At the gig I went to tonight the headline comedian (Milton Jones) made a joke about people faking disabilities to get benefits. Which as you might imagine ruined my enjoyable of the rest of the show. I'm not going to share the joke here because I don't want to give it "air time". However I've since found an e-mail address for him and have let him know my thoughts on the matter. As it's a subject which I don't think gets the attention it should (Ricky Gervais, Frankie Boyle and Jim Davidson all being well known for doing the same but still popular) I thought I would share the e-mail here.
I was at your show in [place] tonight. I am a full time wheelchair user as I have a lifelong disability. I was very very disgusted by your joke about crutches and benefits. Completely unnecessary and you clearly haven't researched it - DWP figures show that less than 1% of all claims for Disability Living Allowance are fraudulent. In fact, more people who apply are turned down but then appeal and receive it then receive it first time.
People such as yourself have an influence over the way people are treated. Last week a friend was the victim of a disability related hate crime by someone who assumed she was faking her disability (you can read this on her blog http://incurable-hippie.blogspot.com/2011/02/hate-from-government-hate-on-street.html) we live in different areas of the country and yet less than 24 hours later I also had abuse screamed at me in the street (details on my blog http://writerinawheelchair.blogspot.com/2011/02/you-can-hate-me-but-you-wont-break-me.html)
It might just be a cheap way to get a laugh and make some money to you but to people like me perpetuating that stereotype is causing a lot of hurt and making us feel unsafe to go out in the areas around our own homes.
Living on benefits I don't have much money and a night out like that is an occasional special treat. It's upsetting to hear something so hurtful to people like me used for laughs. I won't come to one of your shows again, there are other comedians out there who manage to be just as funny without using disabled people as a subject for ridicule.
I'm sure you won't read this and even if you do you won't listen but can I please ask you to think long and hard about the power and influence you wield when speaking to large audiences. And consider whether your jokes are appropriate and in good taste before going ahead.
Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Saturday, 16 January 2010
The Hairy Bikers Big Night Out (AKA After 10 Days, Emma Goes Out!)
The Hairy Bikers last night was sooo much fun! Absolutely hilarious. My friend was going to drive but then my Dad offered as his car has 4 wheel drive which was cool as it meant we could have a few drinks.
The arts centre has two very cool dedicated wheelchair spaces at the back which me and my friend have dubbed the Royal Box and they can put you in the front row - the seats are fold down and they reserve you two to make a wheelchair space as a chair is bigger than one of the seats. But they don't put two seat numbers on the tickets. I tend to prefer the back spaces because you can spread out a bit and especially for comedy (after sitting at the front for a comedy thing and having the comedian asking me questions one times). For Hairy Bikers however we were at the front so we could be close for any food they might be dishing out. It's a bit strange as the stage area isn't raised at all so you literally are right by the performers and vice versa.
So first there was a bit of confusion when I asked the ushers which was our "extra seat" and they didn't know anything about the whole extra seat for a wheelchair user thing and we had to explain it about three times (the ushers are volunteers but at least one of them had been doing it for a long time so I was surprised he wasn't aware of the policy) but then he went and found out for me. Previously I've just taken one of the seats next to ours as my extra and figured if I've guessed wrong I'll shift along. But that's been proven not to work so well a couple of times so...
Anyway the Hairy Bikers talked a bit about their history and how they met and what they've done. They also did a load of cooking (it was described as Cooking and Comedy) and in the first half they made a prawn curry. They had a table set for two up with them and got two people out of the audience who they basicallyt gave a whole dinner too and some tiger beer. Some poppadoms where given those in the front of the audience which they made and fried as we watched - there was a "camera fairy" up with them putting close ups on a screen of the cooking so you could see The Poppadoms were nice and they also gave kitchen roll as "you don't want cacky hands"
After the interval they got two more people up and blindfolded them and did a taste test. They gave the woman a glass of wine and said "is it white or red?" it was red but she said it was white. They also fed her something and said "which root vegetable is this?" and she was all "broccoli" which is amusing because that isn't a root vegetable - it was swede. In other news, swede and turnip are the same thing - I didn't know that. Then they gave her husband some meat to taste which he got right - pork - but he also said was dry. Finally they said they were going to give them a savoury snack (that went to both of them) which they thought was pork scratchings but it was fried cricket!
The Hairy Bikers then cooked an Italian steak dish which they gave to the same couple to try but they'd been for dinner first so didn't have much of it. They also had a bottle of red wine (Chianti?) and water on the table for them.
When they were chatting to that couple Si went to kiss the lady on the cheek but she shied away a bit and everyone was laughing at his antics. So he then walks over to me and leans down and puts an arm on my shoulder and kisses me on the cheek, a long exaggerated kiss on the cheek - or so it felt to me. I was laughing so hard I was shaking while he was there. Then he went back on stage and went "I love girls I do!"
They also cooked a vegetarian pasta thing - with linguini and ribbons of courgette I think. They gave some bowls to about three people in the audience but they didn't have forks for them so they gave them tongs and other kitchen implements which they managed pretty well with and was funny to watch. The ushers brought them forks from the bar though. I think they should have made them keep using the tongs etc though. I think the most amusing cooking tip they gave was using a Ped Egg to do parmasan - although they did say it should be one just used for the cheese, LOL.
So then for the finale, Dave stripped all his clothes off to reveal he was wearing a blue and silver shiny leotard thing underneath and Si was playing a kids drum kit then Dave got a big bunch of yellow flowers (Freesias I think but don't quote me!), stuck one between Si's teeth and shared the rest out. He gave one to my friend and one to me - we were the last I think and then he knelt down on one knee in front our seats and started singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" They put the words on the screen and people sang along and they they did "Dancing Queen" and that was that for the night.
It was such a great night - absolutely hilarious and completely different from what I expected!
The arts centre has two very cool dedicated wheelchair spaces at the back which me and my friend have dubbed the Royal Box and they can put you in the front row - the seats are fold down and they reserve you two to make a wheelchair space as a chair is bigger than one of the seats. But they don't put two seat numbers on the tickets. I tend to prefer the back spaces because you can spread out a bit and especially for comedy (after sitting at the front for a comedy thing and having the comedian asking me questions one times). For Hairy Bikers however we were at the front so we could be close for any food they might be dishing out. It's a bit strange as the stage area isn't raised at all so you literally are right by the performers and vice versa.
So first there was a bit of confusion when I asked the ushers which was our "extra seat" and they didn't know anything about the whole extra seat for a wheelchair user thing and we had to explain it about three times (the ushers are volunteers but at least one of them had been doing it for a long time so I was surprised he wasn't aware of the policy) but then he went and found out for me. Previously I've just taken one of the seats next to ours as my extra and figured if I've guessed wrong I'll shift along. But that's been proven not to work so well a couple of times so...
Anyway the Hairy Bikers talked a bit about their history and how they met and what they've done. They also did a load of cooking (it was described as Cooking and Comedy) and in the first half they made a prawn curry. They had a table set for two up with them and got two people out of the audience who they basicallyt gave a whole dinner too and some tiger beer. Some poppadoms where given those in the front of the audience which they made and fried as we watched - there was a "camera fairy" up with them putting close ups on a screen of the cooking so you could see The Poppadoms were nice and they also gave kitchen roll as "you don't want cacky hands"
After the interval they got two more people up and blindfolded them and did a taste test. They gave the woman a glass of wine and said "is it white or red?" it was red but she said it was white. They also fed her something and said "which root vegetable is this?" and she was all "broccoli" which is amusing because that isn't a root vegetable - it was swede. In other news, swede and turnip are the same thing - I didn't know that. Then they gave her husband some meat to taste which he got right - pork - but he also said was dry. Finally they said they were going to give them a savoury snack (that went to both of them) which they thought was pork scratchings but it was fried cricket!
The Hairy Bikers then cooked an Italian steak dish which they gave to the same couple to try but they'd been for dinner first so didn't have much of it. They also had a bottle of red wine (Chianti?) and water on the table for them.
When they were chatting to that couple Si went to kiss the lady on the cheek but she shied away a bit and everyone was laughing at his antics. So he then walks over to me and leans down and puts an arm on my shoulder and kisses me on the cheek, a long exaggerated kiss on the cheek - or so it felt to me. I was laughing so hard I was shaking while he was there. Then he went back on stage and went "I love girls I do!"
They also cooked a vegetarian pasta thing - with linguini and ribbons of courgette I think. They gave some bowls to about three people in the audience but they didn't have forks for them so they gave them tongs and other kitchen implements which they managed pretty well with and was funny to watch. The ushers brought them forks from the bar though. I think they should have made them keep using the tongs etc though. I think the most amusing cooking tip they gave was using a Ped Egg to do parmasan - although they did say it should be one just used for the cheese, LOL.
So then for the finale, Dave stripped all his clothes off to reveal he was wearing a blue and silver shiny leotard thing underneath and Si was playing a kids drum kit then Dave got a big bunch of yellow flowers (Freesias I think but don't quote me!), stuck one between Si's teeth and shared the rest out. He gave one to my friend and one to me - we were the last I think and then he knelt down on one knee in front our seats and started singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" They put the words on the screen and people sang along and they they did "Dancing Queen" and that was that for the night.
It was such a great night - absolutely hilarious and completely different from what I expected!
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Making my Points!
I am not in a rush but almost am so this will be a quick blog.
First, I plan on doing the Ask Me Anything Answers tomorrow so tonight is the final chance for questions.
Secondly, Stephen Fry tweeted about the Save DLA petition, how cool is that?!
Point the Third, I am getting quite excited about NaNoWriMo. A bit lacking in concrete plans though!
D) I am going to see Adam Hills tonight!! Yay!!
5) I am getting my new wheelchair on 20th Oct. And my Dad is going to take me so I don't have to faff with ambulance transport. The transport is great because it gives me independence but does make for a ridiculously long day.
VI. Did anyone else see the programme about Alex Stobbs? Alex - A Passion for Life was it's title It was on Thursday but I watched it this afternoon. What did you think of it? On the whole I liked it but it's a topic for a longer post.
Last but not least, the reason I wanted to update today. There is going to be an attempt at reviving the Disability Blog Carnival! Yay! Details are here.
Friday, 18 January 2008
Amazing Day
I'm having an amazing day... and it's not over yet!
Yesterday there was much discussion between me and a few others and many e-mails sent about going to see various different things at the theatre.
The end result being that it was decided that me and Sam would book tickets to go and see Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in Oxford in May. We'd also decided we'd go see a show in London and after much e-mailing settled on the Lion King. And when I looked up the dates online I saw that Dara O'Briain who is a rocking comedian is coming to Oxford. Ben and Geri wanted to come to that with me.
I've been busy on the phone booking tickets for the lot today. Spent a shitload of money but the others will pay me back. And.
Sunday 3rd Feb sees me and Sam in London seeing The LION KING which I've wanted to see for YEARS and which is on my 101 in 1001 list.
5th May is Dara O'Briain
And in June we go to Joseph!
And if that didn't make my day great enough I then went swimming. And set a new personal best for walking.
And my great friend Lucille was in the coffee shop when I got there. She was like "Emma!!!" when she saw me. She got part of the way to me, abandoned her walker and literally ran the rest of the way before literally throwing herself onto me in a huge way and giving me the hugest and best and longest and tightest hug. like ever.
She went "I really missed you.... NOT!!" and cracked up, hugging me again.
Yesterday there was much discussion between me and a few others and many e-mails sent about going to see various different things at the theatre.
The end result being that it was decided that me and Sam would book tickets to go and see Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in Oxford in May. We'd also decided we'd go see a show in London and after much e-mailing settled on the Lion King. And when I looked up the dates online I saw that Dara O'Briain who is a rocking comedian is coming to Oxford. Ben and Geri wanted to come to that with me.
I've been busy on the phone booking tickets for the lot today. Spent a shitload of money but the others will pay me back. And.
Sunday 3rd Feb sees me and Sam in London seeing The LION KING which I've wanted to see for YEARS and which is on my 101 in 1001 list.
5th May is Dara O'Briain
And in June we go to Joseph!
And if that didn't make my day great enough I then went swimming. And set a new personal best for walking.
And my great friend Lucille was in the coffee shop when I got there. She was like "Emma!!!" when she saw me. She got part of the way to me, abandoned her walker and literally ran the rest of the way before literally throwing herself onto me in a huge way and giving me the hugest and best and longest and tightest hug. like ever.
She went "I really missed you.... NOT!!" and cracked up, hugging me again.
Sunday, 4 November 2007
I love to laugh.... it's getting worse every year!
The next Disability Blog Carnival has the theme, how do you relax, chill out?
Obviously my favourite ways to chillax are with a book or sailing or swimming. I'm also a big fanfic fan. But I thought I'd tell you about something else I love.
I love comedy and I happily while away many an hour on you tube or similar watching comedy clips. Particularly at this time of year when sailing is out and the light is bad which really affects my mood. I was a regular at the weekly comedy club at uni and really need to get back into live comedy.
One of my favourite comedians is Adam Hills. He is disabled (or a mutant as he prefers to be known) as he has an artificial foot. And he seriously cracks me up.
Another of my favourite comedy things is Mock The Week.
And behold - a Mock The Week clip from You Tube featuring Adam Hills and the panal laughing and talking about the fact Adam's leg is held on by velcro. I didn't stop laughing for the entire seven plus minutes of the clip
And another you tube clip of Adam is in this entry
One thing I love about his humour is that he doesn't make a big deal of his disability but that he doesn't shy away from mentioning it, laughing about it, even taking the piss out of it.
I was lucky enough to see him live when I was at uni (and also to have seen Laurence Clark live twice). I hope to go again sometime.
Oh and lets just finish with CPer Laurence Clark talking about what he gets mistaken for...
Obviously my favourite ways to chillax are with a book or sailing or swimming. I'm also a big fanfic fan. But I thought I'd tell you about something else I love.
I love comedy and I happily while away many an hour on you tube or similar watching comedy clips. Particularly at this time of year when sailing is out and the light is bad which really affects my mood. I was a regular at the weekly comedy club at uni and really need to get back into live comedy.
One of my favourite comedians is Adam Hills. He is disabled (or a mutant as he prefers to be known) as he has an artificial foot. And he seriously cracks me up.
Another of my favourite comedy things is Mock The Week.
And behold - a Mock The Week clip from You Tube featuring Adam Hills and the panal laughing and talking about the fact Adam's leg is held on by velcro. I didn't stop laughing for the entire seven plus minutes of the clip
And another you tube clip of Adam is in this entry
One thing I love about his humour is that he doesn't make a big deal of his disability but that he doesn't shy away from mentioning it, laughing about it, even taking the piss out of it.
I was lucky enough to see him live when I was at uni (and also to have seen Laurence Clark live twice). I hope to go again sometime.
Oh and lets just finish with CPer Laurence Clark talking about what he gets mistaken for...
Thursday, 1 November 2007
Canvas Bags - Tim Minchin
Take your canvas bags
When you go
To the supermarket
Why use plastic bags when you know
You know the world can't take it
Take your canvas bags
When you go
To the supermarket market market
Don't you use those plastic ones
No, no, no
Don't you know that you'll feel better for it
Take your canvas bags
Take your canvas bags
Take your canvas bags
To the supermarket
Just think about the world
And how the world would be fantastic
If we got rid of all the plastic
We just need to get enthusiastic
Start a competition gymnastic
Or a bag making comp at your school
Fuck it, make it interscholastic
Canvas is for everyone
Whether you be rebellious and iconoclastic
Or conservative or ecclesiastic
I don't care if you're loud and bombastic
Or quiet or virtually monastic
Sober or on the floor spastic
Yoga master or completely inelastic
I'm not trying to be ironic or sarcastic
Just do something drastic
To rid the world of plastic
Take your canvas bags
Take your canvas bags
Take your canvas bags
To the supermarket
Black out...!
Tim Minchin always makes me laugh. Especially this song which is so relevant to where we are now in our world. I thought of it today when the girl was packing my shopping at Sainsbury's this evening. And I can think of one or two other people who read this who would like the song so... enjoy.
I have about 1K words done for NaNo. Must do some more later.
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