DIFFERENT TIMES: A History of British Comedy

Ah, they don't tell 'em like they used to! This is a nice big fat volume about our national comic self-image by an astute music writer, where the focus is on class in this bracingly political and valuable record. Full of interesting titbits, from the slapstick comedy of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, the surrealism of Spike Milligan and Monty Python, and the golden age of political incorrectness helmed by Benny Hill, to the alternative scene that burst forth following the punk movement, the hedonistic joy of Absolutely Fabulous, the lacerating scorn of Jimmy Carr, Ricky Gervais and Jo Brand, and the meteoric rise of socially conscious stand-up comedy today, comedy can be many things, and it is a cultural phenomenon that has come to define Britain like few others. David Stubbs charts the superstars who were in on the gags, the unsung heroes hiding in the wings like script writers, and the people who ended up being the butt of the joke. He reveals how comedians and their work speak to and of their time, moulding Britons' relationship with their national identity and reflecting us as a people. A hymn to each era, this is very readable social history at the same time which clearly shows a love for and knowledge for its subject. Satire, sex and how's your father, from Ealing to East Cheam (1945-61), right up to the noughties with cruelty and kindness, the book opens with the 2011 sitcom Outnumbered which refers to how Michael Portillo once told Boris Johnson he would have to make a decision between politics and comedy with his hints of Billy Bunter and Bertie Wooster. A meaty 400 page tome.