Politics Unboringed.
tl;dr - I co-wrote some funny videos explaining politics. Click here or on "politics" on the top bar to see them.
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In October 2014 I read The Establishment and How They Get Away With It by Owen Jones. It was the catalyst for a long, slow and fairly standard privileged-white-guy-political-awakening.
There was an important general election scheduled for May 2015. I wanted to do something.
My girlfriend Viv hit upon the idea of doing a YouTube series teaching people the surprisingly convoluted basics of British politics. I quickly realised how little I knew.
I'd been performing comedy for most of my 20s, and immediately knew I had to speak to Jay Foreman, a musical comedian and good friend of mine who had made Unfinished London: a somehow fascinating and funny mini-documentary about civil planning.
So I got in touch with Jay, we hashed out the general concept, got his director Paul Kendler on board, along with writer Liam Butler, and together we all wrote and created lots of episodes that I'm really proud of. We called it:
Didn't make a difference - the Conservatives won a majority and the political climate continues to lurch dangerously to the right, but even if one person learnt a bit more about British politics, that’s something.
Also this is a good, funny and informative series of videos. That's something to be proud of.
Viv would like me to remind everyone that this was her idea, which, whilst troubling to my ego, is undeniably true.
Politics Unboringed Episodes:
- Valid reasons for not voting?
- Why Don't Politicians Answer Questions?
- The Speaker's Seat - Why there is no election in Buckingham?
- Why do they make that noise in PMQs?
Jay has since gone on to make Map Men, a great miniseries on geographical oddities on maps and how they shape our lives, along with fellow comedian Mark Cooper-Jones.
Jay and I have also written lots of fun songs together.
Politics Unboringed - How does British democracy work?
Whom should I vote for?
What is tactical voting?
