So, now a funny text, punch lines after punch lines, one howler chases the next. Can you do that? After all, there is war in Europe.
To be honest, we personally, as creators of humour, just missed that: the topless horseman with the natural helmet invades the Ukraine and just like that tears down the entire European peace order.
As if the last few years hadn’t been enough. Four years of tweeting Burger King in the White House. Daily reality satire that could easily top any joke. Then two years of thematically paralyzing pandemic including humor-free walkers. And now a senseless war. Why not? Who doesn’t have it yet, who actually wants it?
Hence the question again: is it allowed to make satire in times of war? Our answer: no. One must. Humor is disarming, laughter is liberating.
One of humanity’s oldest crisis management strategies is humor. Just as an example, the comedy “Lysistrata” from the year 411 BC. by the Greek playwright Aristophanes: the women of Athens stop their husbands’ warlike ambitions with organized sex deprivation. Which, by the way, could also work for Vladimir Putin. After all, the Presidentovich attaches great importance to male images of himself, with an almost exhibitionist note. His passion for judo reveals a deep desire for wrestling touch. And like all dictators, he has a soft spot for penis-replacement rockets.
You feel powerless when you follow the pictures and the reports from Ukraine. What can we do? At least the personified lack of humor from the overly long table in the Kremlin (also such a phallus thing, right?) deny the self-proclaimed seriousness.
And, frankly, who faces the Kremlin monster? A comedian.
Volodymyr Zelenskyj started out as an improvisational jester, so professionally he is a comic team player with self-mockery. On the other side is a Cold War-trained truth manipulator whose team spirit was driven out at the latest during the years with the KGB.
Incidentally, Zelenskyy performed skits in front of Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea in 2014. Putin was already playing with a burning world. And honestly: A funny sketch parade with Vladimir Putin?! Would be more of a good template for a funny sketch.
Of course, one thing is clear: humor cannot end a war and satire alone does not solve a conflict. But it helps to deal with the unpredictable, the apparently hopeless.
A good punchline can relieve the burden of seriousness and free up resources for thought.
Let’s laugh with those who haven’t forgotten – at those who deserve it.
uncle fish
Adrian & Markus
Still don’t know what to get excited about? Uncle Fish has the answers, which you can listen to here.
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