Armando Iannucci Urges Comedians To Stop Taking “Path Of Least Resistance” On Political Satire

Too many comedians are taking “the path of least resistance” and failing to address contentious political topics, according to the creator of The Thick of It and Veep.

Storied British comedy creator Armando Iannucci said he often hears comics utter phrases like “I have to be careful about what I say,” with his comments coming as both the UK and U.S. warm up for general elections in six weeks and six months respectively.

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Speaking at the BBC Comedy Festival in Glasgow, Iannucci urged comedians to meet these challenges head on.

“Comedy is not belittling a subject but if it chooses to look at that subject it is offering a way into it that might offer a surprising or fresh perspective,” he added. “It is asking us to tell ourselves what we think about something, and how we might respond to that. We shouldn’t feel that someone is telling us what to say or what not to say.”

Tyrants go for comedians

In the social media age, Iannucci floated that politicians have “taken a dislike to jokes because they don’t like the fact that the reaction to a joke is spontaneous.”

“They can’t control how you will respond to humor about them or you,” he added. “They hate that inability to shut down.”

He cited Donald Trump’s very public critiques of Saturday Night Live during the former POTUS’ time in office. “That is one of the predictors of a potential tyrant, they go for the comedians,” he added.

Having created hugely successful political satires on both sides of the pond, Iannucci said Americans tend to be more “deferential” towards their politicians. On the other hand, he noted the trend in recent years for some American comedians such as John Oliver to have almost turned into “journalists.”

“It’s almost like the politicians like Boris Johnson and Trump are entertainers and the journalists have become the comedians with a forensic focus on research,” he added. “And [Boris] Johnson used to be a journalist. It’s the circle of life.”

Welcoming the news of the imminent UK general election, Iannucci joked that he thought Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was “actually crying” after he became drenched with rain during the election announcement, which went viral yesterday afternoon.

During a wide-ranging keynote about his career, Iannucci also criticized right-leaning UK news network GB News, calling it a network that features “people from a party interviewing other people in a party about how that party is falling apart.”

The BBC Comedy Festival earlier heard from BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie, who called for more sitcoms.

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