Votes vs Jokes: the divided Beppe Grillo

The right say he's on the left, the left say he's on the right – who is the "Five Star" comedian changing Italian politics?

Feature by Ben Venables | 10 Jan 2017

Within the confines of our Comedy section, the words comedian and clown are always professional job titles, whereas to anyone else they are used interchangeably with 'jackass'.

To say 'comedian Nigel Farage' suggests he can do an Edinburgh show. To call Donald Trump a clown conjures an image of him enrolled at Gaulier's school outside Paris. When news was leaked of Bill Clinton saying that Labour chose Jeremy Corbyn because he was the "maddest person in the room", it momentarily seemed like a compliment – a gift-wrapped poster quote for Corbyn's next stand-up tour.

Admittedly, it's not the worst occupational hazard, but it becomes a knottier problem when a politician is an actual comedian.

In Italy's constitutional referendum in December, the government were defeated and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tendered his resignation the next day. There is no doubt the victory belonged to comedian Beppe Grillo, leader of the Five Star Movement, a force challenging the orthodoxy of both Italian and European politics.

Comedians in Politics

Beppe Grillo is the exception rather than the rule, for there aren't as many comedians directly involved in politics as we might expect. We're so used to stand-ups offering topical commentary on Question Time and Have I Got News For You that our sense of where politics and comedy overlap is exaggerated. It's not uncommon for a comedian to associate themselves with a particular cause or campaign but it's rare that they stand for election or lead a movement.

In the cases when comedians do put themselves forward in this way, it's usually in special circumstances. Al Murray stood for election in 2015, but in character as The Pub Landlord and to hold a mirror up to Nigel Farage. In America, comedy writer and performer Al Franken is a senator for Minnesota. However, he's almost entirely shed his comedic skin in order to do so. At the end of 2014, Russell Brand was more a media circus mascot for public frustrations – telling people not to vote, then later telling them to vote for Ed Miliband and what a lovely bloke Nick Clegg is... well, it just isn't the work of a revolutionary prophet.

By contrast, Beppe Grillo has a political vision specific to certain issues, is direct and overt in his criticism, and has mobilised grassroots activism in pretty much every part of Italy. True, his detractors often compare him to Mussolini, or point out he's implied illegal immigrants swamp Rome with rats and rubbish, and he made the news in the UK when he congratulated Sadiq Khan by suggesting the new London Mayor might "blow himself up."

Certainty is unusual in a comedian but a job requirement for a politician. Grillo has proven tricky to pin down at times and has probably been perceived more to the left of the political spectrum until very recently, but not because he lacks a general consistency. He is almost always the David taking down corporate and political Goliaths. The late Dario Fo was a huge supporter. Is there a contradiction between the comedian Grillo and the politician Grillo, and where does one end and the other begin?

Crossing divides 

In both Grillo's comedic and political careers he manages to avoid being stuck in any one pigeonhole. In comedy he's done this through successful reinventions, and in politics through holding 'progressive' views, such as on environmentalism, while simultaneously having the uncompromising tough rhetoric on immigration.

Had Grillo been a UK comedian, his career would just about predate the modern era of stand-up which started in the early 80s. We'd perhaps associate him with Billy Connolly in terms of longevity and his appeal across generations is another divide he bridges. During the 1980s he had a successful TV career, presenting comic travel programmes about the differences between Italians and Americans, for example. Politics was not part of his schtick.

In 1986, he took a satirical monologue too far for the state-run broadcaster, calling the then socialist government thieves. The experience was a turning point, not so much for the political aspect but because it forced him to make a living with live shows and build up another audience. Emboldened and with more freedom onstage, his routines became acerbic and aimed at large industry. In the early 90s some of his targets compare to those which would have interested US comedian Bill Hicks – such as the advertising industry – and others have something of Mark Thomas' acts of dissent about them, like successfully empowering people to keep a monopolistic phone company in check.

In the next decade he harnesses the blogosphere, obviously the perfect medium for an entertaining voice with a point of view. This introduces Grillo to yet another audience and continues the theme of how he broadens his appeal. By 2008 his blog was listed by The Guardian as one of the top 50 in the world – it is one of the most visited sites on the planet.

Still, his political activity still carries all the hallmarks of a comedian at work. His famous V-Day started in 2007, which snowballed into crowds gathering outside municipal buildings in 180 cities across Italy. V is for vaffanculo, which means 'fuck off'In 2009, he's approached by web strategist Gianroberto Caseleggio, and Grillo's blog becomes the pivot for which the Five Star Movement galvanises local activism by setting up offline meetings – becoming part of organising rather than opinion sharing. It's thought this style of organising outstrips even Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

In Italy's 2013 general election, they took a quarter of the vote. Earlier this year, Five Star candidate Virginia Raggi became the first female Mayor of Rome. Now, it is through their efforts that a Prime Minister has been toppled. 

Grillo vs Grillo

With, say, Al Murray or Al Franken, comedians entering politics had to go one way or the other. It's either obviously a joke (Murray) or the comedic image must be dispensed with (Franken). Curiously, non-comedians such as Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump have been able to imbue foolery into their image and character as a counterweight to overt political ambitions or, in the case of Trump, it's playing by a different script altogether – by the time his 'tossed salad' approach to sentences have been fact-checked, he's moved on to the next course. Beppe Grillo must be one of very few comedians where the job has been an advantage in a political arena. 

Grillo is an admirer of Farage and has aligned Five Star with UKIP in the European Parliament (although the two parties split earlier this week). Like Farage within the UK, his role does seem to be more effective from the sidelines, with Grillo not having been elected himself (a car accident in 1980 means Grillo has a record for manslaughter, and is not eligible for office). It might be partly how he's managed to keep the image of a comedian without it being a term that does him harm. His movement are running for office, so can be serious, while he can play up whatever image suits the situation. It's been noted in the past that while he can criticise a politician, if a politician volleys back it looks unprofessional to argue or address a comedian.

Although Grillo seems to have lurched to the right, there are some persuasive arguments that almost all his political choices – including the holding of both right and left views – is down to a movement attempting to resist becoming a party in the traditional sense. They see the whole system as corrupt and uphold 'direct democracy' through discussion and online polls, leading to a more pluralistic as well as populist manifesto.

The alliance with UKIP could be interpreted, rather loosely, as the choice of shacking up with an odd bunch rather than the parties whose very existence they oppose. When it comes to something like Grillo's attack on Sadiq Khan, it again becomes ambiguous when considered it was during a comedy routine and after him praising the Mayor. Few would accept the 'just kidding' defence, but it is on such ambiguities and doubt that winning politicians are now thriving on. Mud can't stick in the same way.

In his last comedy show Grillo vs Grillo he was aware of this tension himself, expressing a wish to see the world with the doubt of a comedian again. If Grillo's critics are correct and he is the next Mussolini, with all that political certainty, then we must hope it is the comedian-Grillo who is the stronger half of his soul – and that's using the term 'comedian' to mean an expressive artist, rather than as an insult.

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