Stephen Tall

The Eurozone crisis explained. OR: How not to get distracted by smurfs doing star-jumps

By | Tue 12th June 2012 - 1:10 pm

The Eurozone crisis isn’t, by common consent, a sexy topic rich with comic potential. Important, yes. A rib-tickler, no. So kudos, immense kudos, to comedian John Finnemore who performed a pretty acute summary for BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show this week. In just 6 mins and 35 secs. Enjoy…


(Available on YouTube here.)

And a brief supplementary, if I may…

What has happened to genuinely good satire on British television? Last week, it was left to US comedian Jon Stewart to skewer (not unaffectionately) the hyper-ridiculousness of the UK’s jubilee celebrations. The 10 O’Clock Show was intended to fill that niche within our schedules, but sadly relies instead on taking clunking swings at obvious targets. A couple of years ago, at the end of the 2010 general election campaign, I lamented the lack of intelligent political comedy.

Yes, we have Have I Got News For You (but it’s a bit stale these days). And yes, we have Armando Iannucci (hurray for the forthcoming new series of The Thick Of It). But after that…? Is it simply the case that only Radio 4 audiences are trusted to be news-savvy enough to cope with subtlety, with irony, with nuance? I’m sure there’s an audience among fans of the telly-box too.

Just one plea: don’t revive A Stab in the Dark, Channel 4’s failed attempt to re-cast That Was The Week That Was, which co-starred none other than… Michael Gove.

* Stephen was Editor (and Co-Editor) of Liberal Democrat Voice from 2007 to 2015, and writes at The Collected Stephen Tall.

Read more by or more about , , , , or .
This entry was posted in Humour and YouTube.
Advert

One Comment

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • David Raw
    @ Tom Bailey Given that Ms Ursula von der Leyen is a Lutheran not a Catholic you seem to have a vivid imagination....
  • Jenny Barnes
    Matt " I believe the only way forward on this as it is on on social issues, is rational, persuasive, constant debate and dialogue – of course, based on respec...
  • Tom Bailey
    Daniel Walker, I'm fully aware of how the EU elective system works, and the point is that European voters are not allowed any direct access to that process. [ p...
  • Gill Travers
    Charlotte Cane “Will the Minister consider changing the law so that the Equality Act lives up to its name?” is a valid contribution. Things have moved on si...
  • Alison Howarth
    @ Kira Collins So you think that a trans man should be treated as the biological woman they are and given pregnancy and maternity protections? That sounds very ...