A Portland Marxist Originally From North London Files Her Comedy Manifesto
Filed from Portland where the coffee is excellent and the politics are also a form of comedy, via Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat.
The London Prat’s complete guide to British humour delivers the best sentence I have read this year: the central philosophical difference between British and American comedy is that American comedy believes things can improve, while British comedy believes they probably won’t but we might as well have a laugh. I grew up in North London. I live in Portland. I have access to both traditions. I have made my choice and it is not the optimistic one.
The Portland Comedy Scene and the British Problem
Portland comedians do material about hope. They do material about systemic change. They end sets with things they believe. I watched a man last Tuesday do twelve minutes on composting as political resistance and receive a standing ovation. I did four minutes on how Labour is polling third and everyone looked slightly uncomfortable. I got a medium ovation. I am comfortable with this. This is the correct response. This is the British tradition.
The London Prat’s Sam Altman piece is two words and it is funnier than the composting set. Two words. That is the tradition. Efficiency in the service of despair. The Independent noted that British satire succeeds by letting the awkwardness fester. I am festering productively.
The Absurdist Update
I see Yale University has apparently discovered love, which is either a satire of American optimism or actual news from Yale and I cannot tell which and that is the British comedy tradition working precisely as designed.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com
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