Indeed. A great Alexei Sayle line was “I’m an alternative comedian; that means I’m not ****ing funny”. He ****ing was though. A very funny man.
I think what makes comedy is the comedian (obvious lol but bear with me). I can say something and it will be offensive, but someone else will say it with absolute comedic timing and in a certain way and rather than being offensive, it is taking the piss out of those that would think the joke is fact if you get what i mean. Alexei Sayle is one of those. Strangely, I find Alf Garnett the same.
I always say alternative comedy is the alternative to funny. Another saying is 'Comedy is tragedy plus time.' There's some truth in that.
Alf Garnett probably won’t be shown on British television for a long time. Maybe it shouldn’t be, until audiences have caught up with Johnny Speight’s writing. But the joke was always on Alf and his ridiculously bigoted views. There was a wonderful scene in one episode, where Alf is trying to convince his family that Jesus was English; “Church of England, innit. Stands to reason he was English. Alright, he might have been a bit Jewish on his mother’s side...” To which Queenie Watts shot back, “Like you, you mean?”
That is what i loved about him. As a half Indian & half Italian guy I wet myself at him. I was laughing at him (like I was meant to) and all also at those who actually took him seriously. Jim Davidson I never got though. I thought he was just a narrow minded bigot. But different times I suppose, but no excuse. Edit: done it again...gone off topic. To go back on topic, I would love to see Alf Garnett's take on COVID19 and would love for Jim Davidson to get it
Both of you need a Fats lesson on the true impact of producing paper straw over plastic ones!! stop just believing the media hype! get humans to behave properly and recycle the plastic ones - the impact on the planet is so much better than using paper ones...
Back on topic. Don’t believe it if you read that any plastic (or other materials) containing “anti-microbial” or “anti-viral” additives work against Covid; they don’t. There are some people making it read like they do.
I imagine the audience looked at each other when he came out to start the gig, and said “who’s that fat bastard”.
This bloke is the real Alf Garnett, the problem is that he means every vile racist, misogynistic bigoted "joke" he tells.. please log in to view this image
He swore a lot more than I anticipated but was extremely funny. One of the first things he ranted about was Laura Kuenssberg and how she had helped to scupper Jeremy's chance to become PM. His referred to her with the "c" word. I have to say that he is the first person I have heard make this connection, although it was always something that I felt cast the BBC is an extremely poor light. He was on good form. Much of the act was political which you would expect although the mixing of Alexei with well-heeled Winchester does make you scratch your head! I did wonder just how many people in the audience actually shared his views. It is strange how people find different things to be amusing. I find that Alexei Sayle's delivery , which is full of aggression, is a large part of his appeal. What was interesting for me was his comments about the younger generation of comedians. I am never 100% sure if Sayle's thoughts are 100% genuine in his act and if it is exactly what he believes but he was scathing about Jack Whitehall. Peter Kaye came off little better and was portrayed as money-grabbing. It was quite funny hearing Whitehall and Kaye being undermined - especially the latter who I think is completely over-rated. I had not thought about this until I went to the gig but I think that it is true that comedy has really lost it's political edge since Alexei emerged on the scene. There are some comedians like Mark Thomas who is ok and others like Mark Steele who is seriously under-rated who are political but I think they are increasingly rare. Mark Steele's programme "In town" on Radio 4 remains for me one of the best comedy programmes on either television or radio. Whenever he addresses politics on a national scale, I think the impact is diluted yet when he addresses each town his visits as the topic of his act, the focus is so detailed that I am struggling to think of a comedy which is either as funny or as well observed. Here, the politics is on a local scale and he rejoices in the adventures of people who have rebelled against the system. He seems to thoroughly understand the towns he visits and identifies that element of subversion which is unique to the British character. I don't know of anyone else who has adopted this "parochial" approach and always feel whenever I listen to him on the radio there are few comedians who understand quite how the UK ticks as much as Mark Steele. For my money, this is the best stand up comedy programme on either the radio or TV. Like Alexei Sayle, I think that a lot of comedy is down to the use of language and how comments are structured. English speakers are really lucky insofar that the language is so flexible that it allows scripts to be extremely well nuanced. Although totally different from these comedies, I also really like Ed Reardon's Week on Radio 4. Again, the use of English language is paramount as to why this programme is so successful as well as the fact that the asides by the leading character are extremely well observed. If feel that the writers Andrew Nickolds and Chris Douglas have created a masterpiece which reflects many of the elements in society which are either annoying or hypocritical. It is strange how the likes of Salye, Steele and "Ed Reardon" can all be so different yet still capture what this country is all about. I think that this is part of the genius of these kinds of comedians.
Great review Ian, and I agree with most of what you say. The political edge that emerged in British comedy in the 1980’s as a reaction to Thatcher has largely disappeared even though the times are pretty much harder than ever. But I love Mark Steel, and dear old Alexei had a Radio 4 slot last year which I enjoyed a lot.
Thanks for this. I really miss Jeremy Hardy, a left wing comedian with a true sense of the absurd. Saw him on his last tour at the Berry Theatre in Hedge End. Mark Steele also played the Berry Theatre about 4 years ago; using the same format, you can imagine what he made of Hedge End... ! This is a little plug for the Berry. They often get comedians of interest, are very much involved in the community and need to survive lockdown. In a time when the far right threat is greater than in any other period in my 70 years local institutions that promote free speech and access for all to the arts including opportunity for the young to participate must be cherished.
A case of confirmed reinfection has been reported in one patient in Hong Kong 4 months after initial infection . WHO warn not to extrapolate from one case.
