"... a great vista of insanity and chaos ..." /  by Jose Barbosa

In 1993 The South Bank Show aired a two part documentary called John Lloyd's A - Z Of Comedy. Presented by veteran producer John Lloyd it's a basically a survey of well known UK comedians and worth a watch if you can find it. Highlights include Lenny Henry acknowledging his debt to Alexi Sayle, Julian Clary presenting a great segment about the history of British innuendo, Jim Davidson being a dick and Stephen Fry claiming he's not melancholic. 

Ever since seeing the show when I was a schoolboy, one bit has stuck with me: a snippet of an interview with John Cleese. After the crash of MH17 and Israel's new invasion of Gaza all in one day (not to mention ongoing stagnation of meaningful solutions to climate change and ongoing sexism and racism in the media and in public),  I started thinking about this clip again. Maybe the reason we don't seem to have as much satire around these days (at least not in New Zealand) is because, as Cleese suggests, things are just a lot less funny.

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"They're Really Good!" /  by Jose Barbosa

The Mint Chicks were a experimental rock/pop (otherwise known as rop or pock) band from New Zealand who were kicking arse in the 2000s. My remaining memories of their shows are accurately represented by the following video I took of their gig at The Transmission Room in 2007. It was their last gig before they moved to Portland.

A much, much better visual investigation of the Mint Chicks can be found over at The Pantograph Punch.  It's a oral history of the Mint Chicks animated by Frances Haszard and Louis Olsen (interview conducted by Luke McPake, editing by Olsen and Hayden Estmond-Mein). It's really good and a fitting invocation of the spirit of the band. The accompanying piece by Kieran Clarkin (assist by Joe Nunweek) expands on the video and is well worth reading.


Belfast /  by Jose Barbosa