#nigel farage comedy

[mariacallous]

Well, if you’re just joining us, the nation has delivered an all-night victim impact statement. Labour has won a landslide and the Conservatives have suffered their worst ever general election result. Keir Starmer – the prime minister – has promised “national renewal … to fight until you believe again”. Liz Truss has failed to save South West Norfolk, let alone “the west”. That is the big picture (if not the whole picture, with turnout and Labour’s vote share notably low). Meanwhile, it’s incredible to think that only a short while ago we thought we’d eradicated measles and Nigel Farage. Both have now been brought back, largely by the same people.

But look, after the 3am to 7am shift, no one will be able to say the right doesn’t do comedy. There were moments worthy of entire Netflix specials as in sports halls and community centres various Dickensian grotesques were ushered into their Christmas future, live on stage. Alas, it was going to take more than buying the Cratchits a turkey to get out of this one. Jacob Rees-Mogg heard his fate standing next to a candidate wearing a baked bean balaclava. He’ll be crying into Nanny’s starched bosom today. Committed sewage apologist Thérèse Coffey was pumped into the sea in Suffolk Coastal. Andrea Jenkyns had the middle finger given to her by the voters of Morley and Outwood. In Welwyn Hatfield, Grant Shapps chanted “supermajority” five times into the mirror, and then it came for him.

Then again, Michael Portillo losing his seat was supposedly 1997’s big moment. So perhaps the question is: in two years’ time, which current hate figure will be presenting a cosy travelogue on Europe’s most picturesque illegal migration routes? Alternatively, do remember that one person’s onstage humiliation is another person’s milk round for directorships in the arms trade.

Speaking of absolute weapons, hat twat George Galloway wimped out of his own count in Rochdale, presumably out of fatigability. He lost to Labour. There was jubilation for the Lib Dems, who finished not a million miles behind “the natural party of government”, and for the Greens, who won all four of their target seats. The SNP can now squeeze its MPs round the flip-down dining table of a motorhome. Referendum arguments may move to Northern Ireland, with Sinn Féin now that nation’s largest Westminster party.

As for Reform … Farage won in Clacton, a constituency for which he will now have to hold surgeries, presumably by Zoom link from his hot desk in the US presidential colon. Or as he put it in his victory speech: “This is the first steps of something that is going to stun all of you” – at least confirming his political abattoir will be bolt-gunning its victims unconscious first. Farage is the horror version of Inside Out, where Mendacity is only just holding off Racism at the control console. His cultural hinterland extends to a single Goodbye, Mr Chips DVD he got free with the Sunday Times in 2008, and the idea that this hollow chancer should still be one of the most significant politicians of the age says everything about the age.

Anyway, back to the Conservatives’ four-hour in-memoriam reel. Penny Mordaunt, Jonathan Gullis, Michael Fabricant, Gillian Keegan, Steve Baker, Alex Chalk, Johnny Mercer, Michelle Donelan, Victoria Prentis, Liam Fox, Mark Harper … all out, along with many more. So many cabinet ministers fell that the ones who live may actually develop survivor guilt. It’s currently unclear how gruesome things will be among the extant Conservatives in this post-apocalyptic world. As a fictional president once wondered of Dr Strangelove, will the living not end up envying the dead? Far from it, Strangelove reassures him, forcing down an involuntary Nazi salute. What will abound is a spirit of bold curiosity for the adventure ahead!

Speaking of which, 13th fairy Suella Braverman finally turned up, holding on in Fareham and cooing: “I am sorry that my party didn’t listen to you. The Conservative party has let you down.” Expect to see her humbly attempting to disembowel fellow survivors Jeremy Hunt and James Cleverly in the forthcoming trial-by-combat for what convention demands we style as “the soul of the Conservative party”.

At his count, Rishi Sunak explained he’d already conceded the election in a congratulatory call to Keir Starmer, adding, “I take responsibility for the loss.” In Downing Street, he confirmed he would be standing down as Tory leader in some sort of due course, stressing, “I have heard your anger.” Then, instead of yet another speech straight from the Tortured Prime Minister’s Department, this one offered humility and magnanimity, as well as a pointed reminder of the positive (and fragile?) progress that saw him become the UK’s first British-Asian prime minister. What a contrast to the relentless negativity of his past six weeks. Sunak’s campaign was conducted like a gender-reveal party where the device that’s meant to release the puff of blue smoke accidentally functions as a pipe bomb and burns the house down.

It also closed out several years of mindboggling chaos, dysfunction and national decline. They won’t be playing anything from this album on the Conservative party’s Eras tour. The Tories have cycled through five prime ministers over the past eight years, to the point where they were recently found going through the rubbish, pulling the first guy back out, thinking, “Actually, he doesn’t look half bad now,” and making him foreign secretary. This is the behaviour of addicts.

Not that they have the monopoly on erraticism. Any dispassionate view of these results suggests the fabled post-Brexit “realignment” is more of a dealignment – the huge sweeping gains of this or that political moment able to be reversed in previously unthinkable timespans. Volatility might now be our defining electoral characteristic, and a rise in sectarian politics cannot and should not be ignored. Because hey – what’s the worst that can happen with that one? Meanwhile, many people who derided the simplistic “Get Brexit done” slogan in 2019 have pretended not to notice that the winner here went out under the even more gnomic banner of “Change”.

Yet in the wider global context, what a win. One summer evening in 1914, the foreign secretary, Edward Grey, famously remarked: “The lamps are going out all over Europe.” In our own times, a darkening has recently felt at hand, as hard- or extreme-right parties have gained ground across the continent, to say nothing of the US. But here – in this country, in this moment – a different direction has been taken. That matters today, and anyone not on the wingnut fringes, who hopes to avoid those gathering shadows, should wish Keir Starmer good luck with his task. For plenty who would snuff out the lamps are also rising – increasingly, they walk among us.

[dwestfieldblog]

SHRAPNEL FOR DEMOCRACY

‘Time passes by, a snowflake in the summer’s sky’…the election happened, the bad guys lost apart from the despicable Nigel Farago, more of whom soon. Biden stepped down; all credit to him for having done so. I watched three hours of Kamala Harris in her previous jobs and found her to be tough, smart, good humoured and moral…she also made the right choice for VP in Walz. So, one night I actually went to bed with hope (arf) for November. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, Ingerland on the feral march, morons and scum on the streets fed false information by populist politicians and racist criminals, not questioning, not thinking for themselves. Farage asking why a black teenage boy who murdered three young girls and attacked others, wasn’t on the MI5 watch list. (‘What are they not telling us?’) Because he was 17 and had done nothing wrong previously, you frog faced Oswald Mosley wannabe. The riot mob were told lies that the boy was a Muslim migrant, and so paraded with the Union Jack and St George Cross flags, gym worked muscles and tattoos…which made them easy to trace. Burning cars, looting shops and punching cops in the name of British national pride. Then the opposites came out; ‘Smash Fascism and Racism by any means necessary’. Any? Finally, balanced folk came with children to sweep the streets clean and help those whose shops were destroyed.

In response to the riots, Sir Kier Starmer ordered the creation of a ‘standing army’ of specialist police officers to out thug the thugs. Idiot genius Elon Musk chirruped/Xed that ‘civil war is inevitable’ in the UK. Yeah maybe, if you fund it pal. A white south African with an unhappy childhood who wants to spread racism around and allow convicted criminals and blatant crap stirrers to have their say loud and clear to propagate chaos. More support for Putin and China’s Western divide and conquer strategies. Too much money and a dearth of heart.

Musk reinstated the chubby bum fluffed Ron Watkins to Twitter in 2023 (along with the criminal racist Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins etc) The Q Onan L Ron Hubbard of conspiracy theory horse manure. (Or else he could be a dadaist comedian using black comedy psychology to expose the very worst elements in humanity. Tak yer pick.) It is noticeable just how many far-right writers and mentally ill tub thumpers he has reinstated since taking over Twitter who were previously banned for hate speech, incitement to violence and spreading misinformation. So, the free flow of ‘knowledge’ clags up in the U bend of X again. And he donates to the Trump campaign. Propaganda interview. Nuff said.

Putting the ass into assassination…just one inch more and the world would be safer today. But no. And then all the ‘saved by the miracle hand of God he cheated death’ plaudits for his ‘I took a bullet for democracy’. Donald, you didn’t TAKE the bullet, you took some shrapnel. All those who had run against him to be the Republican candidate, standing and saying what a great hero he was, what a fine leader he will be again, while Trump sat, smiling like Caligula as his rivals virtually begged for their jobs and political lives while he imagined how he was going to screw them for previous comments. Ah yes, pudgy weirdie beardie JD Vance and his hillbilly pants…apparently thanks to Labour, the UK could be the first ‘truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon’. Blue eyed boy, we already have them and we are still a long way from Sharia law here pal. And Pakistan has the bomb, you dolt, you think they’re Jewish? Oy.

And Lo, the law court ruling spake that the childman was not accountable for breaking the law while a president. So democratic (perhaps that’s why he wants to change the politics of the USA, he doesn’t like that his country is described this way) America, land of freedom moved closer to being ruled by a megalomaniac psychopathic tyrant king. Cult of befouled personality Trump visited North Korea and must have loved what he saw, cleanliness and order, absolute power and control…and a family dynasty ruling for decades by fear and murder. Hmm, he (probably, possibly) thought.

Trump funded by far-right billionaires and greedy fundamentalist Christians who want to tear up the first amendment, (about the separation between church and state) as a righteous government should obviously not remain neutral when the word of GOD-AH and his boy Jesus Christ are the only moral standard with which to measure true law. Pshaw pfff. Most American presidents in the USA’s very short history, were Freemasons, which might explain why Trump acts as if he is jealous at being left out and rants about the ‘deep state’. He wants to join the big boys and be privy to the secrets of the universe. Neither is he in the Bilderberg group…and it is highly unlikely he will ever be asked to join either. So, he stamps his feet, goes a little more orange with rage and declares war on all the gangs which won’t have him. Smearing with libellous paedophilia accusations and satanic porn ring pizza house slave trade blaaarg. You couldn’t make it up? But they do and are believed by hundreds of thousands.

Let’s have some good old fashioned ‘religious values’ now…

The ‘holy’ land …Illegal settlements (according to international law) in the West bank and their continuing expansion fuel Palestinian hatred, the fury bubbling over should not have taken anyone by surprise, least of all the deliberate provocateurs. 5, 295 new homes approved last month. (July) Not exactly trying for peace and a two-state solution. Arab anger will never cease over this. And now the foul Hezbollah seem revving up in response to the mass starving and sick women and children of Gaza and the (has to be said) very well executed (arf) assassinations of bad guys by Israel. However, ‘fair’ or not, genocide does seem to be an accurate description for the endless slaughterings.

(How did three thousand members of Hamas mobilise without Mossad knowing? The latter are one of the best and most ruthless secret services in the world and no Palestinian in their ‘care’ or known to them spilled the beans?). Hilarious to hear Xi Jinping talk about ‘tremendous sufferings’ and that ‘justice should not be absent forever’. Tell that to the innocents in your country who died for a little more freedom on May 35th 1989.

Benny went to the US Congress to give a speech begging for weapons. 43 standing ovations for a war criminal. ‘There is no room for political violence in democracies’ he said, condemning the failed attempt on DT. Don’t remember him saying much about the riots encouraged by the orange one. And off the scale political violence by a democracy against its enemies also seems to be acceptable. Israel has ‘always been our home’. Only for four thousand years. As written last time, many other tribes were there first. Risible House Speaker Mike Johnson beamed with ‘Christian’ pride, as one who believes that Armageddon time in the holy land signifies the return of Christ, whereby all true believers will be lifted in the Rapture of the Lord, hallelujah, amen.

With regard to the arrest warrant for Benny and the Hamas leader, the appalling senator Lindsey Graham said ‘If the ICC (International Criminal Court) does this to Israel, they will come for us next’. So, some US lawmakers want to dismantle the international justice system. Of course they do, same way Boris Johnson, Erdogan et al ad infinitum want to control the justice system in their countries, people it with their crony puppets and avoid arrest.

Speaking of twilight of the idols and the antichrist…saw a video on YouTube… ‘The Devil is Gay’. They must have been watching South Park, eh? Belief in the Devil is essential for the financial business of the churches…to conversely paraphrase Baudelaire (the opium addicted poet) ‘The greatest trick the church ever pulled was convincing so many that the devil existed’ The (nobody expects the Spanish) Inquisition cost a lot of money and thus, approved by the pope, Indulgences cameth unto being. Rich folk could do whatever they wanted, just pay off the Church and be absolved of sin. Nice work if you can get it. And let’s skip a light fandango over the high amounts of infanticide in nunneries, the embarrassing babies caused by pure visiting priests. (Unless they claimed that God did it.) And the mass burnings and torture of innocents, and the hundreds of cases of shifting pederasts from diocese to diocese rather than handing them to the law. And the laundering of Mafia money and the Magdelana Laundries and etc. AND the huge numbers of evangelists preaching shite, hellfire and salvation through the poor giving them lots of money for lying into their faces. All of that would seem to sum up EVIL.

As Zappa said ‘If there is a Hell, its fires wait for them not us’. ‘It was good to hunt down our comedians and minstrels, considering that most of them are wizards and magicians.’  1602 French witchfinder. What a sod. ‘We have enough religion to hate each other but not enough to love each other’. J.Swift  ‘Holy’ folk,do something decent to prove you are worthyof respect, don’t just expect to be respected for your religion just because you are ‘religious’.

‘My own opinion is that belief is the death of intelligence’. R.A.W.

‘If a people permit exploitation and regimentation in any name, they deserve their slavery. A tyrant does not make his tyranny possible. It is made possible by the people and not otherwise’. Jack Parsons. Neurotic masses crave tyrants, a strong daddy and are encouraged to be neurotic. The masses are allowed to live, in order to act as slaves and maintain the charade. East and West in a rival illusory pantomime, both pretending nationalistic pride is important, only to encourage treadmill production ethics. One might argue that most people don’t want to ‘permit exploitation’, however, it takes a lot to rise against those who are fully armed and brutal. They’ve got the guns and drones but we got the numbers…but how many in the West would be as brave as those in Tiananmen Square in 89 or in Russia over the last two decades?

Politicians in democracies quickly and conveniently forget that their job is to both serve and be accountable to those who gave them a temporary license for their work. Not to spend their time getting richer at the expense of the already poor. ‘Politicians have the same responsibility to know, and act upon, scientific fact as do doctors, engineers, or other professional people.’  

The new generation of politicians who realised half a generation ago that their type are despised anyway, so the best thing to do in these modern times of Tik Tok influencers is to treble down and ONLY say what the worried masses want to hear or need to be threatened with. And blaming other countries and races etc etc, is always a solid vote catcher. Yeah, well the Nazis and Communists found out that stuff only works for a while as a functioning belief system (BS). We are seemingly at a crossroads where humanity’s Ego takes complete control or else gets a hard slap and a rude awakening. May there be Peace… Awaken the neophiliac within with childlike wonder and fascination.  We will see soon…

[influencermagazineuk]

Valance and Wintour Host Rival Trump-Biden London Events

The US election campaign made its way to London on Wednesday evening, with Australian pop star Holly Valance and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour hosting competing fundraising events, each aiming to garner substantial donations. Karina Averlon-Thomas from Brisbane, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Holly Valance, known for her role in Neighbours and early 2000s pop hits, hosted a pro-Donald Trump event in West London. Ticket prices for this exclusive event started at $10,000 (£7,800), according to a guest who spoke to a news portal in the UK. Meanwhile, Anna Wintour organized a fundraiser supporting Joe Biden's campaign. A Biden campaign official confirmed the event, where tickets were priced at $1,000 each. Only US citizens and permanent residents were eligible to make donations at these events. Republican Fundraiser Highlights Donald Trump's son, Donald Jr., attended the Republican fundraiser, calling it "incredible" and noting it raised significant funds, according to CBS News. When asked about the Hunter Biden guilty verdict, he dismissed it as a "decoy to cover up all the actual corruption that was going on in that administration." Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, also attended. Greg Swenson, chairman of Republicans Overseas, confirmed ticket prices ranged from $10,000 to $100,000, with dinner costing $50,000 per couple. While acknowledging the high cost, Swenson emphasized the Republicans as the "party of the people" and contrasted the fees with those of Democratic events, noting that the most expensive tickets for a Biden event in New York in March were $500,000 each. Held near Chelsea Embankment, the London event's location featured a luxurious setting, described on the property's website as a "hub for entertainment and relaxation," complete with a wine cellar, swimming pool, spa, and IMAX cinema. Despite the opulence, not everyone was a supporter, with one nearby resident shouting "vote Biden" in protest. Democratic Fundraiser Details Details about the rival Democratic event hosted by Anna Wintour were scarce. Sharon Manitta, global press secretary for Democrats Abroad, insisted the timing of the two events was coincidental. Democrats Abroad also organized a comedy night in Greenwich, with tickets priced at a more modest $60. These rival events in London underscore the global reach and high stakes of the US election campaign, drawing prominent figures and substantial donations from both sides of the political spectrum. Read the full article

[yourenotsylviaplath]

While making fun of British people is very funny, it’s REALLY weird to hear the same “ho ho aren’t chavs funny” talking points that I remember hearing from Tory MP’s in 2008 coming out of the mouths of, like, #woke American tumblr. 

“Britain has a horrible colonial legacy that it hasn’t even begun fully reckoning with” and “Mocking the food/clothing/slang/culture of the British working class is Bad, Actually” aren’t contradictory statements. 

[kevindurhamstuff]

New Post has been published on kevindurham.com

Nigel Farage Brexit Comedy Sketch -Speech Commentary - Funny Video on https://www.kevindurham.com/project/nigel-farage-brexit-comedy-sketch-speech-commentary-funny-video/

In this Nigel Farage Brexit Comedy Sketch we do a commentary on a Nigel Farage speech as he talks about Brexit.

#nigelfarage #brexitcomedy #nigelfaragecomedy

If you think this is a funny video then please leave us a comment in the comment box below.

🔴 Subscribe for more Celebrity Interviews and Comedy Clips – https://www.youtube.com/kevindurhamcomedian?sub_confirmation=1

Share this video with a YouTube Friend

The service I used to get this video ranked so you would see it. https://www.tubebuddy.com/kevindurham

Other videos House of Commons Commentary

Boris Johnson Commentary

✅ Recommended playlists: Brexit Comedy Sketches

Two Blokes Comedy Sketches

Check out more about me and what I do

Follow me Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thekevindurham/ Twitter – https://twitter.com/thekevindurham/ Facebook – http://facebook.com/thekevindurham

For business inquiries contact me at hello@kevindurham.com source

[flatnumberseventeen]

Have I Got News For You- Series 39, Episode 1

Lee Mack’s quick wit owning Nigel Farage.

[mayanangel]

Joe Lycett coining the drag name NIGELLA FARAGE damn near killed me with my grilled cheese when I heard it OMFG.

[franksars]

I'm always up for a good Nigel Farage drag

[riteofashkente]

It’s so chilling to realise how much shit governments and other organisations or people with power get away with just because we’ve become so desensitised to it. It’s not as if all the people are accepting it, not by far, but when you have national tv channels parody prominent politicians in not only in an unflattering light, but also include references to criminal deeds they’ve done, some of the world’s best known celebrities straight-up roasting politicians and stand-up comedians making fun of politicians to their face while on tv, not to mention all the other parody and panel shows I haven’t made a reference to, and nothing actually changes, it truly makes you wonder if anything but time could save us from these bastards, time until they die, of course, and when they finally do, what kind of a world will we have, if we even have one?

[quasi-normalcy]

The Pakleds are an inspired choice for villains here in the 2020s precisely because they *aren't* sophisticated. There's no frighteningly foreign values system at work behind their actions, no inhuman reasoning, no N-dimensional chess being pulled off with impossible clockwork precision, no witty banter or scathing observations. Rather, their motives are stupidly, childishly simple: POWER exists, and THEY want it! Why do they want it? Well that's a question that would never even occur to them. And precisely *because* they're unsophisticated, members of the so-called Intelligentsia make the mistake of thinking that they're a joke, much as mainstream commentators recieved people like Trump and Nigel Farage prior to 2016.

And THAT's the face of Evil in this day and age: not the brilliant chessmaster who thinks 20 moves ahead, but the self-centred dumbfuck who refuses to abide by COVID-19 restrictions because they have a Jesus-given right to eat at TGIFridays, goddamnit! And who delights in hurting innocent people because it proves that they're POWERFUL.

Ever since it's return in 2017, Star Trek has struggled with how to respond to the rise of authoritarianism and the alt-right. I guess it makes sense that it was the comedy series that finally managed to hit the nail on the head.

[thejohnfleming]

Noel Faulkner, outspoken comedy club owner, quits London after 40 years

Noel Faulkner, outspoken comedy club owner, quits London after 40 years

Outspoken Noel Faulkner, the veteran (he will hate me using that word) club-owner is leaving London after about 40 years  (though with an interlude of about 18 years of that in the US). He started and ran London’s Comedy Cafe venue and, through his management agency, helped establish acts including Jimmy Carr. Last night, I met up with him to ask why he is leaving.

I had been seeing a comedy…

[benisasoftboi]

Just got back from the first night of the Birmingham stop on The Book of Mormon’s current UK tour. Notes:

So Kevin Clay and Connor Peirson as Price and Cunningham - unsurprisingly, both very good, as this is hardly their first stint in those roles. But I’d never seen either of them live before, so that was exciting (UPDATE: someone correctly pointed out that Clay has left and it was actually Robert Colvin. I read the wrong cast list. I’m dumb)

Colvin reminded me a lot of Robert Manion, who I now realise I really, really want to see as Price (I’ve said before that I want Lauren Lopez to play McKinley in the style of Draco Malfoy, can you imagine? Throw in AJ Holmes as Cunningham since he’s done it before, maybe Tiffany Williams as Naba, and Corey Dorris as Mafala, and you’ve got my nerdy dreamcast)

I like that Colvin makes the role his own (some Prices reeeally try to be Andrew Rannells, which I don’t like - I want to see how YOU do it!)

I’ve noticed there are, broadly, two ways the role of Price can be approached, and different Prices will fall somewhere on a spectrum between them. Price has two defining characteristics - he’s very naive, and he’s very arrogant. Actors generally choose one of the two to emphasise. The first is more common, having Price be a very sincere character - he’s definitely self centred, but above anything else he does mean well. He seriously believes in everything he’s doing, and is genuinely crushed and beaten down over the course of the story, only to regain his optimism at the end in a new, more mature form. With this approach, Price’s character arc is primarily about him learning to be more realistic. The other approach is to focus on his arrogance and minimise the naivete. This Price is fully aware that his situation is shitty, and he’s not happy about it. His optimism is a front so people won’t realise how annoyed he is, and it’s desperation to find something that proves that he’s as incredible as he thinks he is that drags him into misery after misery. He is self interested above all else, and it’s only when he learns to care about and listen to other people that he gets to be happy. This Price’s arc is primarily about him learning that he’s not actually the greatest human alive, and that other people matter too

I’ve seen both versions of Price, and others that fall somewhere between (Rannells is probably the most middle ground, unsurprisingly, as he’s the originator). Colvin leans on the naive side, but with just enough immature whining and self-aggrandising that he’s not quite at the extreme (of the Prices I’ve personally seen, the naive extreme is Adam Bailey. The arrogant extreme is Stephen Rolley)  

Side note, is it not SO COOL that the same character, with the same script, can have a totally different journey based nothing more than subtle changes to line delivery, facial expressions and general demeanour? I love theatre

Little things - he greeted his dad in Spooky Mormon Hell Dream, his All American Prophet was fantastic, and he tried to make the General dance with him

Connor Peirson is excellent at physical comedy. Cunningham is another role where the actors sometimes try to be the originator, and again this was thankfully not done

His final name for Naba was ‘Nigel Farage’, which is pretty standard for UK productions, but it always kills, and tonight was no exception

His Cunningham was a little more low key and sassy than I’ve seen others do, which was interesting

Tom Xander is probably still my favourite Cunningham, mostly because he’s the only one who’s ever managed to act like a convincing 19 year old in my eyes - but that’s just personal preference, Peirson is still very, very good

I LOVED this Nabulungi, played by Nicole-Lily Baisden. She’s far more mature than I’ve ever seen a Naba before, and I honestly really like it. It made the character feel a bit deeper

Her Sal Tlay Ka Siti was much less idealistic and much more desperate than most are, and she was generally pretty serious up until Baptise Me - which makes that song so much sweeter, because we’re getting to see her softer side 

Baptise Me was an audience favourite tonight (though I noticed that they got the water on her dress in the wrong place, oops)

Naba being more serious also makes the Hasa Diga Eebowai reprise that much sadder

She wore a different outfit in Hasa Diga Eebowai than she does in the West End? A pink dress as opposed to a shirt and shorts. I like the West End outfit better

Also, the build up to that song was amusing for me because it was very obvious who in the audience had seen the show before based on when they started laughing at the title phrase

McKinley! I was super excited for this because of the main cast, he’s the only one I’d only ever seen one actor portray (live) (don’t misunderstand, I love Stevie Webb a lot, but it’s fun to see other people’s takes as well). And... I love William Hawksworth a lot too

Not sure if Colvin is tall or Hawksworth is short, but there was a full head’s worth of height difference between them

Also he was not wearing a blue tie, what the hell, how else am I supposed to pick him out when I’m too poor to afford seats where I can properly see their faces

McKinley is yet another character who came across as more serious than usual in this production. He felt older than Webb’s McKinley, and was less sassy and bitchy. But he was also, it should be noted, much, much more camp

Hawksworth’s Moroni, though? Sassy little shit

His delivery of the ‘I have it nightly’ line is my favourite I’ve ever heard. He says it very matter-of-factly, like he doesn’t even realise how messed up it is. Some try to play it up as sad, which I don’t think is in character, he should either do this, or show some awareness that it’s bad, but be trying to brush it off. His whole thing is denial, after all

McPriceley watch: He was very forward with Price, taking every opportunity to get in his personal space, especially on ‘was I in it’. He was visibly grumpy about ‘oh no, I’m not having gay thoughts’. Almost kiss had him notice that Price had put his hand on his arm, and then it was like his brain lagged, he didn’t even try to lean into it until Price had already walked away. Not my favourite take on it, but not bad. Also a little Hell Dream flirting

But, oddly enough, he kind of seemed to have a little thing going with Elder Michaels, of all people (McMichaels?)

And also (and I loved this) the moment Cunningham started doing his prophet thing, he started flirting with Cunningham instead of Price. It was honestly really cute. But like, what a little-

Both he and Price were hit in the face by streamers during Joseph Smith American Moses (where he seemed more irritated by what was happening than anything else). Also, the Mission President was visibly into that song (at first), which I haven’t personally seen done before

He hammed it up a lot in the Hell Dream, blowing kisses and everything

In more general stuff, this particular theatre is designed in such a way that the lighting in You and Me (But Mostly Me) looked better than I’ve ever seen it, go just for that

My audience really loved both Joseph Smith American Moses and Hasa Diga Eebowai. It’s always interesting seeing shows in different places, because different jokes tend to land better depending on where you are. This trip has backed up my previous experiences with going to shows in Birmingham, which is that everyone in this city has a sick sense of humour. It’s great

But they also tend to react really strongly to emotional stuff, lots of awwing Naba and Cunningham. They also really liked the dancing in Two By Two

There was an audible ‘oh NO’ from somewhere in the audience when Naba announced the play. There was also an audible ‘his SUITCASE’ in reference to McKinley at the end (the suitcase was also different from what I’ve seen before, it’s pink on a black background)

There were some mistakes in Spooky Mormon Hell Dream - Price missed his final line, and McKinley’s jacket came undone at the back. He tried to fix it several times to no avail. He probably would have preferred me not have been watching him the whole time, but I like seeing how actors deal with that sort of thing, so sorry, William Hawksworth, but I saw it all. Sincere well done for keeping it professional as you desperately tried to subtly reach around your own back

Ran into an actual Mormon outside who tried to recruit me

So overall, if you’re still here after all that - this is a really, really good production! Go see it if you live in the Birmingham area! 

Final note - Webb always dabs when the curtain falls. Always. I kept my eyes on Hawksworth. He disco dances. I don’t know who I hate more

[allycattiny]

Sheilas wheels!!!

even more british memes (yay)

• for bonzer car insurance deals, girls get onto sheilas’ wheels

• justine littlewood

• safari Oleg

• the coronation street tram crash

• “please place item in the bagging area”

• 5p BAG CHARGE?¿¿??¿?

• “friend”

• 3 day summer

• UKIP

• bus stop wanker

• you buy one you get one free. SAID YA BUY ONE YA GET ONE FREE

• “I’m gonna knock *knock knock* on wood”

• the Isle of fernandooooooos

• woolworths

• Jeremy Clarkson getting sacked

• buttery biscuit base

• Jezza Kyle

• Nigel farage’s teeth

• the dfs sofa sale

[anniekoh]

elsewhere on the internet: talking about racism

This set of articles has been languishing at the back of the queue for three years! 

Political Correctness Wanted Dead or Alive: A Rhetorical Witch-Hunt in the US, Russia, and Europe

Anna Szilagyi (2016, Talk Decoded)

Possibly the most common way of attacking political correctness, is to label it “tyrannical”. Covert speech strategies may also support this construction. For instance, anti-PC politicians often utilize adjectives for fear (including “afraid”, “frightened”, “scared”, “terrified”) to describe how PC affects the behavior and feelings of people. The former leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage claimed: “I think actually what’s been happening with this whole politically correct agenda is lots of decent ordinary people are losing their jobs and paying the price for us being terrified of causing offence.” Suggesting that the British are “terrified” because of political correctness, Farage urged his listeners to think of PC in terms of intimidation.

At the same time, the fearsome vocabulary provides a background for anti-PC populists to present themselves as “brave” and “courageous” “saviors” of their “victimized” societies. The next quote by Nigel Farage exemplifies this trend: “I think the people see us as actually standing up and saying what we think, not being constrained or scared by political correctness.” In a similar fashion, Geert Wilders  declared: “I will not allow anyone to shut me up.”

Why White People Freak Out When They’re Called Out About Race

Sam Adler-Bell (2015, Alternet) @SamAdlerBell

Sam Adler-Bell: How did you come to write about "white fragility"?

Robin DiAngelo: To be honest, I wanted to take it on because it’s a frustrating dynamic that I encounter a lot. I don’t have a lot of patience for it. And I wanted to put a mirror to it.

I do atypical work for a white person, which is that I lead primarily white audiences in discussions on race every day, in workshops all over the country. That has allowed me to observe very predictable patterns. And one of those patterns is this inability to tolerate any kind of challenge to our racial reality. We shut down or lash out or in whatever way possible block any reflection from taking place.

Of course, it functions as means of resistance, but I think it’s also useful to think about it as fragility, as inability to handle the stress of conversations about race and racism

Sometimes it’s strategic, a very intentional push back and rebuttal. But a lot of the time, the person simply cannot function. They regress into an emotional state that prevents anybody from moving forward.

...

RD: I think we get tired of certain terms. What I do used to be called "diversity training," then "cultural competency" and now, "anti-racism." These terms are really useful for periods of time, but then they get coopted, and people build all this baggage around them, and you have to come up with new terms or else people won’t engage.

And I think "white privilege" has reached that point. It rocked my world when I first really got it, when I came across Peggy McIntosh. It’s a really powerful start for people. But unfortunately it's been played so much now that it turns people off.

The Language of “Privilege” Doesn’t Work

Stephen Aguilar (2016, Inside Higher Ed) @stephenaguilar

I believe that “privilege” is a sterile word that does not grapple with the core of the problem. If you are white, you do not have “white” privilege. If you are male, you do not have “male” privilege. If you are straight, you do not have “straight” privilege. What you have is advantage. The language of advantage, I propose, is a much cleaner and more precise way to frame discussions about racism (or sexism, or most systems of oppression).

... does giving up a “privilege” seem incoherent? It might, because generally privileges are given and taken by someone else. They are earned, and are seldom bad things to have.

Now try shifting your language to that of advantages. Ask yourself, “What advantages do I have over that person over there?” That question is much easier to answer and yields more nuanced responses.

Kimberlé Crenshaw on intersectionality

Bim Adewunmi (2014, New Statesman) @bimadewunmi

“I wanted to come up with an everyday metaphor that anyone could use”

“Class is not new and race is not new. And we still continue to contest and talk about it, so what’s so unusual about intersectionality not being new and therefore that’s not a reason to talk about it? Intersectionality draws attention to invisibilities that exist in feminism, in anti-racism, in class politics, so obviously it takes a lot of work to consistently challenge ourselves to be attentive to aspects of power that we don’t ourselves experience.”

...

“Sometimes it feels like those in power frame themselves as being tremendously disempowered by critique. A critique of one’s voice isn’t taking it away. If the underlying assumption behind the category ‘women’ or ‘feminist’ is that we are a coalition then there have to be coalitional practices and some form of accountability.”

The Persecution of Amy Schumer: Political Correctness and Comedy

Teo Bugbee (2015, Daily Beast)

We have developed highly advanced ways of recognizing and articulating when we feel offended, but very few ways of making something productive out of our own hurt feelings.

I’ve questioned if my choice to overlook what’s hurtful in Schumer’s comedy for the sake of what’s insightful is a sign that I’m complicit in the faults of white feminism, not valuing the importance of others’ feelings on this matter enough. This argument of apathy gets used often on social media to raise awareness around issues of race, sex, gender, and other topics surrounding justice and a need for change, and it is often useful, but it can also be a blunt instrument. Where I’ve landed for the moment is that not all marginalized people feel the same way about every issue—even on social media, but especially outside it—and asking everyone to respond in the same way to the same joke takes a simplistic view that flattens the complexity of marginalized communities just as much as it does the white, cisgender mainstream.

However, if we’re going to ask audiences to keep in mind the multiplicity of responses that a person might have to a work of art before they attempt to control someone else’s opinion, then it’s only fair that comedians follow the same rule.

What’s Wrong (and Right) in Jonathan Chait’s Anti-P.C. Screed

J. Bryan Lowder (2015, Slate)

One of the main problems with the constellation of leftist ideas he bemoans is that many of the people who use them most loudly do so out of context. Concepts like “microaggressions,” “trigger warnings,” and “mansplaining” originally had specific meanings and limited uses, often within the academy. They described or were meant to address specific situations or phenomena, and more important, they were intended to function as diagnostic tools of analysis, not be used as blunt, conversation-ending instruments. Believe it or not, most of these “PC buzzwords” are actually useful from time to time:  “Straightsplaining” is a real (and very annoying) thing, and it’s often a productive way of thinking about an interaction. But it’s also not always a useful or fair way to characterize a disagreement between a queer person and a straight interlocutor. Precision is what’s needed.

Additionally, though it is impossible to say this without sounding condescending myself, a lot of the abuse of PC rhetoric comes from young college students who have not yet grasped the difference between a measuring tape and a sledgehammer. Of course, given that contemporary mainstream politics offers little for those hopeful souls who want to make truly radical change in the world, you can’t really blame them for gravitating toward a mode of critique that at least feels somewhat empowering. Here, first-year, is a framework by which you can reveal the (screwed-up) hidden structures of the world and use your newly honed textual close-reading skills to mount offenses against those structures—go for it. What works on a novel doesn’t necessary translate to a complicated, changeable human being, though, so it’s no surprise that the deployment of microaggression and cissexism and other social justice lingo can sometimes come off as strident and simplistic. It often is.

But then, so is crying that only Reason can save us from the illiberal wolves waiting in the wings of our great system, which has a “glorious” history on social justice, by the way.

Want To Help End Systemic Racism? First Step: Drop the White Guilt

Sincere Kirabo (2015, thehumanist)

The point of identifying and exposing inconsistencies within the social systems and cultural norms of the United States isn’t to make whites feel guilty, but to garner greater empathy that will inspire change. The main problem with white guilt is that it attempts to diminish the spotlight aimed at issues germane to marginalized groups and redirects the focus to a wasteful plane of apologetics and ineffective assessment.

This is why some don’t like discussing racism, as those more sensitive to these matters sometimes allow guilt to creep into their thought processes, effectively evoking pangs of discomfort. This can lead to avoidance of the primary issues altogether, as well as the manifestation of defense mechanisms, including denial, projection, intellectualization, and rationalization.

Many are acquainted with the concept of Catholic guilt. Catholic doctrine emphasizes the inherent sinfulness of all people. These accentuated notions of fault lead to varied degrees of enhanced self-loathing. I liken white guilt to Catholic guilt: both relate to a sense of inadequacy emanating from misguided notions. Though the latter is anchored in an imagined source, they both speak to feelings of remorse and internal conflict that does the individual having them no good.

Keep in mind that the call to “recognize your privilege” does not translate to “bear the blame.”

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#5yrsago Far-right UK party releases excruciating, racist comedy song

Mike Read, a former BBC disk jockey, has recorded "UKIP Calypso", a song named for the British anti-immigrant party and a style of music stereotypically associated with the mid-century immigrants of his generation. Yes, complete with terrible "Jamaican" accent!

If nothing else, it's a reminder of the talentless mediocrity of 20th century Britain's light entertainment monoculture; the lyrics, as transcribed by Us vs Th3m, are posted below.

Note the cover of the song proves that UKIP leader Nigel Farage is approximately 3 feet tall.

Tax payers money where does it go? Not even George Osborne knows When we’re in power and we engage There will be no tax on minimum wage

Our leaders committed a cardinal sin Open the borders let them all come in Illegal immigrants in every town Stand up and be counted Blair and Brown

Chorus: Oh yes when we take charge And the new Prime Minister is Farage We can trade with the world again When Nigel is at number 10

The British People have been let down That’s why UKIP is making ground From Crewe to Cleethorpes to Outer Hendon They don’t believe Cameron’s referendum

Coalition could be a fact With any party we could make a pact Stop telling lies about us too And we’ll stop telling the truth about you

[Chorus]

Though our pension scheme is in a mess We need money for the NHS With Jean-Claude Juncker we’re giving away 55 million every day

Oh what a farce, he won the vote This is my favourite Juncker quote He looked the reporters straight in the eyes “When things get serious it’s time to lie”

[Chorus]

The EU live in wonderland Tried to ban bent bananas and British jam We don’t want jam the EU way Jam yesterday, tomorrow and never today

The daily polls suggest somehow UKIP are the third party now In the Euro elections we were so immersed We weren’t the third party, we were the first

[Chorus]

When the government’s sitting on the fence UKIP policies make more sense Get out of Europe, is our target Common wealth and not common market

Other parties please take note UKIP is not a protest vote So mark your cross and by word of mouth Tell them what to do in Thanet South

[chorus]

With the EU we must be on our mettle They want to change our lawnmowers and our kettles Our hairdryers, smartphones and vacuum cleaners But UKIP is wise to their misdemeanours

Farage he likes his fags and beer But there’s one thing I want to get clear Now I like Nigel he’s a friend of mine He appears on Dimbleby on Question Time

[chorus]

The other parties will count the costings In Eastleigh, Thurrock and Bow they’re lost in Labour and Tories shaking in their boots When UKIP kick them up the grassroots

Meanwhile down on Clacton-on-Sea UKIP are making history Douglas Carswell is quite adamant Will be the first MP in parliament

[chorus]

https://boingboing.net/2014/10/20/far-right-uk-party-releases-ex.html