But Is It Funny?: Recent Episodes
Counterpoints Arts
Comedy critics in conversation: with The Guardian's Brian Logan, writer and comedian Suchandrika Chakrabarti, and writer Jamal Khadar. Each week they discuss what’s new in comedy, who is making waves and dig deeper into what we laugh at and why. ‘But Is It Funny?’ is produced by Counterpoints Arts as part of its' PopChange (Pop Culture & Social Change) programme. The views expressed in this podcast are personal and might not always represent the views of Counterpoints Arts.
Join host Suchandrika Chakrabarti with Jamal Khadar and Brian Logan as they discuss the Edinburgh Festival, Mo Amer's new show on Netflix and Joe Lycett's impact on British politics.
LINKS
Edinburgh Fringe reflections
- The Edinburgh fringe is too long, too expensive and too gruelling. It must change or die
- Fringe audiences are 99% white? As a South Asian critic, I found Edinburgh’s screaming lack of diversity hugely troubling
- About The Fringe Society
Mo
- Mo on Netflix
- We had to show that the immigration system is a mess’: how Mo Amer’s refugee status led to comedy gold
- Hollywood puts 'no face' on the Palestinian experience. Mo Amer plans to change that
- No Direction Home
Joe Lycett
- The satire of Joe Lycett is a fitting response to our era of scorched-earth politics
- Hun-culture
Join Brian Logan, Suchandrika Chakrabarti from the Edinburgh Fringe festival with host Jamal Khadar as they discuss acts including
- Jacqueline Novak
- Frankie Thompson: Catts
- Sarah Sherman
- Jerry Sadowitz
And topics including:
- The impact of positive high profile reviews
- The Fringe on TikTok (room for improvement!)
- Bringing babies to shows
Join our panel of Suchandrika Chakarabarti, Jamal Khadar and Brian Logan in Edinburgh as they discuss:
- Sophie Duker
- Cat Cohen
- Sarah Keyworth
- Bloody Difficult Women
- Ragu to Riches
- Sheeps
- Crizards
- Lara Ricote
- I Miss Amy Winehouse
Plus:
- Watching and reviewing 7 shows a day
- Are critics a dying breed?
And:
- How do critics leave a show?!
Our comedy panel have arrived at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe! Join Brian Logan, Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Jamal Khadar as they discuss:
- Patti Harrison
- Sketch versus stand-up
- Trigger warnings in stand-up: a timely development … or the end of days?
- Amy Gledhill
And how to review Sean Walsh
Join Jamal Khadar and our regular panel of comedy critics and writers Brian Logan and Suchandrika Chakrabarti as they look forward to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022.
Including:
- How comedians prepare for the Fringe
- Being a critic at the Fringe
- Is it still viable for new comedians?
- What shows are the panel most looking forward to?
- And what is the best shape for a flyer ... ?
The next four episodes of But Is It Funny? will be recorded at the Fringe.
LINKS
- Soho Theatre Edinburgh Lab
- ‘Someone’s making money but it’s not us’ – the comics spurning the Edinburgh fringe
- Archive: Show me the money | Edinburgh festival 2002
- Archive: All white on the night | Edinburgh festival 2002
**SHOWS THEY ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO
Suchandrika:**
- Life of The Party
- I Am Not A Gorilla
- Illegally Funny
- No More Mr Nice Chelsea
- Ragu To Riches
Brian:
- Catherine Cohen
- Sheeps
- Catts
- Leo Reich
- Rosie Holt
Jamal:
- Patti Harrison
- I Miss Amy Winehouse
- Sophie Duker
- Lara Ricote
Brian Logan is joined by Jamal Khadar and Suchandrika Chakrabarti for our Season 2 finale to discuss:
- Dane Baptiste - The Chocolate Chip
- The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Amazon Prime)
- Oxide Ghosts - The Brasseye Tapes
LINKS
- Dane Baptiste - The Chocolate Chip (review by Brian Logan)
- The Marvelous Mrs Maisel - Why Does Every Fictional Female Comedian Get the Exact Same Advice? (Slate)
- ‘The ultimate single woman’s icon’: how Mrs Maisel is an inspiration across the years (The Guardian)
- Oxide Ghosts - The Brasseye Tapes (review by Brian Logan)
Suchandrika Chakrabarti is joined by regular panellists Brian Logan and Jamal Khadar to discuss:
- John Mulaney is back in the game – but he doesn’t owe us an explanation: comedy, celebrity, how much of yourself must you reveal onstage?
- Witchfinder (BBC TV)
- Rebuilding the Fourth Wall with reference to the first episode of Adam McKay's Winning Time and the other shows doing knowing looks to camera
Plus : Suchandrika does musical comedy!
Jamal Khadar is joined by regular panellists Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Brian Logan to discuss:
- Nabil Abdulrashid's new touring show - Nobody Actually Believed I'd Last
- This Is Going To Hurt (BBC TV)
- Chappelle's Home Team - Earthquake: Legendary (Netflix)
LINKS
- Nabil Abdulrashid: Ofcom rejects 3,000 Britain's Got Talent complaints
This Is Going To Hurt
- Adam Kay interview
- Ambika Mod interview
Plus: International Women's Day!
Host Brian Logan is joined by regular panellists Jamal Khadar and Suchandrika Chakrabarti to discuss
- Ali Wong's Netflix special
- Comics "Quitting" stand-up
Plus: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the comedian who became President of Ukraine
**LINKS
Volodymyr Zelenskyy**
- A trailer for Servant of the People, which made Zelenskyy famous, and lent its name to his political party https://youtu.be/JinkCAN6Bx0
- Jon Stewart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ackArK09Tl4
Ali Wong
- https://www.vulture.com/article/ali-wong-don-wong-netflix-comedy-review.html
Comics "quitting" stand-up
- https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/aug/16/standups-quit-comedy-edinburgh-hannah-gadbsy
- Rose Matafeo: https://www.chortle.co.uk/punching-ups/2022/01/21/50019/stand-up-is-horrible-nerve-racking-and-boring
- Drunk Women Solving Crime: https://uk.style.yahoo.com/how-drunk-women-solving-crime-podcast-began-100911602.html
Host Suchandrika Chakrabarti joins regular panellists Jamal Khadar and Brian Logan to discuss:
- Mo Gilligan's Netflix special
- Tragedy Plus Time improv from Boom Chicago in Amsterdam - content warning; contains reference to suicide and bereavement
- When critics take the stage (FT paywall ... if you don't subscribe you can find it via a Google search eg "A critic plays King Lear")
Plus ... comedians on skis.
LINKS
Re: Content warning
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
Jamal Khadar hosts, with Suchandrika Chakarabarti and special guest Emma Sullivan. Topics include:
- Starstruck (BBC) - episode two of Rose Matafeo's sitcom
- Further reflections on the role of criticism
- Phat Tuesdays - docuseries on the history of Guy Torry's all-black comedy night in 1990s LA
LINKS
- New Yorker critic newsletter
- Ebert reviews of Tarkovsky's Solaris and reconsidered; and of 2002 Soderbergh version
- George Saunders newsletter on Substack
Regular panellists Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Brian Logan are joined by special guest Emma Sullivan to discuss:
- Jimmy Carr's recent Netflix special
- Taking Comedy Seriously with Emma Sullivan
- Murderville (Netflix)
Plus: "Scotwatch" featuring tartan salopettes
LINKS
Jimmy Carr
- https://gal-dem.com/jimmy-carr-joe-rogan-netflix-spotify-hate/
- https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jun/16/jimmy-carr-review-rose-theatre-kingston
- https://www.theawl.com/2013/07/patricia-lockwood-rape-joke/
- Weekend Update: Goober the Clown on Abortion - SNL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exSZQICbSb8
Taking Comedy Seriously
- https://humourinthearts.com/
- https://humourinthearts.com/about-me/
- https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v35/n14/jonathan-coe/sinking-giggling-into-the-sea
Murderville
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15264192/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_in_Successville
Suchandrika Chakrabarti hosts, with regular panellists Brian Logan and Jamal Khadar. Topics include:
- An interview with comedian and writer Athena Kugblenu about her experience of, and views on, comedy criticism
- Comedy albums as a form, and how comedicans are trying to get more equitable rights payments from Spotify
- Don't Look Up (Netflix) - critics hated it, one of our panellists loves it .... But is it funny?
Links
- Aziz Ansari’s Empty Authenticity - review discussed at start of episode
Athena Kugblenu
- https://twitter.com/athenakugblenu
- https://www.instagram.com/athenakugblenu/
- Athena's Cancel Culture on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000tsld
- Work In Progress at 2Northdown on 4th February:
Comedy albums & Spotify
- It's time to give a new generation of comics a crack at the Grammys
- Spotify removes top comedians’ content in royalty payments dispute
Incidental music during interview: Lukrembo ‘Onion’ and ‘Cheese’
Jamal Khadar, Brian Logan and Suchandrika Chakrabarti discuss:
- Nish Kumar's new stand-up show and the role of political comedy in the UK
- Learning comedy as social prescription via the GP, with Angie Belcher
- Aziz Ansari's new Netflix special
Show notes
- Satirical news podcasts
- Social prescribing course in Bristol
Additional music: Onion and Biscuit, both by Lukrembo
Season 2 of But Is It Funny? launches with Brian Logan. Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Jamal Khadar discussing:
- Race Around Britain with Munya Chawawa on YouTube
- New Radio 4 comedy series pilot Unsafe Space
- Plans to develop a UK version of Saturday Night Live
Plus: Suchandrika on her improv debut!
- Is Succession a sitcom?
- What limits should a comedy club put on comedian’s material? Discussing Don't Applaud. Either Laugh or Don't. (at the Comedy Cellar) by Andrew Hankison
- What's a comedian's realtionship to criticism?
With Brian Logan, Suchandrika Chakrabarti, Jamal Khadar
LINKS
Is Succession a sitcom?
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/08/is-succession-the-best-sitcom-on-television
https://slate.com/culture/2021/10/succession-season-3-hbo-drama-sitcom.html
Succession fan videos
https://youtu.be/fXcBaYCyzL8
https://youtu.be/_b7CNBXzo54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw7alNjkYro
https://youtu.be/zWxr4xbL9a0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-6K2CjJ6dk
Exec producer & playwright Lucy Prebble on how Succession's writers walk the line between tragedy and comedy
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7LTBwLWt6563xCzvc1CVtP?si=CQUxG6tvSzG3gvNZhwAO9A&nd=1
Hosted by Suchandrika Chakrabarti
Featuring:
Sharon Lockyer
https://www.brunel.ac.uk/people/sharon-lockyer
Sophie Quirk
https://www.kent.ac.uk/arts/people/536/quirk-sophie
Anja Karlsson
https://www.gu.se/en/about/find-staff/anjafranckkarlsson
LINKS
What can comedy achieve in the context of repression and violence? Can the meme save us?
https://www.blogalstudies.com/post/what-s-so-funny-about-a-military-coup-how-generation-z-is-trolling-the-myanmar-army
What’s so funny in Afghanistan?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0962629817304109
Smiling while being arrested
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCIasDCtm7A&ab_channel=AJ%2B
Myanmar coup: Pools and princesses as protesters go all out
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/56006324
Laughing through lockdown
https://theconversation.com/laughing-through-lockdown-why-comedy-is-important-in-times-of-crisis-160905
Sometimes a Milkshake Is Just a Milkshake
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/05/milkshake-thrown-nigel-farage-nothing-new/590317/
Laughing at power: Humor, transgression, and the politics of refusal in Palestine
https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v38y2020i3p387-404.html
Joking: uses and abuses of humour in the Election campaign
http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2019/section-8-personality-politics-and-popular-culture/joking-uses-and-abuses-of-humour-in-the-election-campaign/
Women, comedy and power
https://getofflivecomedy.co.uk/
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/rosie-jones-question-time-trolling-ableist-abuse-bbc-b959464.html
https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/live-comedy/comedy-isnt-accessible-enough/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2015.1106402
Comedy in academia
Palgrave Studies in Comedy
https://www.springer.com/series/14644
Centre for Comedy Studies Research
https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Networks-and-Labs/Comedy-Studies-Research
PLUS
https://guiltyfeminist.com/
https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/entertainment/deborah-frances-white-685021
With Jamal Khadar, Brian Logan and Suchandrika Chakrabarti
Revisiting comedy we used to love - with reference to shows including Sex & The City, Seinfeld, Bill Hicks
Digging deeper into the question: But Is It Funny? - do we need a better language for reviewing comedy?
Reference:
- https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/jul/27/comedy
Sex Unzipped on Netflix - does it really deserve zero stars?
References
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/oct/26/sex-unzipped-review-perverse-sesame-street-is-a-tv-disgrace
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/11/sex-love-and-goop-sex-education-netflix-sex-positivity/620588/
Shout outs
For Quantum Leopard @2Northdown @LucyMangan and the Romesh Ranganathan puppet
Plus: Zero Star Reviews, Sex Unzipped, Bean Dad, Megan Stalter… and more
With Brian Logan, Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Jamal Khadar
References:
Stath Lets Flats & the state of the Sitcom
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/oct/26/the-last-laugh-is-the-television-sitcom-really-dead
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/08/is-succession-the-best-sitcom-on-television
https://time.com/6094071/fall-tv-network-comedies-canceled/
https://classpolish.com/
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv-radio/2019/09/stath-lets-flats-channel-4-sitcom-greek-natasia-funniest-best-show-television-review
Class and Comedy
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/oct/12/rob-beckett-you-have-to-suppress-your-working-class-rage-to-operate-in-comedy
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/may/26/standup-comedy-class-divide-coronavirus-lockdown
https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2021/april/funny-voice-videos
https://www.waterstones.com/book/comedy-and-distinction/sam-friedman/9781138125902
Complaints Welcome
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/complaints-welcome
https://www.instagram.com/munyachawawa
Jamal Khadar, Suchandrika Chakrabarti and special guest Abdul Tahhan consider:
Lenny Henry’s Race Through Comedy (currently re-playing on Dave) … what can we learn from stand-up history?
Moderating Content … should you change your set if a member of the Royal Family is in the audience?
Dave Chappelle revisited … more thoughts on his latest Netflix special and reconsidering his previous work
Plus shout outs for
- Elf Lyons
- No Direction Home from Counterpoints Arts
- Olivia Flood Wylie
- And, er, Princess Eugenie
Join spooky comedian Suchandrika Chakrabarti, influencer (!) Brian Logan and special guest Fatiha El-Ghorri as they ask:
What are the best and worst comedy venues, from basement bars to rooftop gigs and performing in a burger bar?
What's it like to perform stand-up on TV - can it ever replicate the live experience?
How do comedians go about starting a set and how much should they be expected to explain who they are?
Plus, what makes for a 5-star review?
Fatiha is on tour now!
https://pennyappeal.org/event/super-muslim-comedy-tour-2021
Our regular panel of Brian Logan, Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Jamal Khadar consider:
- The fallout from Dave Chappelle's new Netflix special
- Glamrou at Soho Theatre
- The ethics of using material from other people's lives (with reference to Bad Art Friend)
Share your own thoughts on these topics and ideas for future episodes @counterarts #butisitfunny
But Is It Funny? is a weekly podcast produced by Counterpoints Arts as part of our PopChange programme. It aims to help extend and diversify the critical conversation around comedy.
Suchandrika Chakrabarti offers a guide to comedy podcast types and tropes, as well as selecting some of her favourites. But are comedy podcasts more than just chat?
Brian Logan reflects on the new TV series from Jon Stewart as well as the return of the Daily Mash. In a post-Trump world, is topical satire still able to deliver?
Jamal Khadar speaks up for fans-as-critics - the people who know a show best can sometimes offer the most telling insights. Should fans be given more respect?
Jamal Khadar asks whether Improv is getting more diverse.
Brian Logan gets stuck into Netflix series The Chair.
And Suchandrika Chakrabarti explores how critics choose who and what to review.
Suchandrika Chakrabarti discusses sadness in comedy with reference to TV shows Ladhood, Back To Life and Alma’s Not Normal . Can TV comedy succeed with tragedy where stand-up can’t?
Jamal Khadar reflects on I Think You Should Leave by Tim Robinson (Netflix): is it a genuinely new take on TV sketch comedy? And did live sketch shows get there first?
Brian Logan's subject is Zoom gigs. With in-person comedy now back up and running is there anything to be salvaged or learned from the pandemic era of stand-up live online?
Plus, some incidental discussion of marching band gags, losing comedy competitions and Russell Brand.
Jamal Khadar explains what you can expect from our new weekly podcast of comedy critics in conversation. Episode 1 available 24/9/21