Comedians for Corbyn? They were keeping shtoom – or serenading Farage
Standup is supposedly a leftie haven. But from what I saw this week, the scene offered little support for the Labour leader – and, despite some droll insights, a lack of real debate
Where were you when you heard the exit poll? I was at a comedy show: Matt Forde’s Election Party Lock-In at Soho theatre in London, to be precise. The satirist, self-proclaimed Blairite and host of Dave TV’s Unspun had just canvassed his (all-white, all-male) politician panel for predictions, which ranged between a 45- and 75-seat Tory majority. Cut to David Dimbleby on the BBC live feed, the dropping of a political bombshell – and raucous delight and disbelief in this subterranean room. Comedy is about surprise, right? Here was a bigger shock than anyone present anticipated.
I spent the final week of the election campaign seeking out live political comedy. Away from the TV screens, able to be as current, candid and non-partisan as they pleased, what were comedians saying about May v Corbyn? One of the country’s most venerable political jokers is Andy Zaltzman, whose Bugle podcast enjoyed a rare live outing, also at Soho. The guest co-host when I attended was Nish Kumar: another fine social commentator, whose leftwing sympathies are usually clear – although at the Bugle I attended, no one was pinning colours to masts.
Related: I admit it: I was wrong about Jeremy Corbyn | Ayesha Hazarika
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