By Andrew Doyle
2016 was the turning point.
The combination of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump were surprising enough, but nobody could have anticipated how these events would have driven typically sensible people into a condition of near-lunacy. All of a sudden, polite disagreement on political views became impossible. Those who voted for Brexit were not just wrong; they were evil, racist, and apparently yearned for the return of the British empire. Accusations of “fascism” were even knocked about, as though the desire to leave an international trading bloc was somehow comparable with the Third Reich.
The most unhinged reactions came from the middle-class, faux-liberal, Guardian-reading circles. Such types have dominated the comedy industry for quite some time, so it was hardly surprising that only a few comics felt able to admit that they voted Leave. You could have counted the number of Brexit-supporting comics on one of Abu Hamza’s hands.
In the subsequent months I could see the impact these events were having on the comedy circuit. Comedians were more politicised but were seemingly in lockstep over the targets of their jokes. While there was nothing wrong with making fun of Brexit voters (everyone can be a target), nobody seemed to be mocking the hysterical reaction of some Remainers, or indeed the inherent absurdity of self-declared leftists cheering on a pro-corporate institution with capitalism at the heart of its constitution, run almost entirely by right-leaning politicians, and which had been set up by the super-rich in the interests of the super-rich.
In other words, the comedy world was all getting a bit samey. It is a truism that comedy depends on the element of surprise, but there was nothing remotely surprising about a succession of comedians churning out identikit punchlines which were rarely more sophisticated than “Brexit voters are stupid”. If variety is the spice of life, the comedy circuit was turning into a lump of congealed porridge.
In the midst of this frenzy of conformity, Andy Shaw and I decided to set up Comedy Unleashed, a monthly night at the Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green which would showcase a wide range of comedians with different styles and worldviews. We would prioritise acts that were innovative, subversive, free-thinking and, above all, funny.
And while some clubs were sending out contracts to comedians in advance of shows to ensure they didn’t joke about certain topics, we didn’t believe that comedy ought to be “safe”. The audiences we would cultivate would know that complaining about being “offended” by jokes would get them nowhere. We understood that comedy cannot exist without the possibility of causing offence. And while we didn’t expect or require our acts to be offensive, they would have the freedom to say whatever they like. So long as they were funny, we would book them.
Our first ever show coincided with the night of the 2017 election. We had deliberately booked acts from a wide range of political views, and our publicity had successfully drawn in a wide range of individuals. When the MC (Dominic Frisby) gauged the room, we found that approximately half of the audience had voted Leave in the EU referendum, a notable rarity in London comedy gigs. There were Jeremy Corbyn supporters, Theresa May supporters, even one or two or that dying breed, the Lib Dems.
It made for a fascinating evening. Such a plurality of opinion should be the norm, but in these febrile times it felt like something fresh and exciting. One reviewer from the Guardian was compelled to misrepresent the political affiliations of the acts in order to sustain his false narrative that it was a “right-wing” night. I performed a set in which I was openly supportive of Labour, so his tactic was to simply omit any mention of me in the review.
Indeed, the reaction from a media determined to smear a night in which all and any views might be aired as “right-wing” and even “far right” reached absurd heights when Vice magazine sent an undercover journalist along to write an “exposé”. As it happens, the majority of the acts that night were openly left-leaning, so the writer was forced to lie about the line-up and the political composition of the audience. He even tried to coax punters in the interval into saying reactionary things by asking them questions such as “what do you think of immigration?” People just stared at him as though he were insane.
And when we recently announced our Comedy Unleashed national tour, some comedians were so outraged about the possibility of diversity of opinion within the industry that they took to social media to condemn it. One comedian tweeted: “If you do that tour: you’re a fucking scab” and “Comedians need to pick a side: I’m an anarchist”. The comedian in question has a show on BBC Radio 4, so his definition of “anarchy” is open to question.
Josh Howie, one of the comics we’ve booked on the Comedy Unleashed tour, tweeted about how he was “blocked by a woke leftist comedy booker” who was attacking the tour for “politely challenging his statement that woke leftist comedy bookers don’t exist”. Another comic wrote a bizarre Substack piece about how acts at Comedy Unleashed use “their allotted time to make fun of minorities”, something which has never happened at the club. Anyone familiar with the slings and arrows of social media will be aware of this growing tendency to imagine an enemy into existence in order to attack it.
It is strange that a comedy tour which platforms acts with a range of political views and performance styles should cause so much agitation. It is a kind of hysteria, based on an imagined version of what the shows contain which bears no resemblance to the reality. These fantasists are convinced that we are seeing a rise in “right-wing comedy” (whatever that is) which seeks to promote racism, homophobia and hatred against minority groups. I would never book a comic of this kind, but nor could I name one who falls into this category.
With the groupthink that prevails in the industry, we need a new alternative comedy movement more than ever. That’s why we’re taking Comedy Unleashed on tour. We’re interested in showcasing the best comics in the country, many of whom you won’t have seen on television because they don’t toe the approved ideological line. The club is neither right nor left. It doesn’t seek to offend but nor does it patronise its audiences by stifling comedians who wish to tease the limits of our tolerance. Comedy Unleashed is simply about making people laugh. Surely that should be enough?
More information about Comedy Unleashed, and tickets, can be found online at https://comedyunleashed.co.uk/