Conflict Comedy
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 4 September 2018
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How has comedy helped Northern Ireland cope with conflict and move on?
-- An atheist is driving in Belfast and he gets stopped by a paramilitary road block. A paramilitary walks up to the window and asks him "Catholic or Protestant?" The atheists looks at him and says "well I'm an atheist" The paramilitary nods "Ah okay, but are you a Catholic or a Protestant atheist?" --
Northern Ireland is renowned for its friendliness and sense of humour but after 40 years of violence how do you keep laughing? The conflict has brought out a very particular brand of humour unique to the country, much darker than the Irish humour and sharper than the Scottish.
Comedian Diona Doherty (star of Derry Girls and Soft Border Patrol) finds out what comedy can tell us about healing in conflict and what young people think of the future of NI post Brexit and without a government.
Speaking with stars of the past and future she hears how the jokes have changed even if some of the issues haven’t. Along with her former comedy partner Jordan Dunbar they set out to find the man with the darkest sense of humour in Belfast.
How has comedy evolved and what can it tell us about how to live in a country without a government?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Knock. Who's there? |
| 0:03.2 | Up dock. |
| 0:04.2 | My name is Dean Nodori and I'm a comedian and actress from Northern Ireland. |
| 0:08.8 | Up, who? |
| 0:10.8 | That's my producer and former comedy partner Jordan Dunbar. |
| 0:14.4 | You're listening to the World Service and this is conflict comedy. |
| 0:18.9 | You're supposed to say what's up, Doc? |
| 0:24.0 | Why would it say that? You say you're supposed to go what's up, Doc? |
| 0:28.0 | Okay. |
| 0:29.0 | Together, we're going to find out why Northern Ireland has such a unique sense of humour and what it tells us about dealing with a legacy of violence using comedy. |
| 0:38.0 | Would mind us having a week chat with us? |
| 0:40.0 | Again, serious, the second time today. |
| 0:42.0 | We're starting to find more and more people are living on one side of the border and working on the other. |
| 0:47.0 | And so statistically speaking, you'll get stopped more. |
| 0:50.0 | And who are we to argue with statistics? |
| 0:53.0 | But it's just a protocol, you know, to sort of, and to put you over... |
| 0:57.0 | Not protocol, it's a thing, that is what it is. |
| 0:59.0 | Old Norman, we love Norman, don't mean? |
| 1:01.0 | Yeah, yeah, and he loves us. |
| 1:02.0 | You've put me over 54 times this year so far, |
| 1:05.0 | to dip my tank for a legal diesel. |
| 1:08.0 | Well, we just have to check these things, you know, facilitate the smooth travel between the north and the south here, |
... |
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