“Comedians tell ministers lack of funding is no laughing matter”, says the BBC headline writer. Do not judge him too harshly; hanging would suffice. The article continues,
Comedian Tom Walker, who portrays the fictional journalist Jonathan Pie, said the government needs to recognise comedy “as an important cultural thing from grassroots to sitcoms on the BBC”.
Walker suggested changing how stand-up comedians and others in the industry are viewed, explaining: “Essentially every stand-up comedian is a small business, they are an entrepreneur and that should be rewarded and acknowledged.”
“Should be rewarded”, that’ll get a laugh from the actual entrepreneurs. According to the Cambridge dictionary, an entrepreneur is “a person who attempts to make a profit by starting a company or by operating alone in the business world, esp. when it involves taking risks”. Get it? They take the risk, they get the profit if it works out, and they take the loss if it does not. By definition, no one who has a guaranteed income from the state is an entrepreneur.
Ro Dodgson said comedy is “often based on risk” and clubs and promoters who are struggling financially are less able to take a chance on new acts.
The comedian said if the government agreed funding to clubs “as almost a form of insurance” to keep trying new acts and supporting emerging talent “then we’d have an industry that can sustain itself”.
By definition, no industry that has a guaranteed subsidy from the state sustains itself.
Perhaps Mr Watson was attempting a joke ?
I make mead.
If I cannot obtain expensive high-quality honey, I cannot make good mead.
It is my claim that the future of civilization depends upon me making good mead.
Therefore, . . . .
(P.S. – “Smallman said: “The support that music gets, the support that theatre gets, it’s not open to comedy because as far as a lot of the decision-makers know, it’s not a thing.”
He’s making the case for cancelling state support for music and theater.)
TBH I disagree Natalie, I think it makes perfect sense.
After all, most of what governments do is a joke.
It should be rewarded with exactly the same rewards that we give other small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Piles of pointless paperwork, big brother second guessing everything you do, taxes, fees and more paperwork.
I did a little bit of research by watching a couple of clips. And I’ve concluded that Tom Walker’s problem at least is that he’s not that funny. I mean, the act isn’t bad as such, but I got bored very quickly.
We don’t need tax-funded comedy: we already get it by the cartload. It’s just unintentional!
For a humorous analysis of how foolish such notions are, there’s Parliament of Whores by PJ O’Rourke.
Ltw, I don’t think Tom Walker’s Jonathan Pie character is meant to be laugh-out-loud funny. I see Jonathan Pie’s rants as being dramatized political commentary with humorous exaggerations, and they often work quite well as that.
Here is a Samizdata post from 2016 where Jonathan Pie was quoted favourably: How & Why Trump won
Apart from defunding the BBC I have also argued that we should defund the Art Councils. Otherwise you end up (as in here and now) with luvvies supporting luvvies, under the patronage of the Government.
Do you think this (and previous) Governments appreciated unapproved humour?
You’re mistaking Jonathan Pie because of the style of comedy.
He’s more cringe than anything else, much like David Brent or Alan Partridge.
Can’t stand any of them though, I’ll admit.
Well I for one have some sympathy for the sentiment behind this issue. Jokes and laughter are essential for well-being and mental health, well OK, the right jokes are, and this can over time reduce the burden on the NHS. But cruel jokes can impact on the MH of not only the butts of jokes but also those offended by them. I think that what we really need is a national comedy service. Since anyone telling a joke, or anyone laughing or even groaning at one is getting the benefit of a joke, we need to share that social benefit and ensure that there is a good stream of comedic talent, so I propose a licence fee on telling jokes payable by anyone telling or enjoying jokes who is over the age of 13 (the age at which children seem to start having the right to go online and sub to things). A simple joke poll tax could be rolled out, and set at a token £2 a year, £1 to go to comedians and £1 on administration and enforcement, with around 50,000,000 licence payers, the future of comedy would be assured.
@Mr Ed
the right jokes are, and this can over time reduce the burden on the NHS.
I totally agree Mr. Ed. However, one caveat: jokes at the expense of the government and especially the leader of the government can deeply undermine confidence, and undermining confidence can damage the national interest. Those sorts of jokes can affect national trade and defence, and consequently put people out of work. So, of course, suitably licensed comedians can elevate all our spirits, as long as the national leadership is not mocked. So we are passing the LAF Act (“Leaders Are our Friends”) which will make it a crime to mock the government with one year in jail and a £50,000 fine, or, if mocking senior government figures, especially heinous in its damage to the national interest, two years in the clink and £100,000 fine.
How many comedians would it take to change a light-bulb? None- we want to change the world, not light bulbs!
Unlicensed, and unpaid. If you liked that joke, please send me lots of money, or I’ll tell more jokes just like it.
The Gentleman could try being funny so that people pay to watch his comedy performance.
But he has no desire to provide comedy (in the classical sense – of spreading joy), he just wants to attack the West, Western Civilization, and hasten its death.
No doubt he, and the rest of the Legion of Devils, will eventually win – decay and death always, in the end, win. But there is no reason to give him, and the rest of these evil folk, taxpayer money to hasten the process of decay and cultural (societal) death.
On reflection, I really don’t think the current government should fund their competition.
They are doing a slap-up job of providing black comedy themselves.
What’s hilarious, not that they know it, is that our German pals are already well down the road to comprehensive comedy regulation. The relevant statute is Section 188, which bars the Insulting of Persons in Political Life. Gemini AI says it ‘criminalizes insults against people in political life if the act is “suited to making that person’s public activities substantially more difficult.”‘ It’s a federal law I think, but seems to protect thin-skinned politicos at every level of government, from bungwipes in the Bundestag, to dinkweeds at state level, right down to local assholes in municipal government. A conviction can land you in Das Klink for 3 to 5 years, which oddly enough is how long it takes to explain a punchline to a Bavarian.
@Natalie
People might like his stuff. Which is fine, not my job to tell people what to like. But calling for government help, well.. if you can’t make it, tough.
@Dan Souter, I can’t stand Ricky Gervais. I know what you’re saying about cringe comedy. Fawlty Towers is all about that and worked, Men Behaving Badly as well.
I have a friend (I know!) who is a stand-up comic. When he started on his quest (and it is a tough gig – lots of driving all over the country for bugget-all money) he wanted a website. Well I did that for him. Now maybe it’s because he’s disabled (I dunno but he was on bennies at the time) but he didn’t pay me for that website. That money came from the government pretty much direct to my bank account. If that isn’t the government financially supporting comedy then I dunno what is! My mate got his website and I got GBP800 for about three days work.
I’m, typing this on a laptop I bought with some of that money (tax deductible, natch).
Anyway, probably my favourite joke of all time:
“People used to laugh at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian. Well they’re not laughing now.”
― Bob Monkhouse
“Support for the arts — merde! A government-supported artist is an incompetent whore!”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land
“Smallman said: “The support that music gets, the support that theatre gets, it’s not open to comedy because…”
Bobby B, the reason governments won’t subsidize comedy is that they are usually its #1 target.