It’s all over the news. 10,000 people have complained. Even Gordon Brown has commented on it. Yes, it’s Manuelgate (as the papers are no doubt calling it – aren’t they?) – the furore over a series of on-air (pre-recorded) phone calls by Messrs Brand and Ross that have upset Andrew Sachs and his family.
The nation seems to be divided as to whether this was funny or not, and whether there has been a gross over-reaction by those complaining. Apparently, Radio 1 listeners are very supportive of Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross, whereas the BBC Have Your Say messageboards are stuffed with calls for both of them to be sacked. So who’s right?
It’s actually quite a fascinating event, as it seems to reinforce what has clearly been a trend for a long time; that comedy is getting crueller, and that this shift is becoming more acceptable, particularly to younger audiences.
Take Scott Mills. His show is full of telephone pranks that do little more than make fools of people. And not in a Beadle-esque way, where they are given a chance to recover their dignity by laughing along with the rest of us after the prank has been played. These are pranks where the point is to embarrass and humiliate; flirt-divert, for example, is where you can give a number to someone who has been brave enough to ask you out, and their follow-up call (which actually goes to a Radio 1 answerphone) gets played to the nation. Ha bloody ha. But the punters love it.
The Ross/Brand phone calls to Andrew Sachs pushed this rather unpleasant envelope even further, humiliating a national celebrity in the name of entertainment. Jonathan Ross – who started the whole thing off by blurting out that Russell Brand had ‘fucked’ Andrew Sachs’ grand-daughter – has been working up to this for a while.
His interviews are often cringeworthy, especially when he sets out to shock his (mainly female) guests with lurid references to sex. The guests have little choice but to laugh along, or appear as a killjoy, while Ross revels in his role as instigator. It’s little more than bullying, though, and certainly doesn’t require any comic talent. The problem with this incident (for Ross) is that Andrew Sachs was not present to be bullied into laughing along. And so Ross – quite rightly – has been found out.
As for Russell Brand – even now he seems to be treating the whole thing as a massive joke, which is the height of stupidity. Whether Russell Brand is a talented comedian or not is irrelevant. What is important is that he seems to lack respect for his fellow professionals, which makes you wonder how he can possibly respect his audience. Is this what comedy has come to – laughter at any price? If so, then there really is a vacuum of talent at the ‘top’.
I am all for near-the-knuckle comedy, but the trend towards humiliation-by-comedy is troubling, and will do nothing to counteract the lack-of-respect culture that seems to be infiltrating the lives of many (not all) young people. If the Brand/Ross phone-call is deemed acceptable, then we may as well all go around pushing custard pies into the faces of old people ‘for a laugh’ because it’s funny innit and anyone who says it’s not is a killjoy…
