David Farrar claimed this afternoon that Trump “speaks truth to power”; But Michele A’Court didn’t acknowledge the exquisite nuttiness of that statement. Friday 18 September 2015
There are undoubtedly some smart, well informed comedians, such as Frankie Boyle, Steve Coogan, Jon Stewart, John Oliver and John Clarke. Because of the success of The Daily Show, it has often been asserted, with some justification, that the best political commentators are now the comedians. In Australia, Clarke and Dawe are far more honest and incisive than any “serious” commentator on the ABC or SBS. In this country, Jono and Ben (and Guy) are the most credible and intelligent political commentators left on our television screens.
Those few honorable exceptions aside, however, most comedians are in fact no brighter or better informed than the average commentator. To be fair, only a few of them are as depraved as Sacha Baron Cohen or Jerry Seinfeld, or as crude (not to mention unfunny) as Andrew “Dice” Clay. We have already looked at the embarrassingly stupid comments of Andrew “Dire” Clay when he has tried to be serious.[1] Clay, along with fellow comedians Mike King and Jeremy Elwood, has been to Afghanistan ostensibly to “entertain the troops”, but unkind observers noted that sending them over there amounted to three very cost-effective public relations stunts by the army. Ever since, all three of these embedded comedians have been shills for the “great work” that they claim Kiwi troops do over there. U.S. authorities pulled the same trick to co-opt and thereby silence criticism by David Letterman, Louis C.K. and Lewis Black.
This morning another Kiwi comic showed he really doesn’t know much about anything at all. On Kathryn Ryan’s show, Te Radar unwisely decided to try and make a serious comment about the Donald Trump phenomenon….
TE RADAR: He’s Corbyn-esque! I mean he’s a joke candidate who’s getting amazing cut-through!
Damningly for her credibility, the supposedly brilliant Gemma Gracewood failed to react to that foolish statement, as (unsurprisingly) did Kathryn Ryan.
A few hours later, on Jim Mora’s light chat show The Panel, one guest used his “Soapbox” segment to make what he obviously imagined was a witty comment on the “instability” of recent politics….
DAVID FARRAR: Bernie Sanders is a proud socialist and socialism is a dirty word in the United States. He makes Keith Locke look like a neoconservative by comparison. MICHELE A’COURT:[dutifully but anxiously] Ha ha ha!
A few minutes later came this classic.…
DAVID FARRAR: They like Trump because he speaks his mind, he speaks truth to power. There are five or six plausible Republican candidates, Marco Rubio for instance….
Michele A’Court (another professional comedian) failed to pick up on the absurdity of those two consecutive statements—Trump speaking truth to power, and Marco Rubio being “plausible”—but she did spring to the defense of Madame Mao….
MICHELE A’COURT: I don’t think that Hillary Clinton’s only card to play is that she is not a man….
I’m pretty sure I heard Jim Mora call him “David FarrIEr” shortly before those comments, too (wouldn’t be the first NZer to make that mistake). I was genuinely puzzled as to why they would be seeking his input on the Panel.
Then again, I’m equally surprised as to why David Farrar’s input is sought…
But Michele A’Court didn’t acknowledge the exquisite nuttiness of that statement.
Friday 18 September 2015
MICHELE A’COURT: [dutifully but anxiously] Ha ha ha!
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06122014/#comment-936221