A Smorgasbord of British Satire: Wit for a King

Of all the different types of humour that hovers around in the big scary world that is the media today, there is perhaps none more respected and valued than satire. Mark Twain once said, “The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven”, summing up nicely why satire and similar forms of humour exist and are so popular. Unlike any other humour, satire does not just improve with pragmatics, it requires it. People feel smart when they get it, and curious when they don’t, and can encourage people to keep up with the news and events. And, while I fully admit to a certain bias in their favour, Britain in particular have a certain spark for subtle-y humiliating adversaries and allies alike. Some are amazing, some are abysmal, some I'll touch on here. Well, the ones I know enough about to have an opinionated snort at.

One of the first examples of a television broadcast to feature parodies of news and politics was a 1962 late-night BBC broadcast that went by the name of That Was The Week That Was. Hosted by now legendary satirist David Frost, the show pushed boundaries and caused people to question the famous unbiased attitude of the BBC’s political agenda. However, the show never showed favouritism towards a political party as a whole, and instead focused on the incompetent acts of individual members and in general, lampooned the establishment in a successful attempt to appeal to the lower classes of the audience classification. As Frost put it, they wanted to "Change the world, one joke at a time".

This paved the way for other British satires to establish themselves and be taken seriously by the British public. Have I Got News For You is as simple as satire programs get. Host, four panelists, taking the piss out of the week's events. This simplicity, however, has managed to give the show an astounding lifespan of over 44 seasons and counting. The mix of politicians, journalists, comedians and other controversial celebrities as guests are a factor in maintaining the constant current-ness and controversy and roping in various audiences that want, among other things, the political wit and the light hearted whimsies, as well as a different guest host every episode to keep things fresh. Sorry, Angus, but you were terrible.
Oddly enough, I find this three minute clip to be the best representation of the show.

Of course, the great can't exist without the terrible to establish the great as being great, and to me, the biggest insult to satire that Blighty ever spat out was Russell Howard's Good News. This monstrosity focuses less on the main headlines of the week, and instead targets news stories that are more obscure, but have more opportunities for comedy. In addition, the show does not rely on pragmatics as much as it’s more sophisticated counterparts. Instead, it chooses to fully explain the story before the host, aptly named Russell Howard, begins his joke. It also features considerably more profanity and juvenile antics, and occasionally includes videos found online. Good News, like it’s British satire counterparts mentioned earlier, are featured on the BBC, specifically BBC Three, a channel of which I have made my feelings very clear. To empathise this, the show is edited in a manner that gives it a low budget feel, with a small, somewhat grimy studio, basic camera cuts, and Howard himself dressing in casual attire. He's essentially the British Dane Cook. Avoid at all costs.

When searching for the greatest British satirical program, however, there can only be one winner. That winner is Brass Eye. I won't say much about it, I'll let the clip speak for itself. We can't be friends if you don't find this funny. Which is fine, because it's the type of clip that can really divide people, and if you don't like it, you won't want to be friends with anyone who is. It'll make sense when you watch it.

 This entire entry was just an excuse to play that clip. I hope it was worth it for both of us.