It's the Edinburgh Festival, and a couple of days ago we went to see some free comedy. It was mainly a couple of American comedians, each with his own act but joining forces to put on this mini-show. So we had a taster of each of their acts. While they were both very different, and from different backgrounds and places, they had something in common - they were very apologetic about their President.
It seemed to me that there was something familiar about this. Then I got it. It's like when we had Margaret Thatcher at the helm. Suddenly comedy wasn't all about clumsy racism/sexism/genderism and smutty double entendres any more. Comedians sought to give voice to frustrations that weren't about discrimination against some generic group of people, but about the specific acts and decisions of specific individuals.
It might be said that Ben Elton, wearing his trademark sparkly suit and in mid "Little bit of politics, little bit of politics" rant, was hardly apologetic. There was perhaps something a little desperate in these two American comics. But then, I can remember how it felt in Scotland in the Thatcher years - totally disenfranchised. As a country we felt completely politically irrelevant to those who governed us.
So, in the wake of George Bush's speech in which he cites America's Vietnam War experience as an argument in FAVOUR of keeping US forces in Iraq, I can sympathise with these two comedians from across the water.
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