Time Out

[poliphilo]

And so I sat there with my tin of treats and no-one came calling. I guess Muslims just don't do Halloween.

I've been thinking a lot about the Brand/ Ross affair (sorry this is totally Britocentric). Here's my opinions- all 10 of them.

1. What they did was crappy.

2. Bullying, mean-spirited, unfunny, pointless. Talking truth to power is one thing, but Andrew Sachs isn't power- and talking truth to him was completely out of order.

3. Comedy is a dangerous game. I understand how, when you're riffing, you can get on a roll and lose sight of where you're going. That's one reason why Brand's show is pre-recorded- so an editor can take out the bits that don't work/are totally disgusting.

4. I'm sorry Brand went and Ross didn't. Mind you, I don't think it's done Brand any harm. It just adds to his legend.

5. I like Brand. No, let's rephrase that.  I'm slightly in awe of Brand. I think he's an amazing talent. I've never mistaken him for a nice person.

6. His column in this morning's Guardian is headed What a Barmy, hysterical, cosmic week- and it's all about football. Now that's class.

7. I don't like Ross. He's one of those broadcasters I mostly avoid ( Terry Wogan's another). I find him smug.

8. I don't know why the BBC pay him so much money. I think that was always a mistake.

9. Apparently most people under 30 can't see what the fuss is about. I don't fully understand this, but I'm willing to step aside because, after all, they own the future.

10. I don't want to be part of any crusade that's being preached by the Daily Mail.

And now, back to the travelogue.

Comments

[ingenious76.livejournal.com]

You only have to read his autobiography to pin Brand down as a deeply unpleasant person - this is a self-obsessed, sex-obsessed man who has no problem with humiliating people in public. Possibly because he's gone down to the depths so therefore thinks everyone goes down with him.

As for Andrew Sachs' granddaughter - its her who I find the worst in this whole stupid debacle. If you're going to be part of a burlesque sex troop and offer yourself to a bedhopper like Brand (who isn't afraid to name everyone he's shagged) then eventually the truth will come out. Sachs didn't deserve the calls, but nor does he deserve her making herself out to be the victim. She's got more publicity for wht she does, Brand will get another commercial job, and if this means the unfunny twonk that is Ross disappears, everyone's a winner.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Most of the great comedians were pretty nasty- or, at least- pretty badly damaged. Tony Hancock, Kenneth Williams, Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Frankie Howerd- tormented souls every one. Brand is horrible, but he's also extremely talented.

I've been avoiding articles about Sach's grandaughter. I'd rather not know what kind of a person she is. Sachs himself appears to have acted throughout with impeccable dignity and decency.

[ingenious76.livejournal.com]

Andrew Sachs is awesome. But I agree with you about comic geniuii - virtually all of the great fictional characters are vile as well - Basil Fawlty, Rigsby, the Young Ones, Larry Saunders - the list goes on.

I suspect the reason why there aer very few decent female comedians is because that sheer, unabashed nastiness is not a trait that comes easily. That may sound sexist, but its the truth.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There's something demonic about the great comedians. I've left living comics off my list, because, well, we're not likely to know the unvarnished truth about them until after they're gone.

But I think it's fairly obvious that John Cleese has his demons- and there's no doubt at all (given the tabloid headlines) about Steve Coogan.

I can think of two demonic female comedians- both American- Joan Rivers and Sarah Silverman.

[ingenious76.livejournal.com]

Joan Rivers - yes.

Sarah Silverman - no, I don't see it. She seems to strain to make shock-tactics, cleverly relying on inverse racism (she can make Jewish jokes because she's Jewish, if a non-Jew did they'd be flayed alive) and tries to bait the audience. Apparently her best joke is "I don't care if you think I['m racist, as long as you think I'm thin." Frankly Sarah, I don't care at all.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Silverman has made me laugh out loud. I loved her "I'm fucking Matt Damon" video. But she's very young and new. Maybe she's just a one-trick pony.