I first discovered Chris Morris and that amazingly talented crew that included Armando Iannucci and Steve Coogan through ‘The Day Today’ on TV, though they actually started as ‘On the Hour’, on Radio 4. I was still at school, and up till that point the majority of my comedy influences had been American. ‘The Day Today’ was immediately right up there with the things I loved, yet was entirely different to anything I’d seen before. It’s still the best satirical show by anyone in my generation by a country mile and is still as funny now as it was then, which is remarkable.
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Chris Morris is the natural successor to the brilliant satirists of the 1960s who were led by Peter Cook. I think it’s important for a city like London to have intelligent, incisive comedy. Morris’s persona in much of his work is an excellent parody of a very familiar type of Londoner: the kind who’s ambitious and clearly educated, but rather abrasive and closed off and much less bright than they perhaps think.
My parents, who are both actors, were part of the ‘Beyond the Fringe’ mob – my mum lived with Peter’s wife, Wendy Cook, in Cambridge – so an appreciation of satire has been drummed into me. Morris is one of the comedians all my family enjoy watching. I can remember when he finally worked with Cook, who did his Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling character, and my parents really rating him for playing so well off Cook.
One of the things I really admire is the accuracy in Morris’s parody. He’s so precise with details – which is essential to the kind of work he does – and very believable. Good comics, whatever the medium, are able to make you recognise a situation, character or experience, yet at the same time make you feel as if you’re being brought in on the inside of something new.
What’s underestimated about Morris’s work is its playfulness. I imagine, because a lot of his stuff is hard-hitting, the silliness of a lot of what he does goes under the radar – particularly his early work with radio pranks, another reason why he’s a lot like Cook.
Chris Morris has shown me how to stick to my guns, irrespective of what some people think. People threw loads of mud after the ‘Brass Eye’ paedophile special, despite many of them not having seen it. This business is full of opinions, and I’ve learned to hold firm and do the sort of work I want to do, regardless of whether it’s a good ‘career choice’.
There is an undercurrent in some comedy circles that doing TV is a sell-out – a view that really pisses me off. It’s absurd to be so general about a medium like TV. In terms of the UK, I think Morris, along with Steve Coogan and the soon-to-be-huge We Are Klang, make a mockery of this idea.
The precision in Morris’s work is also a big influence. We’re currently in production for a comedy I’m writing about an American girl in London called ‘Chelsey: OMG!’, and the accuracy of detail has been really important to us: slang, what she wears, what bands she likes. It enhances the parody greatly if those things are bang on.
I’m certain that in 25 years’ time, a kid will get into a satirist of the day and then discover Morris, and hopefully Cook as a result. Standing the test of time is not necessarily what makes a truly great comic, but you certainly can’t argue with it. You just have to look at the Marx Brothers, who are still usually the funniest thing on TV at Christmas. Other than the episode of ‘Quantum Leap’ where Sam comes back as a large woman.
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1 comment
Hi,
In celebration of the forthcoming release of On The Hour (Steve
Coogan/Armando Iannucci/Chris Morris’ legendary radio news satire that
later became The Day Today), we’ve launched an official site that offers
daily headlines from the show, available to listen on the site or to
have sent to you via email or RSS.
So if you’re aching for the return of Green Desk with Rosy May or want
to hear some of Alan Partridge’s latest Sportsdesk facts, head here:
www.onthehour.info
Here endeth the hard sell.
Arise sir news!