I used to enjoy Ben Elton – for ‘The Young Ones’ and ‘Blackadder’.
I believe he’s now making a comeback stand-up tour, since he’s apparently doing the media rounds of plugging it; maybe someone out there thinks he’s the right person for these times.
I stumbled on his 17½ minutes with Matthew Wright on Talk Radio’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaQK9yROwm8
I had actually just watched the excruciating interview between Lisa Nandy and Mike Graham when the above video thumbnail popped up on the right-hand-side column. The click-bait that drew me in was “Comedian Ben Elton talks Brexit and Boris Johnson”. For those of you who can’t be bothered to watch it, I’ll give you a little critique, but before we go there, here’s a clip from a 1986 performance on Channel 4 as a reference point.
Only one and a quarter minutes in and we’re hearing allegations of crude sexual misconduct involving President Ronald Reagan and the Russians. I guess nothing really changes, does it?! This is Left-Wing material from 33 yrs ago. Just let that sink in.
Now back to the present-day, Ben Elton has aged but he’s still a motormouth (like John McEnroe but without the charm or wit). Oh, and Matthew Wright is still an obnoxious twat, so no change there either!!
With all that out of the way, here’s your viewing guide (WARNING: it reads like the class notes of an A-Level Politics student):
– A gentle, earnest start as he describes being blamed for the invention of Political Correctness.
– Caring, SJW-credentials wheeled out with compassionate voice at 0:13: “Political Correctness is normally just good manners”. That’s right, Ben, only with a Marxist agenda to subvert and manipulate.
– A discussion Led by Wright, about PC bullshit for a couple of minutes, then ‘new-book-what-you-just-wrote’, led by Wright.
And that’s when the triggers start to come thick and fast:
2:26 – No British cultural homogeneity
2:29 – ‘The Wall’
2:31 – Scottish Independence
2:33 – Brexit
2:37 – Identity Boundaries (apparently what most people are thinking about)
2:52 – Cultural division of Britain into virtual communities (Hello, Plebs!)
6:18 – Donald Trump
7:18 – Donald Trump Lies
7:21 – Climate change
7:57 – Racism & sexism
8.53 – NHS
9:52 – Identity
9:54 – Brexit
12:30 – Faatcha (an oldie but goldie. Hear him say – direct quote – “I always had a lot of respect for Mrs Thatcher”)
13:04 – Boris Johnson (here comes the new material, everyone)
14:00 – Putin
16:17 – Prorogation (the MENDACITY to call an election BEFORE Brexit)
16:42 – Crashing out
Seeing how Ben’s only had 33 years to come up with new material, I think the man deserves a word of praise and, to be fair, he’s entitled to his opinion. And if any of you might feel that Ben’s message is hackneyed and jaded, just remember there’s a new generation who haven’t discovered him yet (think Corbyn). It’s just that the the older generation hasn’t forgotten him yet. I’ll leave you with two classic examples of his schoolboy humour:
Q: Why shouldn’t you answer the front door in your pyjamas?
A: Because Chernobyl fall-out
and
Q: What’s pink and hairy, and hangs out of your pyjamas?
A: Your Mum
Nominated by Cunt me in



