Erich McElroy: The British Referendum
Published: Thursday 14th August 2014
I have always had an interest in the Scottish Referendum and knew it would be the biggest story in the country once voting time actually came. So, as a political comedian, it seemed like a no brainer to tackle the topic. What I didn't expect was that I'd be the only comedian in the country to take a 'no' leaning show.
Either from fear or conviction; no Scottish comics are touching the 'no' side for a full show, and no English comics want to get punched. That has left the market wide open for me to jump in. The question is, am I jumping to my death? - not just a comic one, a literal one?
While I defiantly do have a 'no' stance, my first concern with the show is that it needs to be funny. I think political comedy at its best pokes fun at all sides of an issue - engaging and entertaining the audience, not shouting at them for disagreeing or preaching to a crowd that already believes everything you say. I have tried to create a show that the whole political spectrum can enjoy. That doesn't mean compromising the message; that means remembering it's a comedy.
One major challenge was creating the show outside of the place that is going to actually be making the decision. I conceived, wrote and rehearsed the show in the most evil of all places - London. Attitudes in the capital are obviously different than most of the ones you would expect to find in Scotland, ranging from indifference to disengagement without much difference between the two.
The festival is the greatest opportunity I've had with the show. I get to perform it properly and regularly in Scotland - the place where it counts the most. The show is by no means meant for an exclusively Scottish audience; but the vibe and energy is quite different than the night I did a preview in a village outside of Birmingham. To them Scotland seemed like an exotic place, some place they knew little about and had never visited. In fact, much of England seems to view Scotland that way. Sometimes it is no surprise that more than 40% of Scots wants to leave.
My show may actually become part of the debate. As someone who sees himself as a comedian and not an activist that's quite a funny place to be.
'Erich McElroy: The British Referendum' is at Just The Tonic at The Community Project at 6:55pm until the 24th August..
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