Last night’s RTÉ Radio One’s The Media Show host Conor Brophy discussed political satire with England-born Kilkenny-based Sean Hardie – one of the brains behind Spitting Image, Bremner, Bird and Fortune and Not the Nine O’Clock News.
Mr Hardie said the Barry Murphy-led series Irish Pictorial Weekly was the best satire “I’ve seen in any country for a long while.”
He also discussed the ‘controversial’ depiction of Squee above (but not the possibly more ‘controversial’ depiction of presidential assistant Kevin McCarthy).
Conor Brophy: “Did you bat those things around though in terms of whether you would actually go down that direction or not, because I’m thinking one of the things you don’t want to do is get into belittling people because of the way they appear.”
Sean Hardie: “It’s a very difficult one that, because sometimes what you want to try to do is get the essence of what a persons like. So, if someone is like a bear or someone is like a cow or someone is like a monkey, it’s a very useful image to have in your mind and their physical body language is bound up with it. There’s a very interesting case in point with Oliver Callan and our president as to whether you reference the fact of what our president looks like.
I mean Oliver is a terrific impressionist. It’s an awkward kind of an area as to whether…I mean the fact about Michael D is – he’s a great man, he’s done wonderful things and his heart is exactly in the right place but he’s a terrible old gasbag and when you see him walking out and representing the nation, there is something which says our dignity is not quite where it ought to be at the moment, which doesn’t belittle his achievements as a president but the physical thing is – do you do it, don’t you do it?
It’s a fine line. If all you’re doing is saying so and so has got a stutter, you’re not really achieving anything. But if it’s part of who they are, then yeah, it’s kind of fair game….”
FIGHT!
Listen here
Thanks Liam Geraghty
The only objection i have is that oliver callan is just not funny
+ 1/2
When you’re a poor man’s Mario Rosenstock, you really need to take a look at yourself
Yep.
Your all wrong.
He’s right about Irish Pictorial Weekly – Barry Murphy is a genius
The uncivil servant sketches are worth watching the show for alone.
It really is the funniest political comedy production since Scrap Saturday. Imho.
I loved most of it. The opening sequence with enda wandering round with his hand out gets me every time.
Callan is pre-approved, state sponsored safe satire. It’s rubbish and predictable.
The Higgins thing is being driven by centre-right austerity mongers who hate intellectualism and prefer to measure and view everything through the bottom line of a balance sheet.
I can’t say that I agree with your second point, but your first one is nail on the head.
Callan is all of the above and wojous in delivery!
On your second point, I’d rather believe that it is a swipe at those who are
craven to political parties and their own careers, especially the Labour apparatchiks
in RTE.
The more satire a county has, the less open and robust political debate it has – Just like Ireland with our RTE and Irish Independent group.
That’s why Irish people always say slightly unpopular things to each other in a slightly theatrical accent.
“The more satire a county has, the less open and robust political debate it has – Just like Ireland with our RTE and Irish Independent group”
ye wha?
I’m puzzled by that too. Can you expand on that, T?
I pity you.
Ah no, Mr. T is great. Bitta colour about the place. And I don’t mean that in a patronising way to him, he wouldn’t have that. He’s got some serious beef and it’s entertaining and certainly better than a thread full of ‘right on’ back slapping.
Is that what people think of Higgins? That he’s an undignified presence? I’ve always thought of him as one of the most respectable public faces of this country. Whatever about satire—I’ve no problem at all with it—suggesting the actual man himself is making us look bad reveals a much darker impulse for the jokes than I’d imagined.
Higgins is doing his best. Usually supporting the economic sustainability of organic coffee growers in Syria or something similar. He’s waves at us from sunny exotic destinations, as Presidents usually did before the two Marys.
Reference to height comes from a clown as any half wit could see where the real humour is. The laugh is on us… the tax payer.
Correction: “as Presidents usually did before the two Marys.” should be “as Presidents usually did before and up to Michael D”.
He’s waves at us from sunny exotic destinations, as Presidents usually did before the two Marys.
what exactly is it that the Mary’s did that Higgins isn’t doing?
“I mean the fact about Michael D is – he’s a great man, he’s done wonderful things and his heart is exactly in the right place ”
ok fair enough
“but he’s a terrible old gasbag”
ok fair enough
and when you see him walking out and representing the nation, there is something which says our dignity is not quite where it ought to be at the moment
huh? what does he mean by this?
he’s gasbag but he fits right in at the kind of events he goes to.
I think Michael D is doing a great job, even if he is a gasbag at times. Any idea who will replace him, assuming he’s not going to run again?
European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly is likely to run next time. I’ve always suspected Brian O’Driscoll might have his sights set on the Presidency at some stage.
Ah would ya stop trying to upset me
Brendan O’Conner