Left-wing or socialist leaning comedians around the world?

[monkfromhavana]

"First they came for the left-wing comedians......"

[tribalfusion]

You asked for comics who were left wing, not c*nts who like to think their are but are too devious or cowardly to actually put their money where their mouth is.

Has Morris every expressed any political leanings either way?

As I stated, all of the people I mentioned referred to themselves as being left of center and at least some of their material reflects that.  Not to the extent of the first group of people I referenced in my opening post but enough to warrant a passing mention.

Morris has indeed spoken to his own political leanings which is why I cited him as well. It's true it's not something he does regularly and I wouldn't put him in the same category as  Mark Thomas or Rob Newman per se but felt it was worth including him at the end of a longer list with the caveat I provided.

I'd like to personally apologize to you for offending your sensibilities with this topic.

[pigamus]

[tribalfusion]

Thanks for contributing but the list you provided is not terribly relevant.

[Old Nehamkin]

Has Morris every expressed any political leanings either way?

Morris has always vaguely struck me as a left-libertarian more than a socialist, but I don't think he's ever publicly expressed support for any specific candidate or party. He certainly has a very strong anti-imperialist stance and it's clear from his two films and his interviews about them that he's contemptuous of the war and terror and its legacy on foreign and domestic policy, and thinks the British and American intelligence services are institutionally racist and islamophobic, so there's that. He also took Martin Amis to task for Islamophobia in a 2007 Guardian article:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/nov/25/bookscomment.religion

[tribalfusion]

Morris has always vaguely struck me as a left-libertarian more than a socialist, but I don't think he's ever publicly expressed support for any specific candidate or party. He certainly has a very strong anti-imperialist stance and it's clear from his two films and his interviews about them that he thinks the British and American intelligence services are institutionally racist and islamophobic, so there's that. He also took Martin Amis to task for Islamophobia in a 2007 Guardian article:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/nov/25/bookscomment.religion

That's the sense I have from his interviews and work more generally. Morris has been interested for years in making a film about the coup against Mossadegh in Iran in the 50s as well.  While I don't claim this makes him some sort of socialist, it's surprising to me that anyone could look at his work and interviews and conclude that Morris is not left of center by Anglo-American standards

[KennyMonster]

That's the sense I have from his interviews and work more generally. Morris has been interested for years in making a film about the coup against Mossadegh in Iran in the 50s as well.  While I don't claim this makes him some sort of socialist, it's surprising to me that anyone could look at his work and interviews and conclude that Morris is not left of center by Anglo-American standards

Yeah but that's not left wing, the centre has moved very far right over the last 30-40 years.

Morris plays his cards closely to his chest in terms of his political beliefs, especially any party preference he might have at any time and I don't blame him.

And I don't care how Herring and Iannucci like to declare themselves, you don't wait for a genuinely left wing Labour party, and then campaign against it and still be left wing.

[Noodle Lizard]

I often find myself thinking about Morris and his place in the kind of polarised political climate we have now. From everything I've heard (and I think I've heard just about all he's ever publicly said), I'd say he's genuinely and consistently been anti-establishment, which isn't necessarily a political view in and of itself and could place you on either side of the spectrum depending on what the overarching narrative is at any given time. It seems as though his real interest, as far as his work goes, lies in satirising/highlighting the corruption of power - whether that be by the media, the government or, more recently, technology. I think people of all political persuasions could probably share his stances on those things.

[sevendaughters]

I often find myself thinking about Morris and his place in the kind of polarised political climate we have now. From everything I've heard (and I think I've heard just about all he's ever publicly said), I'd say he's genuinely and consistently been anti-establishment, which isn't necessarily a political view in and of itself and could place you on either side of the spectrum depending on what the overarching narrative is at any given time. It seems as though his real interest, as far as his work goes, lies in satirising/highlighting the corruption of power - whether that be by the media, the government or, more recently, technology. I think people of all political persuasions could probably share his stances on those things.

I think there is a persuasive argument that satire requires the satirist to be at least somewhat beholden to power and perhaps even some part of the establishment, and also a fairly tolerant type of power to allow it. The reason something like TTOI works is because Iannucci understands that language of Blairite futzing as a different type of centrist, or Morris' media-savviness as part of the actual traditional media.

[tribalfusion]

Yeah but that's not left wing, the centre has moved very far right over the last 30-40 years.

Morris plays his cards closely to his chest in terms of his political beliefs, especially any party preference he might have at any time and I don't blame him.

And I don't care how Herring and Iannucci like to declare themselves, you don't wait for a genuinely left wing Labour party, and then campaign against it and still be left wing.

I'm not holding up Morris et al as revolutionary socialists and I agreed that Morris hasn't been very open about his politics.

However, it's hard to imagine someone not on the left wanting to make a film about Mossadegh to take one obvious example. While I also find Iannucci and Herring disappointing politically, I think they and Morris merit a passing mention here.

Regardless, if there are comedians I haven't named whom you think fit the bill more solidly, I'd genuinely love to know who they are.

[KennyMonster]

While I also find Iannucci and Herring disappointing politically, I think they.........merit a passing mention here.

Why ask about left wing comedians at all if your definition of what's left wing is going to be so broad that it has nothing to do with their actual politics?

Has 'left wing' been re defined overnight to mean 'some offal in a bag of skin' without me being told?
If so then yes, these are the most constructive merits I can find for those two examples[nb]3 stars.[/nb].

Regardless, if there are comedians I haven't named whom you think fit the bill more solidly, I'd genuinely love to know who they are.

Just because I think they are very poor examples doesn't automatically mean that I think or know that there are better examples out there, just that those examples are not very good.

Possibly could add Nick Revell, though.
Although he did work with LBC's James O'Brien so I'm not 100% sure.

[tribalfusion]

Why ask about left wing comedians at all if your definition of what's left wing is going to be so broad that it has nothing to do with their actual politics?

Has 'left wing' been re defined overnight to mean 'some offal in a bag of skin' without me being told?
If so then yes, these are the most constructive merits I can find for those two examples[nb]3 stars.[/nb].

Just because I think they are very poor examples doesn't automatically mean that I think or know that there are better examples out there, just that those examples are not very good.

Possibly could add Nick Revell, though.
Although he did work with LBC's James O'Brien so I'm not 100% sure.

So you can't come up with better examples which further highlights the incoherence of your position.

Left/right are to some extent relative terms. The fact that Morris et al are more left than most means it's appropriate to mention them when discussing the state of left comedy in the Anglophone world today such as it is. Are there hundreds of comedians remotely considering film projects about Mossadegh or similar?  No and it's obvious why anyone attempting to be fair and comprehensive about the topic should mention them (even if not before mentioning the other comedians I cited in 5 different languages).

If you want to call Morris and Herring 'some offal in a bag of skin' then you're saying far more about yourself than you are about anyone else and it's not flattering.

[EOLAN]

Eddie Pepitone should definitely be on the US list. If we are still allowed to out left-wing comedians.

[KennyMonster]

So you can't come up with better examples which further highlights the incoherence of your position.

Left/right are to some extent relative terms. The fact that Morris et al are more left than most means it's appropriate to mention them when discussing the state of left comedy in the Anglophone world today such as it is. Are there hundreds of comedians remotely considering film projects about Mossadegh or similar?  No and it's obvious why anyone attempting to be fair and comprehensive about the topic should mention them (even if not before mentioning the other comedians I cited in 5 different languages).

If you want to call Morris and Herring 'some offal in a bag of skin' then you're saying far more about yourself than you are about anyone else and it's not flattering.

Just because I can't come up with other examples doesn't mean you're right with yours, maybe there aren't any more examples?
(And I did mention Nick Revell as a possibility).

The fact that Morris wants to make that film doesn't automatically mean he is of the left, the content of the film would reveal that, after all the film could be a tale of the "heroism of the UK/US governments in overthrowing democracy for the sake of some oil - Hurrah for BP!"

and I never said that about Morris and Herring, I said it about Iannucci and Herring.

[chveik]

Left/right are to some extent relative terms.

why would you ask for left-wing comedians if you don't really know what being left-wing entails?

[jobotic]

Strange old attitude this first-time poster has.

[KennyMonster]

Strange old attitude this first-time poster has.

To be fair I too have strange old attitudes but I've posted many times.

[jobotic]

Yeah fair enough

[TheBrownBottle]

Yeah but that's not left wing, the centre has moved very far right over the last 30-40 years.

Morris plays his cards closely to his chest in terms of his political beliefs, especially any party preference he might have at any time and I don't blame him.

And I don't care how Herring and Iannucci like to declare themselves, you don't wait for a genuinely left wing Labour party, and then campaign against it and still be left wing.

Has Ianucci ever declared himself to be left wing?  I thought he was the embodiment of a Lib Dem (isn't he also a long-standing LD party member?).  I also always assumed that those SDP mugs on TMWRNJ were from Herring's personal stash.

I'm also unconvinced that being anti-interventionist is solely a left-wing position.  Peter Hitchens was as anti-Iraq War as anyone on the left.

[Old Nehamkin]

Iannucci describes himself as a "wooly left-of-centre liberal" in this 2018 interview promoting The Death of Stalin:

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/dont-play-it-for-laughs-a-qa-with-armando-iannucci/

[Thomas]

Morris plays his cards closely to his chest in terms of his political beliefs, especially any party preference he might have at any time and I don't blame him.

When Morris speaks in interviews, and from the subject choices in his work, it's very clear that he's a thorough critical thinker, probably an intimidatingly clever man - and even quite radical when you consider the gentle palatte of opinion on display around him in the British Media, Entertainment, and Comedy Worlds. Loads of his cohorts speak far more and say much less.

I remember reading that he was at the 'Block the Bridge' protest for the NHS back in 2011, when UK Uncut activists clogged up Westminster Bridge - that's likely as close as we'll ever get to anything approaching his party politics.

He's obviously clued up on the nefarious history of the FBI, humans rights abuses in the 'War on Terror', governmental dodginess, the role of the media in shaping our psyches, and all that. I'd be really interested to hear more of it eked out in podcasts and interviews.

Clearly he also knows a lot about animals.

[TheBrownBottle]

Clearly he also knows a lot about animals.

I'd heard he makes pigs smoke.  And feeds beef burgers to swans.

[Dusty Substance]

U.K - Michael Legge

U.S - Gregg Proops

[Old Nehamkin]

U.S - Gregg Proops

wat

[KennyMonster]

I remember reading that he was at the 'Block the Bridge' protest for the NHS back in 2011, when UK Uncut activists clogged up Westminster Bridge - that's likely as close as we'll ever get to anything approaching his party politics.

Sh1t I was part of that rabble and didn't know he was there too.

Damn, that would've been a cool celeb spotting moment.
There were some stand ups there, doing a few minutes each, (microphone was bicycle powered btw).

Mark Thomas,
Josie Long,
A stand up who pretended to be a Tory MP <---- anyone know who his name is/was?
Also a female black stand up who's name I can never remember,

There you go, 2 more clues for you there Mr OP.

Clearly he also knows a lot about animals.

Isn't that just a result of him studying Zoology at Uni rather than being The Only Looney Left In Town?

[Dusty Substance]

wat

I've not listened to Smartest Man In The World for four or five years but I'm sure he used to bang on about socialism - I might be wrong/misremembering.

[Pink Gregory]

U.K - Michael Legge

U.S - Gregg Proops

Greg Proops is a Hillary-stanning ultra liberal now.  I think he's left of centre libertarian at best.  Hated Bernie as far as I could tell.

Whereas he was being quite critical of Obama at the time, I think Trump broke his mind.  Wouldn't be the first.

[pcsjwgm]

Larry Charles.

[Thomas]

Kevin Eldon was at the bridge protest, too.

Isn't that just a result of him studying Zoology at Uni rather than being The Only Looney Left In Town?

Yeah, I was just adding that detail as a non-sequitur. Though in the Oxide Ghosts footage of Brass Eye, he does pat the elephant in a distinctly socialist way.

Steve Coogan is a Labour-head, providing the slightly amusing image last year of a 'VOTE LABOUR' billboard on the lawn outside his massive castle.

[KennyMonster]

Kevin Eldon was at the bridge protest, too.

Yeah, I was just adding that detail as a non-sequitur. Though in the Oxide Ghosts footage of Brass Eye, he does pat the elephant in a distinctly socialist way.

Steve Coogan is a Labour-head, providing in the slightly amusing image last year of a 'VOTE LABOUR' billboard on the lawn outside his massive castle.

Is 'patting the elephant' a term like 'spanking the monkey' but for the particularly well endowed?[nb]tickling the shrew is more apt for me, obvs.[/nb]