Cheers! I'm going to be doing more true stories like this soon. I find people enjoy them more, and I've apparently had an interesting life I can tell jokes about
I don’t like broad sweeps either, generally a bad idea and leads to worse ideas. And in this context, worse art. And as you say; we are all animals and no one is hollier than anyone else
Definitely. I've seen some bigger names in poetry/comedy decrying the evils of 'dark humour' as if anyone who makes a joke about a thing supports the thing. It's a sort of moral posturing that is so pompous I've had to take a step back from some things, focus on my community here, and meet more genuine comedians and poets who understand nuance.
It's always the people who whine about 'the privileged' who can get to and from festivals without having to go into their overdraft, also. There's a slippery elitism to artist deciding what is, and what isn't, art, based solely on how many moral messages it hammers in. It silences an important voice, the one that goes through dark shit and comes out of it not just surviving on the bare minimum care the state gives out after a 9 month wait, but which comes out of the dark shit with a book full of jokes and a passion for telling those jokes.
From my time spent in that world, I certainly saw a lot of group-think in regards to art and politics etc. If I’m honest, I think I allowed it to affect my work and what I was writing and probably still does to an extent.
I wonder how much it effects other poets and also audiences. A lot of my mates and family members didn’t really like coming to see my perform, as they didn’t like all the moral and political preaching that would inevitably take place, and all the backsplapping that went with it
I'm sorry to hear they didn't like seeing the shows. I've had that same experience, so I would say it's effected the poetry scene a bit.
Took my sister to one in 2019 as my photographer. There was an old lady there who creeped us both out. I won't get into it, but I now avoid any event I know she's attending, and I very rarely avoid people.
I didn't go back for a few years, and last time I went it was all very different. They somehow managed to turn up the political angle, but it was still the most inclusive night I could think of, so as a comedy poet, I thought I'd give them a go again.
Took a few friends, and we left early because my friends and I got quite tired of each poet repeating the same talking points. It was just a long line of white people with blue hair telling other white people that white people are evil and that white people should stop being evil, and all the audience was white too. I kept thinking, who does this benefit? What is the intended effect of this?
It was very odd. It felt like a sort of purity ritual that rewards people for saying they are good, rather than rewarding them for being good. A great breeding ground for narcissists, really. They seemed to be competing to make the most political points in under 6 minutes.
I think it's affected my work as well, mainly, that many places stopped being welcoming to the comedian poets. That said, there are ways we can twist it to our advantage. I don't mind people not liking me, for example, so I can happily act out a cartoonishly evil government vying to euthanise disabled people (as per my poem M.A.I.D) and if someone doesn't get the point I'm making, and shakes their head instead of laughing, I feel sorry for them. It's happened before, and minutes later a very serious poet came up to me and said she loved the poem, so you never know where your supporters will be.
You just have to be you.
And you're good at that.
At the end of the day, my cat likes me and she's judgemental as well, so I know I'm doing alright. All else is secondary!
'It was just a long line of white people with blue hair telling other white people that white people are evil and that white people should stop being evil, and all the audience was white too' - that made me laugh, mate.
Been to pletnty of those type nights, fortuateley there's still a few nights out there (as far as I know) that get a good balance of acts and encourage the variety.
I do yeah, taking a break right now to work on new material (as I realise I should really be doing the comedy nights), but I might be in Liverpool end of the month to help out with a battle rap night!
This was spot on, mate. Keep it going
Cheers! I'm going to be doing more true stories like this soon. I find people enjoy them more, and I've apparently had an interesting life I can tell jokes about
I don’t like broad sweeps either, generally a bad idea and leads to worse ideas. And in this context, worse art. And as you say; we are all animals and no one is hollier than anyone else
Definitely. I've seen some bigger names in poetry/comedy decrying the evils of 'dark humour' as if anyone who makes a joke about a thing supports the thing. It's a sort of moral posturing that is so pompous I've had to take a step back from some things, focus on my community here, and meet more genuine comedians and poets who understand nuance.
It's always the people who whine about 'the privileged' who can get to and from festivals without having to go into their overdraft, also. There's a slippery elitism to artist deciding what is, and what isn't, art, based solely on how many moral messages it hammers in. It silences an important voice, the one that goes through dark shit and comes out of it not just surviving on the bare minimum care the state gives out after a 9 month wait, but which comes out of the dark shit with a book full of jokes and a passion for telling those jokes.
From my time spent in that world, I certainly saw a lot of group-think in regards to art and politics etc. If I’m honest, I think I allowed it to affect my work and what I was writing and probably still does to an extent.
I wonder how much it effects other poets and also audiences. A lot of my mates and family members didn’t really like coming to see my perform, as they didn’t like all the moral and political preaching that would inevitably take place, and all the backsplapping that went with it
I'm sorry to hear they didn't like seeing the shows. I've had that same experience, so I would say it's effected the poetry scene a bit.
Took my sister to one in 2019 as my photographer. There was an old lady there who creeped us both out. I won't get into it, but I now avoid any event I know she's attending, and I very rarely avoid people.
I didn't go back for a few years, and last time I went it was all very different. They somehow managed to turn up the political angle, but it was still the most inclusive night I could think of, so as a comedy poet, I thought I'd give them a go again.
Took a few friends, and we left early because my friends and I got quite tired of each poet repeating the same talking points. It was just a long line of white people with blue hair telling other white people that white people are evil and that white people should stop being evil, and all the audience was white too. I kept thinking, who does this benefit? What is the intended effect of this?
It was very odd. It felt like a sort of purity ritual that rewards people for saying they are good, rather than rewarding them for being good. A great breeding ground for narcissists, really. They seemed to be competing to make the most political points in under 6 minutes.
I think it's affected my work as well, mainly, that many places stopped being welcoming to the comedian poets. That said, there are ways we can twist it to our advantage. I don't mind people not liking me, for example, so I can happily act out a cartoonishly evil government vying to euthanise disabled people (as per my poem M.A.I.D) and if someone doesn't get the point I'm making, and shakes their head instead of laughing, I feel sorry for them. It's happened before, and minutes later a very serious poet came up to me and said she loved the poem, so you never know where your supporters will be.
You just have to be you.
And you're good at that.
At the end of the day, my cat likes me and she's judgemental as well, so I know I'm doing alright. All else is secondary!
'It was just a long line of white people with blue hair telling other white people that white people are evil and that white people should stop being evil, and all the audience was white too' - that made me laugh, mate.
Been to pletnty of those type nights, fortuateley there's still a few nights out there (as far as I know) that get a good balance of acts and encourage the variety.
Do you mainly perform in Manchester?
I do yeah, taking a break right now to work on new material (as I realise I should really be doing the comedy nights), but I might be in Liverpool end of the month to help out with a battle rap night!
Oh good man! I'm a battle rap fan. Did my one battle a few back; had a great time, kinda wished I'd done more of it. Hope it goes well, mate