Well - there are ways of being subversive without being distasteful. If comedians can find them, they may be able to get their point accross and stay on air - thus 'subverting' the system. 
British comedy is no longer funny Page 10
Quote: ToddB @ January 27 2012, 1:27 AM GMTWell - there are ways of being subversive without being distasteful. If comedians can find them, they may be able to get their point accross and stay on air - thus 'subverting' the system.
I mentioned Horrible Histories earlier in the thread. But again, I don't mind distasteful, in fact, the darkest subjects usually evoke the biggest laughs from me.
I know we keep harking back to 'The Young Ones', but this was seriously subversive and highly offensive at the same time - and it was brilliantly funny too.
It might seem tame by today's standards, but the first time Rik turned to Neal and called him a 'spaz' was a watershed moment in British comedy. It broke so many taboos on so many levels and was instantly memorable because of it.
I don't want to miss anymore watershed moments because of the collective morality of hypocrites.
I agree - but I think the really exciting thing about Rik calling Neil a spaz - or any of the offensive language, for that matter - was that it reflected the way young people were really talking in a way that hadn't been done before. It also exposed the politcally aware/correct Rik as a hypocrite.
The exciting thing about that whole generation of comedians was their willingness to be an oppositional voice - I think that was more subversive than the fact that they were the first ones to swear that much.
Quote: ToddB @ January 27 2012, 1:47 AM GMTI agree - but I think the really exciting thing about Rik calling Neil a spaz - or any of the offensive language, for that matter - was that it reflected the way young people were really talking in a way that hadn't been done before. It also exposed the politcally aware/correct Rik as a hypocrite.
The exciting thing about that whole generation of comedians was their willingness to be an oppositional voice - I think that was more subversive than the fact that they were the first ones to swear that much.
Couldn't agree more.
Quote: ToddB @ January 27 2012, 1:47 AM GMTThe exciting thing about that whole generation of comedians was their willingness to be an oppositional voice.
Now, I love The Young Ones as much as anybody but it only took them around 18 months to get from their first episode to making records with Cliff Richard.
Quote: Renegade Carpark @ January 27 2012, 1:34 AM GMTI know we keep harking back to 'The Young Ones', but this was seriously subversive and highly offensive at the same time - and it was brilliantly funny too.
It might seem tame by today's standards, but the first time Rik turned to Neal and called him a 'spaz' was a watershed moment in British comedy.
And yet Rik doesn't appear keen to call Lenny Henry a nigger, and Frankie Boyle and Ricky Gervais haven't made many Paki and Coon jokes lately. Instead of white comics who bully people by race, we now have white comics bullying people by disability. It's a step forward. Or something.
Yo, tokyo you won me with the woody moose ref, but you nailed it with the unmentionable raci whoops comment
Quote: Tokyo Nambu @ January 27 2012, 10:52 AM GMTAnd yet Rik doesn't appear keen to call Lenny Henry a nigger, and Frankie Boyle and Ricky Gervais haven't made many Paki and Coon jokes lately. Instead of white comics who bully people by race, we now have white comics bullying people by disability. It's a step forward. Or something.
In one episode of "The Young Ones" Rik does call someone "Mister Darkie Sambo Coon". It is a fine line - if it is done to ridicule racist/prejudiced attitudes - that is fine - if it just using sterotypes to ridicule and demean the people that they are based upon, that is another matter.
I think it also has something to do with the general state of affairs in the real world. If we feel secure that we actually take something seriously, we can see it made fun of, but when it comes to issues that aren't taken seriously enough in reality, a lot more care is needed.
You know what, in all the excitement I totally forgot about Limmy's Show. Funny, profound, subversive and very much the vision of a single person. I guess 2011 wasn't as stinky as I'd first thought. It's still hard to get excited about British TV comedy when shows of that calibre are so few and far between though.
Quote: Jinky @ January 27 2012, 8:32 AM GMTNow, I love The Young Ones as much as anybody but it only took them around 18 months to get from their first episode to making records with Cliff Richard.
I think The Young Ones may have considered it a fun thing to do and stuck two fingers up to anyone who deemed it 'uncool'...long live Sir Richard Of Cliff.
Quote: David Bussell @ January 27 2012, 12:05 PM GMTYou know what, in all the excitement I totally forgot about Limmy's Show. Funny, profound, subversive and very much the vision of a single person. I guess 2011 wasn't as stinky as I'd first thought. It's still hard to get excited about British TV comedy when shows of that calibre are so few and far between though.
Wasn't that only shown in Scotland?
Quote: Tokyo Nambu @ January 27 2012, 10:52 AM GMTFrankie Boyle and Ricky Gervais we now have white comics bullying people by disability.
Frankie Boyle and Ricky Gervais have made exactly one six episode series each in the last 5 years. How are these two the majority of current British television comedy?
In fact, I went to iPlayer and clicked their Comedy category -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/tv/categories/comedy
This is current British comedy and you are welcome to it.
(Life's Too Short was actually 7 episodes. And a documentary. And there's The Ricky Gervais Show. And An Idiot Abroad. But other than that...)
Quote: Matthew Stott @ January 27 2012, 12:26 PM GMTWasn't that only shown in Scotland?
I don't know, I very rarely watch comedy on TV these days so it's not all that relevant to me where something plays.
Quote: Renegade Carpark @ January 27 2012, 1:34 AM GMTIt might seem tame by today's standards, but the first time Rik turned to Neal and called him a 'spaz' was a watershed moment in British comedy. It broke so many taboos on so many levels and was instantly memorable because of it.
I saw a television interview with Ben Elton, in which he was discussing the then-recent release of his second novel, Gridlock, in which there is, apparently (not having read it myself) a disabled character. In that interview, in relation to the subject of disability in comedy, he said he now regarded the use of 'spaz/spasmo' in The Young Ones, as a mistake.
Quote: Jinky @ January 27 2012, 8:32 AM GMTNow, I love The Young Ones as much as anybody but it only took them around 18 months to get from their first episode to making records with Cliff Richard.
Actually, three-and-a-half years-autumn 1982 and spring 1986 being the respective dates.