Secret Policeman's Ball - Channel 4

[MollieO]

Watching David Walliams and Ben Stiller. Ben Stiller looks as if he is the size of my 7 yr old. I had no idea he was so teeny tiny.

I thought much of it was embarrassing, esp. Jimmy Carr and Russell Brand, both unfunny and cringeworthy.

It seems to have received good reviews, though on the night, the majority of the tweets about it were saying it was shit.

I can't say they'll be getting any money from me. There are so many comedians out there, that are hilarious and don't rely on being offensive arses to make people laugh.

Here's one such rave review, which includes the line

"The British comedians tend to fare better: Jimmy Carr and Mickey Flanagan offer "profane rants" that are as hilarious as they were misogynistic".

So it's not that the critics missed that it was misogyny, it's just that misogyny is hilarious. Right, then.

I suppose it's possible that they contacted lots of other comedians who turned them down - this might have been the B-list. [charitable]

I thought the Julian Assange impression was hilarious. I liked Jack Whitehall too.

As hilarious as they were misogynistic?! I seriously don't know what's going on in people's minds. Are women not covered by human rights anymore? I'm writing to Amnesty. I wish there was something more I could do.

I have just sent the following email to the address given on the Amnesty website for complaints:

"I am writing to express my disgust and disappointment with the overt thread of misogyny which ran through several of the acts featured in the recent 'Secret Policeman's Ball'.

"As a believer in the work your organisation does for Human Rights around the world, I was appalled that the acts by Jimmy Carr, Russell Brand, and Mickey Flanagan promoted such a hateful and dehumanising attitude toward women and girls.

"Jimmy Carr made light of 'sex while she's asleep' (I think that's called rape), Russell Brand laughed about the death-by-stoning of women for perceived infidelity, and Mickey Flanagan told a story of meeting a successful, professional woman whose accomplishments were irrelevant to him because all he could think of was that he had 'fingered' her as a teenager.

"I do not object to 'edgy' humour in general and I am well aware that I am free to change the channel if I'm not enjoying a particular programme. But Amnesty International is an organisation that, for many, is regarded as the standard-bearer in the promotion of human rights. This being the case, I find it unbelieveably hypocritical for Amnesty to promote itself by inviting misogynistic perfomers to laugh at and celebrate the denigration and objectification of women and girls.

"Last time I checked, we still qualified as 'human'. If Amnesty agrees, I hope that you will also agree that we deserve an apology for the dehumanising rhetoric to which you gave a platform."

I feel better just having written that out. Will be curious as to whether there's any response.

Well written OneHand.
I watched some of it. I thought it abysmal. I have to say, I only watched until Brand and Fielding finished. I was horrified by them grabbing the woman out of the audience and calling her a selfish cow.

Good job, OneHand. I'll be writing along similar lines.