Left-wing or socialist leaning comedians around the world?

[Thomas]

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]

There's a reason Oxide Ghosts isn't getting a home release.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

Wasn't Iannucci fairly anti-Corbyn or am I imagining that?

[ajsmith2]

Wasn't Iannucci fairly anti-Corbyn or am I imagining that?

Totally anti Corbyn, and as far as I could see in a completely unanalytical and party line adhering way too. It was well rubbish.

[EOLAN]

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.

Yep, I went back to listen  to one episode. Had his wife on and she went on a virulent rant about anyone who supports someone like Bernie over Hillary was a fool. She stated that all the evidence and facts were on her side (without stating much about what the facts and evidence was)  and those fools cost Hillary the election. Could hear Greg feeling a bit awkward about how up front and over the top she was; though he would generally espouse similar views but not quite as openly.

[tribalfusion]

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.

You're being quite disingenuous here. Morris clearly stated that he wanted to examine British and US  imperialism in the Mossadegh coup which is far from surprising as a motivation given the topic. His projects broadly understood also tend in this general direction.

I've stated several times that I don't regard Morris et al as a left vanguard. I named several people in my initial post who are more left oriented but regardless, Morris merits at least a mention in passing when discussing the state of political humor on the left (broadly understood) in the Anglo-American world.

[tribalfusion]

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

Thanks Kenny. I mentioned Mark Thomas in my initial post (he's a strong example of the sort of comedian I had in mind) and I know Josie Long's work too and agree she's left of center though it's not nearly as prominent in her comedy in general.

One thing which is noteworthy so far is that almost everyone under discussion is at least late 30s and usually 50s and up.  Is it fair to say that there hasn't been a generational renewal of the sort of left comedian represented by Rob Newman, Mark Steel and Mark Thomas etc?

I had seen Chris Coltrane mentioned as an heir to that tradition but he seems to have vanished entirely and I haven't found much in the way of prominent peers in this regard.

[Dewt]

Yep, I went back to listen  to one episode. Had his wife on and she went on a virulent rant about anyone who supports someone like Bernie over Hillary was a fool. She stated that all the evidence and facts were on her side (without stating much about what the facts and evidence was)  and those fools cost Hillary the election. Could hear Greg feeling a bit awkward about how up front and over the top she was; though he would generally espouse similar views but not quite as openly.

I am really comforted to learn that Greg Proops probably went to the shitlib side because he has an awful wife

[tribalfusion]

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

I know quite a bit what being left-wing entails historically which is why I said that to some extent it will depend on context and isn't simply static everywhere and always which should hardly raise an eyebrow among anyone who has studied the issues at hand.

Ideological commitments which result in being perceived as left-wing in 2020 are not always the same as they were in 1920 or in 1820. 

[tribalfusion]

Totally anti Corbyn, and as far as I could see in a completely unanalytical and party line adhering way too. It was well rubbish.

I agree with this and of course I found it very disappointing to say the least. The fact that I listed him after discussing a bunch of comedians (last on a long list which was aiming to be more exhaustive) shouldn't be taken to be an uncritical endorsement of his position(s). I simply thought he was significant enough that he merited a passing mention given his history of political comedy.  He does represent a sort of prominent soft liberal/left comedian in the Anglo-American context with all that implies.

[Dewt]

Mate, from one cunt-toner to another: you have the tone of a cunt

[KennyMonster]

I agree with this and of course I found it very disappointing to say the least. The fact that I listed him after discussing a bunch of comedians (last on a long list which was aiming to be more exhaustive) shouldn't be taken to be an uncritical endorsement of his position(s). I simply thought he was significant enough that he merited a passing mention given his history of political comedy.  He does represent a sort of prominent soft liberal/left comedian in the Anglo-American context with all that implies.

Did

We've seen his true colours now.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

What is the point of this?

[Pink Gregory]

In all fairness if Greg Proops went shitlib because of his wife he might not have felt strongly the other way about in the first place.

[Dewt]

That's what's comforting about it. I like him a lot more if he's just being influenced by his girlboss wife

[pigamus]

Bit patronising

[MortSahlFan]

Left-wing without the political correctness, and also not afraid to criticize the (right-winged) Democratic Party.

1. Mort Sahl
2. Bill Hicks
3. George Carlin

[Dewt]

Bit patronising

I cannot believe I have been condescending towards Greg Proops, an idiot

[Pink Gregory]

What I meant was he just might not have spoken about it until his wife got more involved in activism for Clinton.  He might have talked a big game before but he's a standup, I don't expect to go to him for solutions.

Again, the kind of person that thinks calling Trump 'orange' is some kinf of burn.  I think 2016 broke a lot of people's brains.

[TheBrownBottle]

Left-wing without the political correctness, and also not afraid to criticize the (right-winged) Democratic Party.

1. Mort Sahl
2. Bill Hicks
3. George Carlin

I always had Hicks & Carlin down as centrist libertarians - happy to be wrong.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

George Formby and his wife were strongly opposed to Apartheid. No idea how they voted when it came to UK general elections. Probably not Tories, but who knows.

[Twonty Gostelow]

Glaring omission of Ben Elton anywhere in this thread (or the right-wing thread, chucklehead).

He was the most prominent left-wing comedian of the 1980s and endorsed Corbyn on whogivesashitday the eve of last year's election. Still doing stand-up.

[a peepee tipi]

First one that came to mind who hasn't yet been mentioned and whose output is overtly political is Dave Anthony

[Thursday]

Proops did seem a lot more to the left than just boring liberal for a time. The choice between Bernie and Hilary revealed a lot of American comedians for who they really were. Jen Kirkman was similar I think.

[evilcommiedictator]

The landscape has shifted so much since Hicks died, but pretty much every one of his positions is anti-establishment, but who knows if he would have wound up like Rogan in this age. People who don't like Hicks think he would have, but they're a touch biased ;)

[Thursday]

Yeah it's very difficult to tell because lots of anti-establishment people seem to think the establishment is "woke people on twitter"

[Old Nehamkin]

Proops did seem a lot more to the left than just boring liberal for a time. The choice between Bernie and Hilary revealed a lot of American comedians for who they really were. Jen Kirkman was similar I think.

With Proops and Kirkman it's not just that they rejected Bernie, it's that they reacted to the 2016 election by doubling down as hardline Clinton loyalists and have spent the last four years in a state of craven apologism for the corporate wing of the Democratic party and kneejerk spitefulness towards anyone even vaguely linked to the progressive movement. In Kirkman's case this mentality extends to a deranged belief that Bernie, AOC and other left-wing congresspeople are actually "Russian chaos agents" directly controlled by Putin, and I'm not sure that Proops is any less insane in that regard (I just went to check his Twitter but he apparently has me blocked - don't think I've ever interacted with him).

[SavageHedgehog]

The landscape has shifted so much since Hicks died, but pretty much every one of his positions is anti-establishment, but who knows if he would have wound up like Rogan in this age. People who don't like Hicks think he would have, but they're a touch biased ;)

I think Carlin's 90s material is an example of something which read fairly Left at the time, but reads a bit more Right now, or at least it's always cited whenever anyone wants to argue that all comedy is offensive, any attempt to stop being offensive is a death knell for the very idea of comedy etc.

[Thursday]

With Proops and Kirkman it's not just that they rejected Bernie, it's that they reacted to the 2016 election by doubling down as hardline Clinton loyalists and have spent the last four years in a state of craven apologism for the corporate wing of the Democratic party and kneejerk spitefulness towards anyone even vaguely linked to the progressive movement. In Kirkman's case this mentality extends to a deranged belief that Bernie, AOC and other left-wing congresspeople are actually "Russian chaos agents" directly controlled by Putin, and I'm not sure that Proops is any less insane in that regard (I just went to check his Twitter but he apparently has me blocked - don't think I've ever interacted with him).

Yep, fair.

[tribalfusion]

First one that came to mind who hasn't yet been mentioned and whose output is overtly political is Dave Anthony

I already mentioned Dave Anthony actually.  He is a DSA member too and definitely fits here...


https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,81304.msg4255749.html#msg4255749

[tribalfusion]

I think Carlin's 90s material is an example of something which read fairly Left at the time, but reads a bit more Right now, or at least it's always cited whenever anyone wants to argue that all comedy is offensive, any attempt to stop being offensive is a death knell for the very idea of comedy etc.

Carlin is a good example of someone who was impacted by left currents but was not engaged in politics in a more systematic way and also fell into right-wing misanthropic views periodically as well.

There are similar elements in Bill Hicks (earlier on in particular) and especially in people like Doug Stanhope.