Mark Steel's In Town [split topic]

[sevendaughters]

listened to the Wigan one because of this thread. rang false and research felt cursory. some nicely-constructed jokes, like, but in the slightly laboured manner of the Radio 4 board treader.

[robhug]

I learnt from a Mark Steel show the revelation that a preposterously high proportion of stand-ups are adopted, which seems a strange connection. It was that one where he found out his birth father was a rich twat.

[KennyMonster]

I used to like him.

but remembering the things he wrote about on his own experiences of The Labour Party and its centrists/right wingers it's even more galling that he ditched Corbyn at the 2019 GE.

Now I don't know what he stands for, I gave his recent podcast a go for a few episodes before ditching it, knowing he's not 'for' anything progressive anymore his arguments there asking"what the fuck is going on?" just comes across as any other hack columnist who hammers away angrily on their keyboard at the absurdity of modern life but when it comes to making a significant change they fall strangely quiet.

When he did my town/region he had failed to do even the most basic research too.

[Fambo Number Mive]

I didn't realise he ditched Corbyn in 2019. I know he was critical of some of his supporters, claiming they wouldn't accept any criticism of Corbyn.

[pcsjwgm]

It certainly was a strategy that won over Mark Steel, who was one of the few pro-Corbyn columnists around, until he witnessed the relentless smearing and abuse of Corbyn and his supporters by the media, leading Steel to say "you're right, I am being an antisemitic Stalinist Nazi like Corbyn and his followers" and join in the abuse.

[The Ombudsman]

Could someone post a link to the Dartford episode please? I'm from round there (unfortunately)!

EDIT: Sorry, I'm an idiot and can't read. Really liked the Orchard Theatre references too. Made me feel special...

Saw my first 'theatre' production there on a Christmas school trip. Was about 9. I got to go on stage.

[poodlefaker]

listened to the Wigan one because of this thread. rang false and research felt cursory. some nicely-constructed jokes, like, but in the slightly laboured manner of the Radio 4 board treader.of his

I like this, I can see it in the second para of a newspaper report of some misdemeanour: "...the Radio 4 board-treader, 61, was cautioned yesterday..."

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

Is that on Leith Walk? There's definitely a shop that sells disparate items along there. When I was a kid there used to be a shop in Haslingden that sold sporting goods and coal.

There's a florist in my current town that has a Warhammer section. Never been in there though, I feel like I probably should, if only to ask what's going on there. And maybe come back with some daffodils and orcs.

[Wayman C. McCreery]

Good evening! This week we're coming from Little Cringlemouth-on-Sea, one of Britain's BIGGEST and BUSIEST ports. We're lucky have this room tonight ladies and gentlemen because we beat Channel Five to the booking - they wanted to use it as a base for filming an episode of WORLD'S MOST MASSIVE HARBOURS. But because we'd paid the £50 deposit first, Jean, who does the bookings here and I assume is the CEO of this MAGNIFICENT, MULTI-PURPOSE, STATE-OF-THE-ART VENUE that you locals call the, er, LITTLE SHED, told them to go and shove it. And I had heard you had The Foo Fighters on in here last night. I'd presumed they'd picked Little Cringlemouth for it's WORLD-CLASS TRANSPORT LINKS, with as many as 28 fans being able to arrive on the X23 bus twice a day. But then I was having a pint in the Dog and Duck (cheers from audience) last night and Bob (bigger cheers from audience) who runs the pub told me it wasn't The Foo Fighters, it was TWO PIPERS. Anyway in all seriousness ladies and gents you've got a wonderful little village here and I know that because I was chatting with Wee Jim who sits in the fishing hut (cheers from audience)...

[MojoJojo]

There's a florist in my current town that has a Warhammer section. Never been in there though, I feel like I probably should, if only to ask what's going on there. And maybe come back with some daffodils and orcs.

That's a great idea. The smell of the flowers could mask the disgusting BO smells of the Warhammer customers.

[Satchmo Distel]

listened to the Wigan one because of this thread. rang false and research felt cursory. some nicely-constructed jokes, like, but in the slightly laboured manner of the Radio 4 board treader.

Ironic given that he's the Stuart Maconie of stand-up (thin Wikipedia research oversold as some kind of Orwellian insight and wisdom).

[pigamus]

Well if he's coming to a town near you he might bring his new partner with him! Nice story to start the year with eh? Good luck to them.

https://twitter.com/ShappiKhorsandi/status/1477062400960610304

[Sebastian Cobb]

Good luck to them and all that.

If his melt status was ever in question, you might want to check who his latest podcast guest was.

https://shows.acast.com/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-with-mark-steel

[Johnny Yesno]

It certainly was a strategy that won over Mark Steel, who was one of the few pro-Corbyn columnists around, until he witnessed the relentless smearing and abuse of Corbyn and his supporters by the media, leading Steel to say "you're right, I am being an antisemitic Stalinist Nazi like Corbyn and his followers" and join in the abuse.

To be fair to Steel, it was him speaking at the first march against austerity and introducing his 'good friend Jeremy Corbyn' that first drew my attention to the existence of Corbs. You're right, though. The relentless smearing and abuse does seem to have caused him to change direction, and that's really sad.

Well if he's coming to a town near you he might bring his new partner with him! Nice story to start the year with eh? Good luck to them.

https://twitter.com/ShappiKhorsandi/status/1477062400960610304

Hopefully, this will mean the lucky bastard will get over himself.

[pigamus]

Ignore.

[Old Nehamkin]

Good luck to them and all that.

If his melt status was ever in question, you might want to check who his latest podcast guest was.

https://shows.acast.com/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-with-mark-steel

WHOOP

[pigamus]

Although she (Kennedy) tweeted about having no idea about them being a couple, which is interesting. Perhaps we shouldn't assume they're close friends.

[tribalfusion]

Good luck to them and all that.

If his melt status was ever in question, you might want to check who his latest podcast guest was.

https://shows.acast.com/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-with-mark-steel

I have to say this episode is absolutely fetid. The last thing we need is Mark Steel shit talking socialists and the left more generally with Lib Dem Emma Kennedy.

It's hard to ignore the steady rightward drift of Steel's political center of gravity at this point.

[Famous Mortimer]

It's hard to ignore the steady rightward drift of Steel's political center of gravity at this point.

It's quite easy when you read that godawful book he wrote about a decade ago, then decide he's useless and don't bother with any of his stuff ever again.

[tribalfusion]

It's quite easy when you read that godawful book he wrote about a decade ago, then decide he's useless and don't bother with any of his stuff ever again.

I wouldn't agree that Steel has always been useless. There has been a gradual shift over time certainly in terms of his politics.

There has been a somewhat similar drift in a few other comedians of roughly the same age though none of them from a starting point as progressive as Steel's (Richard Herring comes to mind among other examples).


 

[olliebean]

With both Steel and Herring, it feels a bit to me like they put in the hard work in their earlier years, before stumbling upon what they can get away with doing with relatively little effort and (particularly in Herring's case) coasting on their existing reputation. Fair play if they can make a decent living from it, I guess.

[Satchmo Distel]

Jeremy Hardy was a moral compass that Steel has lost since. Linda Smith would also be giving him a kick up the arse if she were still around.

Steel's newspaper columns were where I went off him. His only argument was by false analogy: "It's as if..."

[Old Nehamkin]

Now I don't know what he stands for, I gave his recent podcast a go for a few episodes before ditching it, knowing he's not 'for' anything progressive anymore his arguments there asking"what the fuck is going on?" just comes across as any other hack columnist who hammers away angrily on their keyboard at the absurdity of modern life but when it comes to making a significant change they fall strangely quiet.

It reminds me of that recent podcast series Armando Iannucci did where he was interviewing people like Ian Hislop and Anna Soubry about how to fix British politics and the answers were basically "We need more civility", "We need more consensus", "We need more accountability", etc. Just an utterly tepid and cowardly appeal to some imagined golden age of political normalcy, stubbornly pointed as far away as possible from any question of actual material change.

So many of these middle-aged satirist types have followed the same trajectory, really - they were happy to prod at the establishment while the old neoliberal consensus was still safely in place, then when the cracks started to show and ideas involving fundamental change to the status quo started to express themselves more and more in mainstream politics (from both the left and the right), the only response they could formulate was to huffily throw their hands up in the air and bemoan the abstract concept of political division as if it were something that suddenly fell out of the sky one day and robbed us of the normal, grown-up, everyday politics that we had all happily agreed on beforehand.

[Famous Mortimer]

I wouldn't agree that Steel has always been useless. There has been a gradual shift over time certainly in terms of his politics.

There has been a somewhat similar drift in a few other comedians of roughly the same age though none of them from a starting point as progressive as Steel's (Richard Herring comes to mind among other examples).

Didn't say "always", I even specifically mentioned a date and an event.

[Johnny Yesno]

Didn't say "always", I even specifically mentioned a date and an event.

I don't think 'about a decade ago' and 'that godawful book' fall into the category of 'specifically'.

[Armin Meiwes]

God, really surprised to read that sniping comment.. never been a fan of his comedy but I was actually out door knocking on that last night of GE19 and it was Steel that was drafted in to give the "one last push" talk to the big crowd of people there, 70% of whom were only there because of Corbo.. so I kind of assumed he wasnt of that mentality.

[tribalfusion]

God, really surprised to read that sniping comment.. never been a fan of his comedy but I was actually out door knocking on that last night of GE19 and it was Steel that was drafted in to give the "one last push" talk to the big crowd of people there, 70% of whom were only there because of Corbo.. so I kind of assumed he wasnt of that mentality.

Yeah, it has been a gradual process for Steel which is why that other poster's comments about a book 10 years ago etc. are not accurate.

Bit by bit it has increasingly come to the fore and I'd imagine the circles he's frequenting more and more and where he hears this reactionary nonsense day after day aren't doing him any favors .

[Gurke and Hare]

He tweeted a bit of his Sunday Mirror column today, and he's be delighted to know that the tone of it is *exactly* the tone that Ben Elton had in his Mirror column 25 years ago.

[easytarget]

Good evening! This week we're coming from Little Cringlemouth-on-Sea, one of Britain's BIGGEST and BUSIEST ports. We're lucky have this room tonight ladies and gentlemen because we beat Channel Five to the booking - they wanted to use it as a base for filming an episode of WORLD'S MOST MASSIVE HARBOURS. But because we'd paid the £50 deposit first, Jean, who does the bookings here and I assume is the CEO of this MAGNIFICENT, MULTI-PURPOSE, STATE-OF-THE-ART VENUE that you locals call the, er, LITTLE SHED, told them to go and shove it. And I had heard you had The Foo Fighters on in here last night. I'd presumed they'd picked Little Cringlemouth for it's WORLD-CLASS TRANSPORT LINKS, with as many as 28 fans being able to arrive on the X23 bus twice a day. But then I was having a pint in the Dog and Duck (cheers from audience) last night and Bob (bigger cheers from audience) who runs the pub told me it wasn't The Foo Fighters, it was TWO PIPERS. Anyway in all seriousness ladies and gents you've got a wonderful little village here and I know that because I was chatting with Wee Jim who sits in the fishing hut (cheers from audience)...

Very good (seriously, that's dead on).

I still like Mark Steel's In Town though. I think he genuinely gets the balance right between pandering and really taking the piss, skillfully done.

His podcast is alright - highlights are when he talks to his son and the guest - if the guest is good, I didn't manage to get through Privilege  Whitehall and got very annoyed with Emma Kennedy (did no one else apply to go to Oxford in the year she went?). Low lights - recurring "characters".

I like the weird radio 4 special that he did a couple of years ago about being adopted, I might buy his audio book that goes into this some more.

I also loved the Mark Steel Lectures (glossy BBC2 gorgeousness from 15 or so years ago) and his other radio 4 stuff, he seems like a good bloke - is he really drifting to the right (or at least towards the centre)?

[tribalfusion]

he seems like a good bloke - is he really drifting to the right (or at least towards the centre)?

I think realistically, there's no denying that he has drifted rightward from the early days when he openly self-identified as a socialist.

Having said that, he's probably still left of center in some ways in terms of attitudes in the UK more generally (at least among those with access to significant media) but considerably less so than he once was.

Did you listen to the Emma Kennedy episode all the way through? I think it's hard to miss there. He's very comfortably taking potshots at the left with someone who clearly doesn't care for the left in the first place.