Laughing out loud

I thought it's about the time I admit my great obsession over here. Not sure if it helps me 'healing' but at least then you know.
(This reminds me an episode of House, M.D. when Wilson and House have a bet that the latter doesn't have a Vicodin addiction and House has to stay away from the magic pill. Obviously, this is quite difficult. So, at the end of the episode House admits (not a direct quote but something along the lines), "Alright, you win. I have an addiction" Wilson is happy, "That's good! Admitting that you have a problem is half of the solution." House looks at him with surprise and says, "I said I have an addiction not a problem!"
Same with me. I have an obsession. But not a problem)

Now, back on the subject, if I may. What's this mysterious obsession of mine? Not so mysterious, really. I love (stand-up) comedy. I just can't live without it.

I don't really know when it started. I know when I was quite young (not that I'm particularly old at the moment), I remember watching The Benny Hill's Show with my dad. Then came the absolute classic, Monty Python's Flying Circus. I love that show. These 4 guys just are brilliant.
Then for a long time there was nothing particular for a while. Several years ago, J. showed me the American improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway on YouTube. Maybe that was the start of it all. Or maybe it was Jeff Dunham, the ventriloquist with Peanut and Achmed the Dead Terrorist. Anyway, somewhere along these lines my interest was started.
I think then someone showed me bits of Dylan Moran's show and I thought, "Well, this is fantastic". I think then J. send me a link with Adam Hills in the Comedy Store. Things just got better and better.
Nevertheless, I think that the final catch was when H. suggested that I might like a BBC TV show called Q.I. - Quite Interesting. There. I signed a contract with the devil. I gave my finger, and not only did he take my hand but also my head and heart. Q. I. introduced me with several pearls of British comedy, starting with the grand master, Stephen Fry (cf A Bit of Fry and Laurie) and Alan Davies, the permanent panellist. The panel of the show had lots of other wonderful names: Sean Lock, Jimmy Carr, Dara O'Briain, Bill Bailey, David Mitchell, Phil Jupitus etc. One by one I started looking into these names. And I must admit, I liked what I saw.
Along with the clips of stand-up on YouTube, I started to look for some other panel shows on British TV. I really can't remember what was the next one I started watching but it was either Have I Got News For You with the legend Paul Merton and the brilliant Ian Hislop or 8 Out of 10 Cats hosted by Jimmy Carr with Sean Lock and Jason Manford as team captains. Not only did these new shows provide me with new names which to enter into the search engine of YouTube but also they raised my interest in current British politics. Especially, HIGNFY which is a brilliant topical news quiz. It's my way of keeping up with things. And Cats is also quite topical but even more about the mainstream culture. Pretty soon I learned who is who in the British media.
After that, all sorts of other TV panel shows followed: Would I Lie To You, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz... And all these new names: Michael McIntyre, Jack Dee, Frank Skinner, Alan Carr, David Walliams... etc. It was this summer that I discovered the amazing thing called Mock the Week with Dara O'Briain as host and Frankie Boyle, Hugh Dennis, Andy Parsons and Russell Howard as panellists. Political satire with such talented comedians... I was in heaven.
After that, my life hasn't quite been the same: trying to keep up with the new series of different shows; discovering yet new ones (Russell Howard's Good News for example... Such a giggle!). I keep roaming the YouTube for new clips, for new comedians... Really what have I got myself into?
I even have a celebrity crush on one of the comedians... Jon Richardson. Look how cute and funny he is... and miserable! Seriously, the list of British comedians I could name is longer. I'm just afraid you think I don't have a life. (I don't, by the way!)
This spring I got to see live comedy for the first times thanks to Tartu Comedy Festival. It was great. Of course, my dream was to see some of these names I have mentioned (or those I haven't) perform in the UK but I booked my trip so that I'm there in August when everyone is doing the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Still, I always have the chance to go back as long as Ryanair still makes flights!

Why I love comedy so much is a question much more difficult to answer. On the surface, it seems rather easy: we all like a bit of laugh every now and again. Nevertheless, some of my friends who like laughing as much as I do don't roam around YouTube trying to find new clips with an unstoppable zeal.
One reason I can think of is the fact that I love political satire and social criticism (cf my BA thesis) and more often than not, comedy is absolutely full of it. I believe that one of the purposes of literature or fiction (les belles lettres) is to point out the problems in society and possibly comment on them. Comedy often does exactly the same, maybe in a slightly different form. Comedians are often rather topical not only in different panel shows that demand them to be so (HIGNFY, Mock the Week etc.) but also in their stand-up routines. Thus, I think they are also on a mission to help the public to be aware of the problematic issues in society.
Moreover, I also think that it is a sign of a healthy society that is able to make fun of serious things. I was slightly weary when I went to see Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds but after having seen it I was amazed. It was about time that the horrible reality of WW2 was seen at a somewhat comic angle (although, what comes to my mind is the famous sitcom 'Allo, 'Allo which was also set in Nazi occupied France and it wasn't very serious either...). What I meant to say was that most of the films on WW2 are some horrible war dramas and there's just so many of these. Coming back to comedy, I also think that being able to make fun of some painful issues and more importantly, being able to laugh at these things is always a good sign.

In the end, I think comedy is just one of the cultural texts in modern society that has some kind of purpose, even if only as entertainment. And by God, I am entertained.

May I present....

The representation of Thatcherism in Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty

The science of humanity

Today, in one of my seminars, the whole discussion somehow drifted into this problem in Estonian society that sciences (physics, chemistry etc, the 'real' thing) is much better funded and propagated by the government than the humanities (such as my own field of study). There is constant complain in the media that there are not enough science students and not enough science at schools.

First of all, I must admit that I don’t know much from science myself. I remember I liked the equations in chemistry but I wouldn’t be able to solve them anymore and all I can remember from my physics class is the teacher shouting at me “Sadam, you root of all evil!” as soon as I walked through the door. Nevertheless, I think that science is very important and very interesting and I have huge amount of respect towards people who are involved.

Having said that, I believe that humanities are just as important for progress in any given society as is science. It is the task of science to ensure that progress and to test new ideas and whatnot but it is the humanities, literature, philosophy etc, that give meaning to everything that science has achieved. It is those soft fields of study that provide us, humans, with value systems and moral conscience.

The question in science often seems to be where to draw the line. Genetics is an immensely popular field in Estonia at the moment. Most probably (I can’t be bothered to actually check), it is also the field that receives the most money from different administrations. Yet, genetics is a very controversial field of study as well. All this research done with stem cells has called for quite a heated debate. Surely, there are numerous reasons why we should do that; think of all the diseases that we might be able the cure or prevent. But the question remains, how soon that we are able to change the human genome? What’s the etiquette in that situation?

I think that this is the situation where those soft ‘sciences’ come to play their part. I am a student of English language and literature. Although I often ask myself the question that several people ask, “What can an English major actually do?”, I still very much love what I study. One thing that studying literature has given me is the ability to have a critical view of what is going around me. I believe that it is the role of literature, ethics, philosophy etc to ensure that there is still some humanity left in humans.

More and more technology is taking over our lives and some times I feel that there is a lack of human touch in things. I’ve come to hate social networks: they are meant to make communication between friends (or ‘friends’) easier and faster but in reality, they seem to kill the actual communication between friends. You can now consider your social duty to be done by clicking ‘Like’ button on Facebook. I know, I know… I’m all over the social networking sites myself. I click the ‘Like’ button as well. God knows how much I’m in love with Twitter. And finally, instead of just talking to my friends, I’m sitting in my small room and writing this moaning blog. But I must say, I’m really close to erasing my accounts on these Internet sites because the lack of communication and humanity is becoming quite unbearable. I feel that the meaning of things is being sucked out by those horrible networks.

If we lose touch with humanity through these impersonal sites, how long till the horrible settings of dystopian fictions become a reality? Maybe I’m pushing it too far but sometimes one gets weary… Or possibly, I’m living in the wrong century.

(Inspired by Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. If in Tartu on Friday, May 7 then come to UT library café at 3pm and I’ll rant about similar things for about 3 minutes and more intelligent people will talk more on Atwood and her works)