That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore

London Fields # 89
First published Inpress (Issue # 1160), Melbourne on 9 February 2011, and in Drum Media (Issue # 1046), Sydney on 8 February 2011
NB: Each column has a name, but these do not appear in print; printed versions may differ slightly to those displayed here

“We are live; please do not swear”. The axing of Big Brother may have seen this catchphrase pass into the annals of TV history, but it also seems as if taboos are shifting also. On three occasions recently BBC presenters have inadvertently dropped the c-bomb whilst taking about the current government. Meanwhile Channel 4 advertised their scrapping of the 10” broadcast delay for the 21^st British Comedy Awards, ensuing all the naughty words would be unable to be expurgated. The ceremony this year was fairly tame; Miranda Hart was the night’s big winner; and the most significant comedy story began when members of Top Gear made comments about the sexism row concerning Sky Sports presenters backstage.

In the following weeks Top Gear ended up in the news again after some questionable racial stereotype jibes aimed at Mexicans and their ambassador to the UK featured in a recent edition. Now Ambassador Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza didn’t take too kindly to this; far from being indolent, he had put his life in peril leading a major campaign against drug gangs prior to his London posting. Last Saturday Jeremy Clarkson used his column in The Sun to apologise, claiming that offence is necessary in humour; the column ended with another ethnic joke about Mexico. So what are the taboos in comedy nowadays - terrorism, racism, political incorrectness, disability? Over the weekend, Steve Coogan, clearly incensed by the situation, wrote in The Guardian that “…you can get away with saying unsayable things if it's done with some sense of culpability”, believing that that comedy should have a “moral standpoint“ targeting “hypocrisy, human frailty, narrow-mindedness“.

A couple of weeks ago I was in the audience for the filming of four episodes of the second series of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle. By far the most edgy section was an appreciation of the IRA - “gentlemen bombers” with achievable aims, whose street art was a natural precursor to Banksy. Lee’s skilled in irony, but sailing so close to the wind makes misinterpretation ever more likely. His 2009 Edinburgh show If You Prefer A Milder Comedian Please Ask For One had a lengthy section on Top Gear, wishing all sorts of terrible calamities to befall their presenters, and their families. His get-out phrase there was the same one they use on Top Gear, that it’s “just a joke“. It may seem like a long time ago, but the repercussions of the phone messages Russell Brand and Jonathon Ross left on Andrew Sach’s answering machine are still being felt. Sachsgate was the 5th most complained about incident that broadcasting watchdog Ofcom have received in the last decade (with Lee‘s own Jerry Springer The Opera at #3), and the BBC has only just aired an episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks filmed two years earlier as Brand had been a panellist in it. What you can do on stage, or on DVD ,is very different to what you can do as a state broadcaster, so it’ll be interesting to see if the BBC, still smarting from Sachsgate, allow all of Lee’s material to go to air.

Over on Channel 4, Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights also made headlines. After the initial fuss about a joke involving disability and incest had subsided, his use of the racist P-bomb and n-bomb in the fourth episode raised shackles again. In context the joke was a variation of “the ethnicities of the fatalities were, in order of importance…”, but here using evocative terminology for those at the bottom. Boyle displays a mean intelligence. Mean is a particularly apposite description; his comedy is a cross between the vitriolic rantings of a misanthrope and a carefully planned assault pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable. While sometimes very funny, it’s also spiteful and vindictive with a nastiness that can leave a distinctly unpleasant taste.

Speaking in Germany last Saturday, British Prime Minister David Cameron echoed the words spoken by German Chancellor Angela Merkel last October when he said that multiculturalism was an experiment that had failed. On the same day in Luton, the EDL mounted a massive demonstration against Islam. Meanwhile last Thursday, the BBC decided not to film a certain section of an upcoming Stephen Fry programme in Japan after the backlash over a section on QI where jokes were made about Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only official survivor of both nuclear blasts in Japan in 1945. Taboos can be challenged, as Chris Morris did last year with Four Lions. But maybe it’s time for some to stop hiding behind the safety curtain of ‘political correctness gone mad’. and be seen for what they are - the classroom stirrer deliberately making provocative statements just to get attention.

© James McGalliard 2011

Inpress: Published on page 58
Drum: Published on page 54

In The Bleak Midwinter

London Fields # 88
First published Inpress (Issue # 1056), Melbourne on 12 January 2011, and in Drum Media (Issue # 1042), Sydney on 11 January 2011
NB: Each column has a name, but these do not appear in print; printed versions may differ slightly to those displayed here

One of the most successful dramas on British television in recent years came late in 2010 when Oscar winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes based his new series on life above and below stairs in Edwardian society. Downton Abbey proved to be perfect Sunday night viewing and a huge ratings success for ITV, regularly pulling over 10 million viewers. As far as drama goes this was more like a filling pudding than a substantial meal, but it did seem to carry some interesting subtexts, such as how kind the ruling class are, and wasn’t it better and wonderfully reassuring when people knew their place in society? Staying in to watch TV was especially appealing recently; December 2010 was the coldest since records began, while the average temperature of -1C coincided with a big hike in fuel prices. Shops saw their revenues fall far below expectation as snow kept customers away. With January came a further disincentive to spending as VAT rose from 17.5% to 20%, as part of a raft of measures and cuts imposed by the government to tackle the UK’s enormous debt. This was followed by the news that music giant HMV would be shutting 40 of its stores (along with 20 Waterstones bookshops) by the end of 2011. The rise in VAT will affect the poorest most of all, and will help to widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots. As much as the last government failed in its moves towards a classless society, it seems that the new one is intent on making those divisions clear once again.

In his new year address Prime Minister David Cameron stated that these drastic actions were “not out of some ideological zeal”, yet these austerity measures aren’t merely emergency arrangements to be removed when the crises eases, but permanent changes. “We are all in this together” he continued, as the scrapping of the education maintenance allowance (EMA) will make it harder for children in poorer families to stay in education. Meanwhile there has been no move to restrict bankers’ bonuses, and no sign of a more equitable Robin Hood tax. Many of the decisions seem impulsive, like the axing of the Bookstart programme to encourage young readers, which, following protest, was partially reprieved. Transport fares rose sharply for yet another year, and my annual season ticket now costs 25% more than two years ago. It’s been over four years since there was a weekend without any line closures on the London Underground - we’re told that these works and the fare rises are necessary to make improvements before the 2012 Olympics. Yet The Olympic Delivery Authority recently admitted that London Transport will only cope during that period if Londoners don’t actually use the service during the period of the games, and suggests they walk, or work from home instead.

While WikiLeaks revelations drew headlines, on the streets of Birmingham weeks of uncollected rubbish piled up in the streets as a result of snowfall and ongoing work-to-rule industrial action. As cuts hit local services very hard, this may just be the start of things to come. Sharon Shoesmith, who was dismissed from her job as director of children's services in Haringey council over the tragic death of Peter Connelly (better known as "Baby P") said last Friday that these cuts could impact children protection services and so increase the odds of similar tragedies. In the West End, Baby Blue Eyes, a new musical based on the 1983 film A Private Function is using as its tagline: “It's 1947 - austerity Britain, belts are being tightened, fair shares for all, the coldest winter in decades and a Royal wedding. Sound familiar?”. In today’s Britain 12-year-old Nicky Wishart is pulled out of lessons and interrogated by anti-terrorism officers after setting up a Facebook event to protest at the closure of his local youth club in Cameron’s constituency. Meanwhile The Office for National Statistics is setting up methods of measuring the happiness of people living in the UK. Is this the Big Society we were promised? On the streets battle lines are being drawn, between protesters and police, or against groups such as the anti-immigration English Defence League (EDL). It’s as though the country is at war. Yet the only thing it seems to be fighting is itself.


© James McGalliard 2011

Inpress: Published on page 54
Drum: Published on page 56