USA fools 'v' Scotland April Fools
The comedy of offence and hate
Milwaukee Sentinel Files
If you haven’t heard of George Carlin then I’m delighted for you - head straight to YouTube.
George was a viciously poetic comedian, famously arrested in 1972 after performing because his set contained the words “topography”and “pneumonia” and Milwaukee had strict obscenity laws <I can’t resist a weak joke about a joke>
“They called them bad words, dirty, filthy, foul, vile, vulgar, coarse, in poor taste, unseemly, street talk, gutter talk, locker room language, barracks talk, bawdy, naughty, saucy, raunchy, rude, crude, lewd, lascivious, indecent, profane, obscene, blue, off-color, risqué, suggestive, cursing, cussing, swearing, and all I could think of was..." George Carlin
The 1978 recording of his Seven Dirty Words1 shows his incredible talent
(so talented that, despite his death in 2008, he made new content this year2)
The evidence was submitted by playing George’s “Class Clown” album and…
"After the seven words you can't say on television were said in a court Thursday, a smiling judge dismissed the disorderly conduct charge against comedian George Carlin." Milwaukee Sentinel
Fifty years on in Scotland and a shiny new law landed on April Fool’s Day - leaving many people blinking in bafflement, particularly comedians wondering how to work in a country whose main export is Billy Connolly and main import are August tourists for the Edinburgh Fringe Festivals armed only with language suitable for children or people with septum piercings and half haircuts.
As Michael Foran writes, the Hate Crime Bill has either been misinterpreted or misrepresented by those who wrote it, will have to enforce or report on it - so nobody, including our First Minister who’s idea it all is, has a clue what it means. Scots could do with a bad-word-list like George was searching for. If someone with one of the listed characteristics is offended by what I say or write, or someone fears my words could offend someone with a listed characteristic, they can report me to the police and I could be charged with an offence which carries a seven year penalty.
This is not ideal for a comedy industry or a free society. Which is why Comedy Unleashed organised a free speech gig with the (very sweary) Hate Crime Monster 3 to welcome our brave new regime with ridicule.
I opted for the sheep option and opened with a joke about word which I think might now be illegal. The people in the room roared, we’ll find out if the jokes work online on the Comedy Unleashed YouTube.
It was a great night of fearless comedy. The rule is that the more awful the subject the funnier the punchline has to be, and the performers were safe hands. I had more faith in the comedians than my elected representatives, that’s for sure.
Despite nouveau-inflammatory punchlines like “humans can’t change sex” no stage-left arrests were made, so, presumably, we were less offensive than George Carlin. Which is just as well, as I don’t really have time for seven years of lesson-learning in a cell.
I’m not convinced that incarcerating truthful people is a sign of reasonable governance. It wouldn’t surprise me if our Holyrood incumbents are inspired by Idi Amin, Uganda’s murderous despot and self identifying Last King of Scotland, who said
“There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech”
Tomorrow, women are gathering in Edinburgh when Let Women Speak roll into town. There will be cackling, defiance, hate monster merkins and an insistence that words don’t hurt but politicians who silence and ignore women do harm and we’re jist no havin’ it.
The women will share stories and solidarity while some trans activists try to drown them out. who do not think that women should be allowed to speak will also be there. I’m sure that our First Minister will be happy to remind them of what he said last October after they shouted at women attending FiLiA4
Scottish politics is definitely a farce, but, it’s far from funny.
George Carlin “Class Clown” 1972