Comedy in a time of political unrest

Surprise referendum results, snap elections, political chaos. Has recent politics changed UK comedy? We speak to some of the finest satirists on the scene to take the temperature of what our turbulent political landscape has meant for their comedy

Feature by Edy Hurst | 15 Jun 2017

At the time of writing this, the results of a snap election have just been announced, and it’s perhaps fair to say that politically the last few years have been eventful. From the shock of Brexit, the rise of Trump and more political tumult, it seems like Armando Iannucci might have gotten a job writing for real life. 

We’re living in a country that’s more divided in political opinion than it has been for a generation. And so, without a shadow of a doubt, the question on everyone’s mind surely must be, “Yes, but how is this affecting our local comedy scene?!”

Well, fear not dear reader, for we got in touch with some of the latest additions to the world of political comedy. We went to see whether the political climate has led to change in the weather with audiences and nights.

Political comedy is nothing new, and topical comedy is a mainstay of TV. While the bread and butter of many a television act's career in the UK is panel shows, beyond Channel 4's The Last Leg there hasn’t been much of a hunger for the Daily Show style of satire that dominates American comedy.

This may be changing. Recently the BBC announced a commission from internet satire giants The Daily Mash to create their own up-to-the-minute satire show, with Nish Kumar presenting. As well as this, Viceland have been producing shows such as Hate Thy Neighbour with Jamali Maddix speaking with radical extremists across the world.

So has the circuit changed because of this? Have comedians politicised in response?

“Some of my material has actually become more relevant since Brexit,” says past Skinny Spotlighter Chris Kehoe. “I have started performing things differently as I am aware my view [politically left-leaning remainer] is now a minority view.”

Kehoe has been performing a mix of political comedy in his act since he began a few years ago, but has always been mindful of maintaining a balance. “I have found that people on the right are more ready to laugh at themselves but then again they're winning at the minute, so it's easier for them.”

Have audiences reacted significantly to these recent events? Last time there was a Conservative government the UK Alternative Comedy scene was born. Rahul Kohli, a stand-up who performs a mix of storytelling and political comedy, writing for the News Quiz and appearing on Radio 3 and 4, has yet to notice a significant shift in audiences.

“It’s made the audience more receptive to political material,” he suggests, “just ‘cause politics is continuously what people are talking about now, especially Brexit.” Kohli treads a balance in his set between the anecdotal and social commentary, and performs for a variety of audiences, many of whom aren’t necessarily looking for political discussion.

“I used to do loads of specific party politics when I first started,” Kohli says, “and I found very quickly the audience couldn’t care less.” This isn’t to say audiences aren’t politicised – they’re just less interested in the grey suits of Westminster. “I watched a lot of political comedians I like who’ve found mainstream success – Dave Chapelle, Chris Rock – and I’ve found they talked about politically charged issues, but from their life perspective, which is how I followed suit from then in my comedy.”

This idea of making the political personal is definitely something that came up in a lot of discussions we had with interviewees. A movement away from lambasting headlines and towards the specifics of day-to-day life. This can be seen especially in Channel 4’s latest blaps series Outsiders, starring an international cast of Sofie Hagen, Jamali Maddix, Mae Martin, Pierre Novelli and Yasmine Akram. The short form series takes a look at the issues faced by a diverse cast of comedians in a way that isn’t overtly political.

It’s also a route taken by Sheffield based absurdist Sean Morley. “Sometimes I think there's a lot more political content in someone talking about the actual material realities of their own life: their job, their mental health problems, their relationship with class or poverty or gender,” Morley says, but this doesn’t mean there’s absolutely no political element to his act.

His performances – which range from falling over on to the stage shaking everyone's hands, to pretending he hasn’t turned up to the gig and trying to shut the show down – always seems to have a political edge. “I'm trying to embody someone arguing in bad faith because the position they've been put in doesn't allow them to acknowledge any personal responsibility despite clearly being incompetent, which is absolutely inspired by politicians!”

While his act doesn’t deal with specific party politics, Sean regularly runs Regather, a comedy night taking place in a Sheffield Cooperative. As you may imagine, this brings in a predominantly left-leaning crowd, something Sean is all too aware of: “I don't think I've ever even seen a leave voter, but I hear rumours they're nine feet tall and walk around dragging huge wooden clubs behind them, so it's best not to rile them where possible.”

These acts all deal in the political, but it’s clear that a dissection of particular party policies have not become a staple of the circuit. “I think Brexit has made little to no impact on people's appetite for political comedy, because austerity already switched people on to it,” Chris Coltrane suggests.

Coltrane runs Lolitics, a London based political night that recently garnered the scorn of the Daily Mail. Here Chris provides a platform for comedians to perform political material in the heart of Camden, with each month’s show released as a podcast. Also an activist in the direct action group UK Uncut since 2011, Coltrane is certainly the most politically active of our interviewees, but he says he hasn’t noticed a discernible difference within audiences or reactions.

Perhaps this is a result of “the gorgeous inclusive lefty bubble that I almost exclusively gig to,” notes Coltrane. Or perhaps it’s that, as mentioned, an overtly left-leaning comedy night will naturally bring in an audience already politically engaged and on side.

Coltrane is aware of this, and is clear on his focus: “I am good at taking people who agree with me politically but feel absolutely shattered inside from the truly dreadful state of the world, and giving them some smiles, and some hope, and restoring their soul a little bit.”

In a similar way to the increasing political bubbles we live in on social media, it would seem that many of the political comedy nights discussed above are shaped in the same way. It appears, however, that this hasn’t been brought on immediately from Brexit, but rather the existing opposition to particular types of politics.

So ultimately, has recent politics changed the comedy scene? Possibly not yet, but it’s certainly given those already dealing with social and political issues a need to change gears and reconsider. Whether that’s increasing their visibility, or the way they address an audience, it’s still to be seen whether the comedy scene will change or reshape in response.

One thing’s for sure: the next few months are set for even further change as comedians hurriedly tear up and rewrite their topical material on the road to Edinburgh.


Chris Coltrane runs the monthly night Lolitics, podcasted at theloliticspodcast.com. His show Make Love and Smash Fascism is at the Edinburgh Fringe at Banshee Labyrinth, 5-27 Aug, 3.30pm

Sean Morley runs Regather Comedy Club each month in Sheffield

Rahul Kohli is performing two shows at the Edinburgh Fringe: Newcastle Brown Tales, Laughing Horse at Cabaret Voltaire, 4-27 Aug, 1pm; and A Not So Chubby, Brown, The Stand Comedy Club, 2-27 Aug, 7.05pm

Chris Kehoe is performing Manologue at Gulliver's, Manchester, 13 Jul, 7.30pm and The Second Coming of Chris at the Great Yorkshire Fringe, 23 Jul, 7pm