Students of sitcom writing courses are taught to take their hapless central characters and have them do something that makes life worse for themselves. With hilarious consequences. And then have them do something that makes things even worse. Watch any great sitcom from Fawlty Towers to The Office and, indeed, Father Ted and you will see the pattern.
The deep irony that runs through Graham Linehan’s important memoir is the way in which his story resembles this narrative cycle – something he writes about at some length when covering the craft of sitcom writing – only without the joke. There is, admittedly, some grim humour about his first major descent into public opprobrium on Twitter and beyond. Coming round from an operation to have a testicle removed (this sounds like a set-up for a punchline but is indeed what happened) and under the influence of some powerful (presumably opioid) pain-reduction medication, Linehan picked up his phone, opened Twitter and made one or two typically pithy comments before succumbing once again to sleep. When he next woke up, his life had changed.
At the risk of coming across a bit meta, I would argue that Tough Crowd is at least as much about narrative arcs as it is about the destruction of a decent man’s livelihood, reputation and domestic happiness by the cultural Marxist mob. Indeed, the first half of the book – charting as it does Linehan’s career from solitary Irish adolescence to music reviewer and, finally, comedy writer and director – is all to do with learning his craft. His post-punk music reviews for a small Irish magazine Hot Press were deliberately spiky and personal, so much so that when he took a similar job in London, he quit before even starting on finding out that his new employer’s house style forbade the use of the word ‘I’. Perhaps it was this training that enables him to describe pronouns in Twitter bios as “cat bells for idiots”. This isn’t exactly Lawrence of Arabia but I couldn’t help seeing Linehan’s career journey as the perfect rehearsal for where he now finds himself.
The second half of the book is a painful read and one can only imagine what it was like to experience it. Linehan told the Daily Telegraph that he had to dispose of his first draft because it was too angry. It would have been the easiest choice in the world for him to back away from Twitter rows with social justice warriors and yet his natural stubbornness appears to have melded with his deep-seated sense of decency. This decency is partly explained by his touching descriptions of his family background: a loving couple for parents and a father who told him to stand up for women and not to be like James Bond. In the throes of having his life ripped apart around him, he simply asked when questioned why he persisted in supporting the rights of biological women: “I will not abandon my daughter.”
Given Linehan’s attachment to his parents and children, the fragmentation of his family is particularly hard to read. If anyone doubts that the cultural Marxist mob really is out to destroy its enemies, read the description of Linehan’s loss of his livelihood and his wife’s (spoiler alert: soon-to-be-ex-wife) distress at activists targeting their house. In the fall-out from Linehan’s destruction, many people do not come out well. While not quite in Rowling territory as far as wealth goes, Jimmy Mulville has done very well indeed out of Hat Trick Productions (due in part to the success of Father Ted) but chose not to stand up for Linehan when given the opportunity.
Graham Linehan’s resilience is remarkable and I wonder how many others in the same situation could have written a final chapter titled ‘Green Shoots’. He finds optimism in the allyship he has found, particularly among gender critical feminists and appears more appalled at their poor treatment than at his own. He surgically takes apart the mob’s misogyny, pointing out as one of many examples the abuse of Hibo Wardere, the Somali-born author and activist that has spent her life campaigning against female genital mutilation. In a further slightly meta turn, he describes efforts by campaigners to get the publishers of the book to pull out.
Even following the book’s publication, Jonathan Ross and Richard Ayoade were lacerated on social media for their endorsements on the book’s cover: “Well that’s Richard Ayoade in the bin,” posted India Willoughby on X, “along with already confirmed terf Jonathan Ross. What is wrong with these people?” Both have survived the bin, it seems, suggesting that there might be something in Linehan’s optimism.
Linehan continues bravely to resist efforts to silence him, notably performing outdoors in Edinburgh after two Fringe venues cancelled a planned stand-up show by Comedy Unleashed. Comedy Unleashed, co-founded by Andrew Doyle and Andy Shaw, has since staged sets from Linehan at the Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green to the audience’s huge pleasure. Is it hoping too much to see Tough Crowd as marking the high-water mark of cancel culture in the U.K.? While his life may not travel full circle back to the status quo like that of Father Ted Crilly in episode after episode, one can at least hope that this brave and principled man can derive some happiness from the support he has so consistently provided to others.
Tough Crowd by Graham Linehan is available from Amazon and other bookshops.
Ian Price is a Business Psychologist. Find him on X (Twitter). He is the author of the Anti-Human Substack page, where this article first appeared. Subscribe here.
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“In mitigation, the Cabinet Office has decided to exclude “up to 20%” of responses from the analysis, where respondents suggested that expanding the use of digital identity might “mean citizens would not be able to use cash, that they would support a social credit system, that they would lead to an identity card being introduced or that digital identities are going to be made mandatory for all people. As these wider matters were not part of the consultation we determined these responses on wider issues to be out of scope for analysis.”
Just ignore opinions you don’t like! This is likely to be a model followed a lot in the coming years.
It’s that pesky 20% again.
How they must hate us.
The feeling is mutual
Meanwhile, the PSNI in Northern Ireland have demonstrated what can go wrong.
The reply from the Cabinet Office:
We have decided that the risk of this minor data breach is minimal and will take no action.
They have absoloutely zero interest in us citizens, I wonder if they realise that they are fermenting armed revolt against the unnamed and unknown BLOB, ie them?
With the last by election results showing centre right challenger parties at around three or four percent of the vote the BLOB may feel emboldened to press on with their agenda.If sufficient people of a centre right outlook are not prepared to vote for and become activists of challenger parties what chance of them taking to the streets?
Since the public has so obviously been misled by misinformation on social media, the government has no choice but to ignore the consultation results and go ahead as planned. I don’t suppose there will be any less misinformation when the next general election takes place, either.
We shall sabotage, subvert, upset and frustrate any and all effort to push through with digital ID. It shall not pass.
One of my bank account providers – Santander – has recently been “inviting” me to sign up to prove my identity with my voice, rather than the current log-in system I’ve been using for at least 12 years.
I declined, but unfortunately, the rejection wasn’t “Not until Hell freezes over.”
It might be a good idea to stop voting for people who (WHO) hate us
To complement your post here’s a 7min John Campbell vid, mainly taken up with the speech from Tedros if people haven’t seen it. ”Ominous” is indeed the word, in my opinion. What with all of this infrastructure building and manoeuvering of legislation all they really need now is another one of those timely faux plandemics….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1ZGbqXrfD8&ab_channel=Dr.JohnCampbell
I agree, an excellent piece from the new World Dictator. His colours show clearly. Defund the Dangerous UN now, and destroy every bit of its existance.
https://t.co/EVsHs9HdGS
doctors from Trinidad and Tobago asking their government not to sign up.
really succinct in 5 points!
So what. Digital ID is what “they” want to happen because, well, that’s what The RPTB want.
However, I have a very good friend, very high up at the top of the HSBC, who tells me that it simply will not work, and some of them know it.. It’s been modelled to death for a good few years now, and it’s very bad news – for them.
It’s too complex – even with the advent of A.I. – and that’s assuming everyone complies.. Lol.
It’s all about the human condition and apparently, around 20% of us just won’t play ball, and they know that.
Maybe another reason for them trying to eliminate us.
That 20% were the ones who didn’t take ze jab – maybe it was a real vaccine… for a yet to be released killer coof mk2?!
Good point , all the dissenters gone in a flash leaving the jab damaged to carry on like good little worker ants with Orwell’s Boot on all their faces .
Interesting idea, but the vaccines are many times more dangerous than the alleged disease, and people are beginning to notice. The excess death numbers (no reason given) are rising still, although many more informed people are becoming frightened as a friend or two suddenly die off, no reason can be found! Except the reason can be found and is difficult to ignore, except by the complicit Government Officials, like Valance!
Meanwhile, the PSNI in Northern Ireland have demonstrated what can go wrong.
Reported your fake ass!!
I told them in short, blunt but polite language that I did not support any of the suggested measures because I knew that they were aimed at the very things that the government claimed they are not and now they have decided to ignore my comments because I can see through their subterfuge.
Maybe next time I should just use a thermonuclear weapon instead!
Once again another young, fit lad dies suddenly and once again no mention of jab status. Wonder if he was in a school that mandated them…Just another case of ‘coinciditis’ presumably. Nothing out of the ordinary in Clown World.
”A Jefferson County high school basketball standout died Thursday afternoon.
Pinson Valley High School senior Caleb White suffered a medical emergency at school. Life-saving efforts were started at the school, and White was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The incident happened in the late morning.
Principal Michael Turner announced the student’s death in a note sent to parents which was later shared with the media.
Turner said counseling would be available to students and staff in the coming days.
White’s grandfather, George Varnadoe Jr., posted on Facebook that his 17-year-old grandson collapsed while working out with the team.”
https://www.al.com/news/2023/08/pinson-valley-high-school-star-basketball-player-caleb-white-dies-after-medical-emergency-at-school.html
The story:
Lets see the autopsy findings please. Oh no it is not allowed, the findings are all normal for a lad of this age! What did he die of? Nothing!
Absoloute scientific failure to properly investigate because the reason is already known. It was one of these:
Myocarditis, Pericarditis, heart failure because the muscle was infiltrated by spike protein, blood clots in major blood vessels, formed from spike protein. This data would be deadly to the scammers so is suppressed. It will happen to many many millions more of us yet.
Isn’t it strange how the sudden death of young people, particularly young athletes, is no longer considered newsworthy?
Almost as thought it’s become too common to report on.
This is what a bureaucratic technocracy disguised as democracy looks like.
‘In mitigation, the Cabinet Office has decided to exclude “up to 20%” of responses from the analysis, where respondents suggested that expanding the use of digital identity might “mean citizens would not be able to use cash, that they would support a social credit system…’ etc
‘it’, not ‘they’, right? (‘it’ referring to ‘expanding the use of’ ? – because otherwise it kind of looks the writer is saying that ‘it’ refers to ‘respondents’…
Up to 20%? They cannot even count properly. That statement is utterly meaningless. It means that the replies were screened before even counting anything, and some random number thrown away!
Public Consultation In Name Only – PCINO!
With an acronym like that it’s just asking for a film to be made about it – – but, unlike the Government report, that would just be fictional misinformation!
At one time I would not have wanted ID cards. But then with the mass immigration and illegal aliens entering whenever they feel like it, I started to want ID cards as a means of not allowing those entering illegally to access benefits, housing etc. But then I realised that government want mass immigration and they would not actually use D cards for that or similar purposes. So now I am back telling them to stick their ID card where the sun don’t shine, unless they are going to police the border, which they clearly are not.
” FACT: Cybersecurity is a critical priority for the government. We recognise how important it is to protect users and their data and have robust measures in place to ensure the security and integrity of online government services and systems. “
Slightly embarrassing after the identity and personal data of the entire complement of the Northern Irish Police Service – including those officers who are linked to MI5 – was released online for anyone to see.
At least, it would be slightly embarrassing if the Government had any integrity and/or morality.
Don’t forget that a few years ago, the entire database of Child Benefit recipients was similarly released.
Resistance is key to stopping this, don’t pay ULEZ if enough don’t pay it will crater the system, use cash as often as you can, boycott those places that refuse to take it, don’t accept digital I.D. mass civil disobedience is called for its the only thing that will bring real change.
Everyone should email their MP and ask if, in the light of the results of this consultation, the government will abandon plans for DID. And if the answer is no, ask why not. I already did so.
In General, We, The People, Do NOT line Fascism, Tyranny & Totalitarianism. the AWAKE Minority , is a Bigger Minority & the Ultimately, Politicians who are Governed by Money Lenders & Including Money Lenders, will be Banished By The People. People will Revert to a Civilisation That PEOPEL will hold accountable & Banish these folks.
tick tock tick tock tick tock