Why Can't We All Just Get Along...

Twitter people will know that I spent a hefty percentage of yesterday banging on with some idealistic pseudophilosophy, but given that Pastor Terry Jones is still intent on burning the Koran on 9/11 *sic* (don't know why he can't just go back to doing the 'bishop on the landing' sketch) and a radical Muslim leader calling for retaliatory US flag burning (should be grateful it's not retaliatory US citizen burning), clearly the world has learnt nothing from several millennia of Eastern and Western philosophy. This means it's about time for Or So I Thought... to lay down some precepts of its own.

The First and most important precept is that regardless of other people's beliefs/religions/philosophy, Or So I Thought... and its readers shall not attempt to belittle or indoctrinate (apart from Scientology... that's fair game). The best example I can use to illustrate this is that I don't like Hip-Hop, I don't 'get' Hip-Hop but I'm not going to tell someone that likes it that they're living a lie and should face the empirical fact that AOR is better, because no actual good can come of it. Which brings us neatly to:

The Second is that the illusion of empiricism has caused too much philosophical hate and, as compelling as empirical evidence is, it does not automatically give its subscribers a right to be maladroit about it. Heavily linked to the first, this precept is again designed to stop people antagonising people of different belief systems. The most important tenet of this philosophy is choice. If a person is happy with the choice they've made philosophically, telling them that they're wrong, thrusting evidence, no matter how definitive, in their faces and forcing them to lose any faith they once held in anything (there being a God, there being no God, there being multiple gods etc.) is simply not going to solve any of the world's problems, many of which have in fact been caused by non-adherence to this precept.

The example most prescient here is the rather militant branch of Atheism that has emerged in the last few years. Several figures (I won't mention names) have developed somewhat of a cult of personality around themselves and have made themselves, or in some cases have inadvertently become, a god to their followers and have since used the excuse of empiricism as a shield for self-righteousness and the belittling of others. Now, I'm not saying for a moment that Atheists are more culpable than any other philosophy (Christianity has been guilty of this a number of times throughout history, ditto Islam and in Modern History perhaps the Gaza conflict is an apt example, all of which think that they have evidence too), however they ('they' is a word I'll use a lot. I'm yet to find a satisfactory school of philosophy) are the most recent example and, even then, in no way am I referring to all Atheists, but rather a select group. Naturally Evolutionary Science should be taught in schools and not Creationism, however in a good deal of writing and broadcasting there's a tendency to take a stance of aggression and sanctimony (I'm sure they'd hate the irony of many of the nouns and adjectives that I've used throughout this piece). There's a difference, albeit a fine one, between letting empiricism speak for itself and using it as an excuse for the abasement of others.

In extreme layman's terms- just because you're right, there's no need to be a dick about it.

The Third is that conflict in the name of this or any philiosophy is wrong. What happened to the good old days of wars for resources... like oil and... oh...
On a serious note, historical conflict based on simple greed or territorial disputes instead of forcing one's philosophy on another group of people and therefore subjugating them, in which the aforementioned reasons are invariably given as an excuse (Crusades, Nazis etc.), were far less embarrassing for all involved. (See: Alexander the Great, Napoleon, etc.)

In Summary:
1) The Philosophy of Respect - Treat all other philosophies with respect. Life is far too short to ruin other people's happiness and the knowledge that you've done so but are right will be of little comfort in this ultimately futile existence.
2) The Illuisory Shield of Empiricism - Empiricism is worthless if it cannot be delivered with tact. Think of the humility and savoir faire with which Darwin presented his evidence and strive to do the same.
3) The Disrepute of Philosophical Conflict - The rights and wrongs of one and another's philosophies should never be considered a satisfactory rationalisation for conflict.

Phew, to quote the brilliant Nick Mohammed's Mr. Swallow - "It's not very funny this bit, is it?!"


Samuel E Robinson has an AS level in Philosophy, but a Masters in Pseudophilosophy from the University of Life... ahem...

The Twenty...

So, the Barclaycard (ahem) Mercury Music Prize was awarded to last night to The XX, a band with songs so good that they were the sountrack to the 2010 General Election (second 'ahem' of the sentence). But instead of definitively answering which album was the best of last year (which, to be fair, the Mercury has never managed yet anyway), the Awards instead threw up more questions.

1. What was up with Nihal last night?
2. Seriously. Dark Brown shirt and jacket with BLUE JEANS? What?!
3. He did some accents too. Why?
4. He then said "I think the XX is an album already on everyone's coffee tables." Hmm?
5. Are they? I don't think they are.
6. Who keeps their albums on a coffee table?
7. Midlife crisis? (It would explain a lot)
   
8. Why didn't Mumford & Sons win?
   
9. Again, a serious question. Why?
10. How come KT Tunstall is immune to Lauren Laverne's contagious pregnancies? It claimed Miranda Sawyer during the course of the evening but not the Scottish singer/songwriter. Why?

In all seriousness, I was very much hoping that Mumford & Sons would win. Their brand of anthemic, alternative folk has proved popular with critics and fans alike and their debut 'Sigh No More' is a fantastic collection of songs. Drawing more from traditional Americana than the British folk scene, Mumford & Sons feature banjo-driven tales of loss, pain and regret. From the hugely catchy 'Little Lion Man' and 'The Cave' to the ethereal title track and the fury and disenchantment of 'Dust Bowl Dance', the quartet display their brilliant songwriting talent. Perhaps the biggest weapon of these young folkies is the voice of Marcus Mumford. Dripping with pain, pathos and righteous indignation, Mumford's subtle, rasping voice could lend credibility to even the most introspective compositions and is on display best in their live performances. I've never had the pleasure of seeing them in the flesh but their televised performances at various festivals and shows are remarkable. Every debt to their fans paid in power, sweat and raw emotion, with each concert played as if it's their last. Do pick it up.

Why Cowards Is at the Centre of the Comedy Universe...

Many of you will have seen Him & Her last night, the new bedsitcom from Stefan Golaszewski, the Alan Bennett of his generation (I will make that strapline catch on, mark my words). A beautifully observed study of two unemployed twentysomethings in their flat, it perfectly showcases what I rather pretentiously christened the 'Cowards School of Theatrical Comedy' (I know, I'm an arty arse, but Rick Edwards retweeted it, so I plan to spread this term for the current epoch of British comedy).

Stylistically, the Cowards School creates comedy from the juxtaposition of Mike Leigh-esque realism and the brilliantly absurd. This permeates the performance poetry of Tim Key, the songs of Tom Basden and the writing of both Stefan Golaszewski and Lloyd Woolf and its influence is spreading fast. More comparable with short plays than sitcom episodes or sketches (best observed in Him and Her and the beautiful The Caravan sketch involiving the lottery ticket from Cowards). The style is not limited to the quadrumvirate of Cowards however and encompasses the work of a wider selection of related comics/actors/filmmakers (though more often than not, the line can be followed back to Mssrs. Basden, Golaszewski, Key and Woolf) including Joe Wilkinson, Diane Morgan (now performing as sketch duo Two Episodes of MASH, their most recent show directed by Golaszewski) Alex Horne, Jonathan van Tulleken, Mark Watson, Jonny Sweet, Nick Mohammed, Rick Edwards and many more. Indeed Edwards' 'The Boot Sale', as featured in the Virgin Media Shorts shortlist, is another prime example of the style (starring Wilkinson, Morgan and Basden and directed by van Tulleken), with its bittersweet tale of man finding hard to let go (Further Reading/Listening: Key's 'All Bar Luke') .

Each project is a veritable 'six degrees of separation' that leads back to Cowards or one of its practitioners (see diagram A) and yet the BBC did not recommission the television programme of the troupe that started it all. We were given 3 brilliant episodes, but no more (though their two superlative radio series' are available as audiobooks ((which I never think is the correct term for this kind of thing really))). All four members are individually endeavouring to further the spread to great acclaim as well. Edinburgh award winner Key has a book and an vinyl album of his poetry available later this year, Basden's play 'Party', also adapted into a series for Radio 4 recieved highly favourable reviews and featured some very bright comedy talent (including the wonderful Jonny Sweet and Nick Mohammed), Golaszewski's plays (Stefan Golaszewski Speaks About A Girl He Once Loved and Stefan Golaszewski is a Widower) recieved huge plaudits and Him & Her deserves the same praise and, after a break to focus on writing and acting, Woolf is returning to his highly original stand-up.

I have been challenged on my comment regard Golaszewski as 'the Bennett of his generation', but I find it a perfectly valid comparison. Both portray brilliantly observed characters laid bare, for all their failings and strike a careful balance between pointed, witty humour and pathos. While the language and voice may differ, the ideas conveyed and the methodology are far more similar than one may imagine from a superficial glance.

DIAGRAM A
A quick study into my earlier claim (note that not all potential permutations and links are included ((lazy, not enough paper etc.)))


So, here's to Him & Her, to Golaszewski and to the Cowards School of Theatrical comedy. Long may it grace ours screens/radios/stages.

NewsRamble...

Here I tackle the sensitive issues of major news stories with little or none of the levels of maturity or insight that you'd expect or even actually desire from topical blogging...

This is My Excuse, Tell Me Yours...

Basically, I've been quite busy sorting out the backlog of Edinburgh stuff and not had much time for amusing thoughts to come from my brain. I also have a sneaking suspicion that that the microphone on my laptop or perhaps just Audacity (which I use for VO recording) is knackered.

For these reasons, there'll be no FriPic today (cue mass outpourings of grief and the chucking around of phrases such as 'what is he like?!' and 'more procrastinating?!') I'll try and have things sorted for next Friday. Apologies.

In the meantime,

Stay classy.

Moomins.

Continued Edinburgh Musings...

So after a frankly brilliant 3 weeks at the Fringe, what did we learn, kids? Well, aside from learning that fame is somewhat like Twitter (the already famous/well-followed get more famous/well-followed exponentially, but the minorities or cult figures struggle to carve out any influence - See: millionaire and American youth Bo Burnham), we (by which I mean 'I') learnt that I would definitely love the whole 'comedian' spiel - to the extent where I've already run up a Powerpoint presentation (my lameness knows no bounds).

We also learnt that free drinks are indeed possible, though not always consistently. (Have since meditated that the whole 'free drink' period occurred mostly when I was on my own. Sympathy drinks, I suppose).

Another key fact was that comedians, on the whole, are very nice people with a lot of time for their fans.

Several wider facts: Murdoch's greed is insatiable. Not content with charging for the Times Online, everyone's favourite Mr. Potato Head made flesh Rupert Murdoch decided to pull Sky Sports News from Freeview to add a new SSN HD channel. Yes, that's right, high definition for two people sat in a studio. Not since the forefront of the day's technology or 'gadgets' was thrust into, out of an entire force, a dimwitted police 'inspector' has their been a more drastic, collective pissing of resources up the walls of television.

I say 'several', I have become sidetracked and consequently forgotten what the rest of the points were. They may come back to me, they may not. We just don't know...

A Well Groomed Fringe... The Third and Final

This one dedicated to Hoffi for her birthday (yup, it's a birthday dedication week). Right where were we...

• Karaoke Circus: (This was between Herring and Pappy's but I missed it out because I'm writing this from the ones I put into the Fringe app and KC wasn't listed on there) - Basically a fantastic evening had by all. A real party atmosphere permeated through Prince's Street Gardens where we'd arrived massively early. There were some terrific performances, my personal favourites, I think, being Thom Tuck's 'National Express' (if ever a singer was better equipped to take on the theatrics of the Divine Comedy...), Justin Edwards and Gus Brown's heartfelt (and dare I say well-rehearsed rendition) of Youssou N'Dour's '7 Seconds' featuring blistering falsetto from Edwards and astounding French rapping skills from Brown and Andrew Collins' identical to the record version of 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor', if only for him announcing "turned out nice again" at the end.
• Key's Album Launch: Right, back to the canon. Again we all turned up early, early enough to see Key, Horne and Mohammed (fulfilling the role of violinist in this instance) arrive at Avalanche records. The launch itself was fairly short, but included several poems, the 'Egg' sketch and David O'Doherty's interruption causing Key to tear up one of his playing cards. Another one of those classic 'only in Edinburgh' moments. Key signed my copy of the album and graciously did the same to my copy of 'Tutelage' which I had lugged to Avalanche in a record bag. Lovely guy.
  
• Stewart Lee: Lee, a comedian's comedian, was testing material for a new tv series which included some fantastic routines about Adrian Chiles, a vast segment of callbacks and absurdities regarding charity and some fantastic lies about meeting David Cameron in univeristy. He was selling merch at the back of the gig at the end and I snapped up a copy of his book which had been consistently recommended to me during the weeks, which the man himself signed and I read a large chunk of on the train back from Edinburgh attempting to ignore some anti-social Sheffield children.
• Gutted: The latest offering from Ward and White was excellent fun. Following a girl's revenge against the husband that murdered her parents, Gutted delivers big laughs and tandout performances from the Penny Dreadfuls as men of varying heights and Colin Hoult doing a magnificent Alec Guiness in Kind Hearts and Coronets sort of turn, leading a strong ensemble cast of talent. The songs are jaunty and the piece revels in schadenfreude and black comedy. I can safely say it's the most I've ever enjoyed a musical and therefore I bestow upon it the title of 'Best Musical. Ever. In the History of Arts. Ever'.
• Seann Walsh: There's been much hype surrounding the Brighton-born comedian, touting him as one of the future stars of comedy and it's safe to assume that a fair few more appearances on Mock the Week will materialise. As for his live material however, he delivers a solid hour of observational, witty rantings. Mixing Lee Evans-style slapstick with Dylan Moran levels of cynicism and general disenchantment with life. The show was however stolen by a wheelchair-bound man. Discussing the travelators at airports and the redundant warnings of "caution, you are approaching the end", he theorised that some idiot must have fallen off it to necessitate such an announcement. The man raised his hand and explained that he'd toppled backwards whilst trying to do a wheelie, prompting the audience to fall into fits of laughter and Walsh himself to sink to the floor wrapt in serious giggling.
• The Horne Section: My second Horne Section of Edinburgh and my third overall was naturally hugely enjoyable. The Magnets (who my friend's dad had engineered a debut album for) produced some excellent a capella stylings, Paul Foot delivered a bamboozling list of 'disturbances' that left the audience as confused as they were amused, Key was as implacably hilarious as ever (his song is still one of the best things I've ever seen). Appallingly, I can't remember who else was on the bill for this one (I think there was another act- leave a comment if you can help). EDIT: It was Pete Firman, providing wonderfully flawed magic. (Thanks to Zoe)
  
• John-Luke Roberts: A clever show built around the murder of a captive offstage. Serial killer Roberts delivers some marvellous whimsy and pre-prepared insults ('you wear mediocrity like a favourite jumper' etc.) and a hilarious public service video about contraception. A strong debut.
• Keepers: Psychical theatre. When put together, two of the most terrifying words in the English language. However Keepers was a thoughful and cleverly-staged meditation on the lonely existence of two 19th century lighthouse keepers. The tension ratchets up and during a heavy storm things take a turn for the worse, creating an interesting, for want of a better comparison, Weekend at Bernie's scenario (curse my limited frame of reference...). It jumps the shark during a bit about flying and there's a slight continuity error but it's forgiven for its bold portrayal of a fascinating subject and the inclusion of an on stage musician and foley artist who got an as big, if not bigger, round of applause at the end for his brilliant work.
  
• The Horne Section: Here it was, the final Horne Section of Edinburgh. The end of my Edinburgh adventure, but it did not disappoint. Alex promised a gala evening and duly delivered quality act after quality act. Key, The Magnets, Josie Long, David O' Doherty, Al Murray (in a drumming capacity) and finally Tim Minchin! Minchin improvised a jazz improv epic interspersed with a ad hoc Key poem about cheese. I'm always blown away by the man's sheer piano chops. The Horne Section is a show so good that Jimmy Carr and this year's darling of the Fringe Bo Burnham just turned up to stand at the back and watch. 'Nuff said.
  

Shows I didn't see:

• Bo Burnham: Winner of the 'Spirit of the Fringe' award. Apparently the Spirit of the Fringe is being young, already rich and from the internet. Not so sure about that one...