to targets. The downing street cat and Dilyn the dog were useful mediums. Did one of Dilyn licking Boris with the punchline My dog won't stop licking it's arsehole'
Basically, funny is funny, and it shines through if you're just trying to shoot in one direction. Just naturally easier to mock power.Posted 3 weeks ago # -
Corbyn could be described as left wing, and there was certainly plenty in his history to work with, but that would all be a bit desperate now he's relinquished control.
Watch yesterday's PMQs. In addition to not actually attempting to answer any questions Boris resorted to pointing at him as if Sir Kier was just standing in
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
I remember Ben Elton spitting out "Thatcher" every other sentence, until it got too boring for me
Indeed. And Jeremy Hardy used to have the same effect on me.
You can spot th lazy 'Tory cunts stuff.
Just so. The problem is not that it's anti-Tory (they're fair game, like any other
bunch of cuntsgroup); it's that it's lazy, tedious, boring and not intrinsically funny.If there's one thing a right-wing party with an 80+ seat majority needs....it's protection from lefty comedians.
If there's one thing an audience certainly does need, it's protection from an endless stream of repetitive, boring, unfunny 'Tsk!-aren't-those-Tories-a-bunch-of-arseholes!' sneers and rants.
FFS whether your'e a leftie or not, please try to say something new, and funny. If it's genuinely funny, the audience will laugh, whether they're Tory supporters or Tory haters.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
If there's one thing an audience certainly does need, it's protection from an endless stream of repetitive, boring, unfunny 'Tsk!-aren't-those-Tories-a-bunch-of-arseholes!' sneers and rants.
So don't go to their shows.
FFS whether your'e a leftie or not, please try to say something new, and funny.
Go on then, show us how it is done.
P.S. It is "you're" not "your'e".
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
Article here from The Conversation via Chortle website with interesting take on why comedy inevitably opposes.
In summary, when “normal” drifts one way, comedy (which has to be “abnormal”) drifts into gaps the other way.
It’s more or less what everyone’s been saying in this thread and others, but the concept of the Overton Window was new/interesting [to me]And whether you agree or not, it’s an interesting theory that the Labour governments of 1997 to 2010 led to Little Britain and Bo’ Selecta!
But then Blair did that sketch with Catherine “Am I bovvered” Tate so I’m not sure what to believe.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
Little Britain as an example of comedy with an underlying rightwing bias was a good point of that article i thought. The thick chav girl, the lazy 'disabled' guy... Also all the people who laughed unironically at Ali G just as a character mocking youth and hip hop culture in general - I'm sure plenty of people.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
Loadsamoney was when the Overton Window was drifting towards “greed is good” so it fits the article’s thesis that comedy naturally opposes the acceptable.
Does anyone remember Harry Enfield doing a follow-up Geordie character called “Bugger All Money”?
I’m not sure if it was sincere or just lazy cash in, but it wasn’t as successful as Loadsamoney.Posted 3 weeks ago #
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