Rod Liddle has a piece in The Spectator registering his surprise and pleasure at the appearance of a right-wing comedian - yes, a right-wing comedian! - on Radio Four’s The News Quiz.
And is if that wasn't unprecedented enough, the aforesaid comedian (Simon Evans) went on to defend Donald Trump and criticise the NHS.
The audience wasn’t sure what it should do, and Evans was of course ribbed for his opinions by the other three panellists and indeed the compere. Which is when I thought: hang on, why should I be grateful to the BBC for allowing one single representative of majority opinion on air? And yet it was such a breath of fresh air. Not because I’m a conservative, but just for the sake of diversity of opinion.
This is the thing. You think the BBC news programmes are bad? It is away from the news programmes that the BBC really shows its bias. And so we end up being grateful when someone who speaks for the majority – or at least a very large minority – actually gets airtime.
Having listened to it myself, I can confirm that it was a breath of fresh air - and funny too.
A fellow comedian made a telling point, however, in reply to Simon (on Twitter): "I thought you were brilliant. It's notable how jarring it is to hear those opinions on Radio 4." Very true.
Of course, not everyone's happy:
Anyhow, I've got a potential cutting for the show. It comes from The Guardian (well it made me laugh):
Interesting...sadly I gave up on the News Quiz a long time ago due to it having turned into an infantile left wing virtue signalling operation (in stark contrast to its origins as a programme that actually had something to do with news in its broadest sense).
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of comedians on Radio 4, can I put in a good word for John Finnimore. I know humour is a personal thing of course, but I do find him very funny. His take on Freud speaking to his mother about his new book, desperately craving her approval while she kept trying to dodge the Oedipal issues was hilarious. But the refreshing thing about the part I heard was he seemed able to find funny things to write about that didn't involve Trump, Brexit, Boris, Gove, immigration, racism,the Tories or the NHS.
Sorry - just seen it's Finnemore.
DeleteI agree about John Finnemore. His 'Cabin Pressure' is funny too.
DeleteI can just about stomach “The News Quiz”. I’ve even been known to raise the occasional smile. At least it doesn’t take itself as seriously as the utterly execrable “The Now Show”.
ReplyDeleteI too was amazed to hear the NHS joke. Not that I don’t support the NHS, but I would love to have seen the expressions on the faces of all those worthy SJW’s in the studio audience. I’m surprised Simon Evans got out alive.
But you are right. Why should I be amazed.