Laughter police on the job

The blogger Tim Blair often upsets a certain kind of reader — the sort, basically, who insist humour should be only of the authorised variety. If you have had the misfortune to attend one of those purported “comedy” festivals, cue and response will be sadly familiar.

“I say, little Johnny Howard….”

(laughter)

“I say, little red Speedos….”

(more laughter)

That’s the thing about the left: they’re very easy to please just so long as the punchlines match expectations. Anything that strays from the party line, well that must be condemned.

And fair enough, too, as free speech is sacred thing which should be available to nitwits as to anyone else. So the comrades go on Twitter and pour out the facetious anger. As with mirth of the comedy-festival variety, where laughing in chorus at the lamely unfunny serves as a means of self-affirmation and tribal identification, a scolding presented as humour will be sure to earn the approbation of the like-minded. If the critique is sufficiently salty, expect The Age and SMH to excerpt it, as cutting and pasting the thoughts of someone else is much easier (and cheaper) than the rather more demanding chore of reporting the story itself.

Twitter tirades are one thing; they cost taxpayers nothing. But SBS, which is supported by the public purse, quite another. After Blair’s latest column, which made sport and comparison of cancer hoaxer Belle Gibson and the cross-dressed lavatory-liberation set, the broadcaster gave the run of its website to a certain Rebecca Shaw, modestly billed as “one of Australia’s leading satirists.” She begins thus, neatly if unconsciously capturing why leftist laughmongers are such a sorry, predictable lot:

When writing satire, it is important to choose the right target. Satirical humour seems to be most effective when aimed at the people in power, the privileged, those with every advantage. It should usually also be identifiable as satire, and it should also hopefully be funny.

Funny, eh? Funny as in the the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, where Ms Shaw (above) last year was an honoured guest. Her  Twitter work can be seen projected on the screen behind her, as of roughly 5 minutes and 15 seconds into this YouTube clip

 A sample:

I don’t need femisemm (sic) because god made Adam and Eve not Equal pay or Equal Work

And the audience roars.

Blair’s satire, by contrast, is actually funny — especially his latest column, which can be read via the link below.

A passing, final thought: How lucky are those who enjoy a chuckle that Rupert Murdoch, 85, continues to draw breath. If Blair’s column had appeared in any publication but a News Corp one, he would have had the company lawyer on the phone in a trice, fretting about complaints to the Press Council.

— roger franklin

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