Why politics is no joke | Al Murray | TEDxLondon

Comedian Al Murray explores the weird, wonderful - and sometimes surreal - world of British politics. Having set up the Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP) and announced his candidacy in the 2015 general election, he was amazed at how many people didn’t get the joke...
Al Murray with his alter-ego, The Pub Landlord, is one of the most recognizable and successful comics in the UK. As a writer Al has enjoyed great success with his books Book of British Common Sense, and Think Yourself British.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@berlinmitte10117]

Alistair Murray - historian and Oxbridge graduate - showing how different (and satirical) his pub landlord character is. A very intelligent man.

[@YTCoDSkillz314]

Why oxbridge? Why not just put oxford? Pointless.

[@kegal]

YTCoDSkillz314 waayoo

[@dancthegr]

Comedians are very clever people

[@MattJames1958]

They tend to be fairly intelligent

[@johnwade1095]

But he doesn't understand what he mocks - he just mocks the middle class misconception of the working class.

[@luluthomsen3968]

Be careful running as a joke candidate. In 94 a joke candidate got elected in Denmark. His campaign promises included tailwinds on every bikepath.

[@SuperSamcity]

Yeah but there are campaign promises everywhere and only one out of ten of those promises are ever *considered*.

[@wayne7096]

Haha!!! That's hilarious.

[@nielsegense]

That Danish politician has actually got the standing record for campaign-promises vs. promises fulfilled... Among them being Nutella in military ration-boxes and using at least 95% of his politician's wages on hot-dogs for everyone.

[@DaveWhoa]

Lulu, good advice to adhere to! in 2016 a joke candidate got elected to become President of America

[@Screamingmanta]

+Dave Smith Better than the criminal candidate. :^)

[@Andrew-is7rs]

A lot of people dont realise just how intelligent he is. You can see i little of it if he wants to in his Pub Landlord persona. His documentaries are very good too.

[@michaelw2381]

Heeh I remember him running in the general election and thought it was hilarious, now I'm hearing his reasoning behind it I think it's even better.

[@iliketrains0pwned]

Imagine if Lord Buckethead did a TED Talk...

[@GMss101]

Easily best comment

[@lmv1888]

Count binface is better thank you very much

[@happydaze2813]

tough crowd

[@tonypate9174]

"Ted" Uber hip trendy "V"olks and Das Audi Auto fans as Ms Ana K may say they are better than you ,So much better

[@ElMoShApPiNeSs]

They don't have audience/room mics or they do but they're very quiet. You can see him reacting as if they're laughing.

[@gaguandria]

Exactly

[@xriex]

"Making a mockery of democracy" Maintaining a great British tradition, following in the proud footsteps of Screaming Lord Sutch and the Monster Raving Loony Party.

[@colinjohnston8519]

Lol brexiters say that about everyone and everything they think is getting in the way of brexit. Luckily they are thick as fvck so nobody cares what they say.

[@markkelly940]

Al Murray is brilliant. Keep up the good work mate!!!

[@clementbourne3117]

*arsehole No excuses now.

[@flaviusbelisarius7517]

2016: politics is no joke 2019: *low fi boriswave beats to get Brexit done to*

[@tykykable]

The only comedian to have ever been intellectually undermined by his own fans. A testament to how believable his heavy drinking, white populist character has been since its inception. "Al Murray's typical audience, completely missing the point and laughing through gritted teeth." -Stewart Lee

[@DirEnRefused]

"...like the dogs they are."

[@glencarle1009]

The actual quote is a bit more brutal: "laughing through bared teeth like the dogs they are"

[@vespadavidson2315]

Yes...Stewart Lee......integrity at its finest.

[@kharnt.betrayer2946]

The white bit always amazes me when I see those comments on youtube clips of his routine. He never as far as I'm aware actually mentions race but it's funny how people seem to ignore that.

[@dhirajfernando5373]

He would have made a spiffing Prime Minister.

[@robertanderson9084]

Where I live in Canada we have the option of showing up on polling day and telling the polling officer that "I wish to decline my ballot". Thereby participating in democracy by officially declaring that none of the candidates are worthy of my vote. The number of declined ballots is listed in the election results alongside the votes for the candidates. I am proud to say that my riding leads the country in declined ballots for the last few elections. More places need this option.

[@jonathansteadman7935]

I would welcome this in England. It would give me a reason to turn up on polling day ! Edit: I'm sure I wrote 'me a' reason, but it changed to 'a a' reason. This happens a lot, maybe YT wants to make us appear illiterate so changes it when we press the arrow 😁

[@pixelfrenzy]

in the UK you can "spoil" your ballot by filling it in incorrectly in several ways; these are also counted and reported.

[@Chris-mf1rm]

If that many of you don’t like the existing candidates, why don’t you get together and form your own party? No good standing on the sidelines saying you don’t like stuff, and then doing nothing about it.

[@ladybug591]

I have always wondered why Trudeau keeps getting to make a greater mess of Canada. Not a good tactic mate.

[@Manic.miner2077]

3 years on and politics/democracy are a complete joke in the uk.

[@Fixin-To]

manic .miner he was ahead of the trend.

[@b9y]

Are you saying Brexit was democratic?

[@Manic.miner2077]

b9y yes, what has followed isn’t.

[@jokimaguire5045]

Manic miner your not wrong with that .it might have worked out better if Alastair had won at least we could get a laugh

[@shaunpmarshall]

Update ...Corbyn free now ...thank god

[@mike.47]

In my eyes, Al Murray can do no wrong.

[@TrueBlueEG8]

He really is a gem, funny, intelligent, and sound as a pound. What a decent skin.

[@blazortheepic0384]

Bruuhhh. Wtfff. Ive never heard him speak like this

[@Red_Beard2798]

You mean normally? XD He's done at least one war documentary and spoken about Great British tanks during WWII

[@ancogaming]

There is a documentary of him travelling through Germany as well, not as the Guv but as a historian which he actually is, having an Oxford degree. I nearly shat bricks seeing this for the first time.

[@markwatkins8122]

@@ancogaming Al Murray's road to Berlin.

[@harrymarshall]

,, you need to watch the old Harry Hill Show, from late 90s ch4 😏🥅⚽

[@ericscaillet2232]

Good humour is the first sign of intelligence, same as one has bad humour to show idiocy- Al has excellent humour.

[@abbaszaidi8371]

Great talk. Loved the manifesto pledge on pitching up in A&E without it being an accident or emergency. And the good fellow responded to me on Facebook on a Harry Hill moment. Top man !

[@BadgerOff32]

Kinda surprised he didn't once mention the Monster Raving Loony Party. They've been an institution in British politics for years, and they are one of the 'joke-iest' political parties ever! One of their leaders was named Screaming Lord Sutch, for gods sake lol

[@kimpirihi]

Brilliant

[@chrismaddock5790]

I seriously love this guy so much XD

[@krisjooganah3253]

This reminds me of the film called Brwsters Millions, staring Richard Prior. He was a candidate and his slogan was "Don't vote above the anything"

[@VenkatShastry2047]

Al Murray has become my new idol

[@kacywatson6314]

Al Murray for Prime Minister of Great Britain 🇬🇧

[@TheLifeOfDan1]

Bluetrainer91 FireBlast *UK

[@drac1st]

It seems funny but he is quite intelligent so he would probably do a better job than most of the idiots that have been in number 10.

[@angrytedtalks]

@@drac1st He is as well qualified as Boris but Boris is a clown, Al is a jester; historically the wise man of the court...

[@twilliamspro]

I enjoyed the pub landlord political run it was good fun to watch

[@DJRustla]

Wow unexpected and refreshing, good job Alistair.

[@euansmith3699]

That was great. Even with the anechoic chamber of an audience, I was still giggling and nodding at his points.

[@alex29443]

haha - loved the start - there will be no collateral here... what's your name?

[@gezb99]

Great presentation - nice ;O)

[@johndonwood4305]

Politics is no joke but he makes a career from it.

[@bakedutah8411]

6:33 Tough crowd!

[@harryzero1566]

Maybe every constiuency should have a 'nonpolitical' candidate, with a compulsory voting requirement. That way there would be an opportunity for people who feel that 'none of the above' truly represent their needs.

[@topman8565]

That's against democracy 😂😂🤣

[@martinlee8057]

Excellent

[@TheIcekake]

Says thank you before the crowd starts clapping. Forces them to clap. Well done Sir Al!

[@bobafett9348]

"How about another joke Murray ?"

[@philipminns3933]

Who produced the sound for this? I'd like a word.

[@benrhysf]

i didn’t realise his voice was so different!? didn’t realise he was putting on a voice for the pub land lord character! i thought it was his normal voice!

[@J5X7]

Are you serious?

[@harrymarshall]

,, that's cos yr a Muppet 😏🤔❓❗ 🕊️🤍✨✨✨

[@johncarroll772]

@@J5X7 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@johnadams-wp2yb]

' If voting ever changed anything, they would not let us do it' Mark Twain.

[@HMCarReviews]

My uncle has a similar philosophy with regards to politics. Ran in his area and won.

[@fp8220]

Tough Crowd, I was giggling over the comment about “Steve and Jeff”, not a murmur from the audience...

[@simullane7836]

It was just before lunch and the proviso presenter had made every one cry.

[@qazx1427]

There wouldn't have been any mics towards the audience, as is usual for talks. We only heard the louder bouts of laughter.

[@VoidBoxOfficial]

Wrong there was 301 spartans and 2 didn't show so technically there was 299 😂

[@chriswhitt6685]

Superb

[@FirasTeinz]

‘Steve’ ‘Beautiful British name’ ‘What do you do Steveeey?’

[@owenwilliams105]

I was disappointed he never said squire or drunk any beer.

[@ajrwilde14]

Wow his voice is completely different!!

[@Wrath669]

6:30 I phenomenon I call "Power Word: Real Name"

[@Czeckie]

tough crowd. Or is it just the sound edit? He's fucking hilarious, how come they are silent.

[@Fluxxcraft]

Poorly mic'ed up crowd is my guess. If they're relying on the lav mic that Al is wearing to pick up audience then they've got no chance

[@Muzikman127]

If you listen carefully you can tell it's the audio, there's a quiet volume of laughter yes, but it's the timbre of multiple blended voices laughing rather than a small number of laughing voices i.e what we're getting is an unmicced crowd

[@isaacbrown8907]

By the way he was going to skydive a headcorn in Kent if your interested

[@AvangionQ]

More comedians should run for office ... they're the only ones left that'll tell us the truth about difficult topics worthy of parody and satire.

[@paperchain1232]

Can't take you seriously as yourself 💝

[@manicabawse2867]

What's ur name : me mufasa AL; beautifully British name

[@oswaldlorenz8410]

Did they forgot to turn on the mike?

[@albin2232]

Brilliant man.

[@paperchain1232]

Love you better as the PLL. 💝

[@kielee8991]

OG Pub Landlord

[@supernoodles91]

Spot on......always vote!!!

[@starc.]

Politics is bread and circus. It is a distraction, a serious joke

[@douglasparkinson4123]

oh my god all murray did a ted talk

[@FrankBarryLuv]

„The world belongs to outsiders, even more so in broken societies, such as we live in“ - Slogan from Donald Trump for 2020

[@Chris-mf1rm]

He should know. It’s billionaires like him who broke the country in the first place.

[@firstname2lastname207]

Whaaaaat David Cameron has a cousin how does that work, I thought he was grown in the science lab at his posh school

[@Sam-vp3pw]

attish choo, who would he get married to if he didn't have a cousin?

[@firstname2lastname207]

Sam Green ha ha that's true maybe I'm overestimating the capabilities of science

[@leszektemplewicz3362]

'problem with satire is that very quickly you get outflanked by reality'

[@Jabber-ig3iw]

That posh school he went to was set up for poor children to be given a chance of bettering them selves by being given a chance of a good free eduction with a route to oxbridge.

[@eavyeavy2864]

2022 The comedian president finally realize politic is no joke

[@deezelfairy]

Tough crowd! Lol

[@paulallen3405]

Well said!

[@willlist]

Its scary to hear the sensible side of Al Murray

[@haidengeary8277]

The US is not a democracy,we do not vote directly for leaders. IDK how it is in the UK, but we have the electoral college which, oddly, makes a bit more sense even tho it... does not make much sense. We vote for those who then vote for us. What is terrifying is, as many do not understand the concept as there are who understand it.

[@randomuser5831]

Jesus this man is acc very intelligent I'm mind blown

[@Fallopia5150]

My cat stopped me from voting for him! It was probably the 'dog for everyone' promise!

[@Telcontar1962]

He makes more sense as his comic persona.

[@BenDover-gr3wo]

just watched another video of him where he tells the same jokes, but that performance was in some school or something Was this his alternative character for his 2015 tour?

[@CANNIBoy]

Taking part in the elections not only means you accept and condone whatever outcome, it also means you endorse it’s outcome. You supported the system that brought about that eventuality! If you can live with yourself then that’s fine, I’m not trying to dissuade you. But I know how I genuinely feel myself about such matters and I will never endorse a corrupt and dystopian-leading out of date Trojan carcass that is 21st century politics.

[@scootjockey]

Maybe a comedian should go in to politic,s after all it,s a joke in parlement.

[@peterfeeney6177]

Alphonse Gabriel 👈🏼👈🏼 shots fired

[@edwardwilson9616]

Eddie Izzard says he will

[@ave789]

He's a good comedian but he's a bloody pillock. If Al Murray ran (not the pub landlord), I'd vote for him easily.

[@Wkeyy]

oxford educated historian/politician. He's not just a comedian mate I'm sure he'd honestly go far

[@ShawnRavenfire]

Al Franken is already a member of the U.S. Senate.

[@EchetusXe]

Tough crowd

[@ShawnRavenfire]

I've thought about running for public office as a joke candidate, but I decided not to go through with it, because... What if I actually won? We'd all be fucked!

[@pauljurgen-romrig9616]

If Al Murray goes into politics, Who’s going to organise the badger parade?

[@agrajager1886]

Tough crowd.

[@krjames5880]

Deadly serious audience..

[@yahiayasser6216]

This Arabic translator is new and I liked his method very much, mother's shoulder of greatness broo,,🔞🔥🔥🔥

[@kirsty9084]

This is just confusing. What a clever dude.

[@ethanharrison4283]

Trust al to do his talk at London 😂

[@EVZYL]

If I were British I would have voted for him. Liven things up a bit!

[@Baggythebeast]

Yet to meet an Al Murray fan, hopefully I stay lucky.

[@MrGlobbits]

For some reason I hate it when he stands on the edge of the red rug on the floor. I prefer it when he's in the middle. No idea why.

[@davidsheriff8989]

Intelligence shines here...

[@husnainanwaar1992]

stop doing politics with 8 billion people share nicely and wisely we all are on the same planet ...

[@raz_hz]

no

[@festyguy7405]

WOW! Strange to hear him speak in his regular accent!

[@christinecrockford1654]

love you all marry and going to see you soon and can't wait.

[@ianclark9598]

I thought the Monster Raving Loony party was a good thing. When Screaming Lord Sutch was on stage for the results it stopped the 'real' politicians from being quite so pompous and full of themselves.

[@DrFartfire]

I thought it was Woody Harrelson

[@boahnation9932]

Trust me... Politics *is* a joke nowadays. But you should vote.

[@koza7676]

Right?

[@curtismcmullan7969]

Eh?

[@JETJOOBOY]

course, stands to reason dunnit?

[@KarlDMarx]

Check out the European MP Martin Sonneborn!

[@Alexroberts666]

the guv is doing a bloody great impression of a normal man here

[@kindnessfirst9670]

He never played that HARP!

[@davidjanson9900]

ps as a bona fide cat lover ,who wants free dogs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@andypandywalters]

I wonder if he would have taken his seat in Westminster if he had actually won the election!

[@robw4789]

That name abbreviation joke died on its arse.

[@interestedbystander196]

Robert Wilkins Yep. Shame on that audience!

[@thiskamg]

Some of those policies were taken by the current government.

[@josetaylor7354]

Al Murray's a funny guy but if he had his own major political party, it would basically be UKIP mk II

[@interestedbystander196]

Jose Taylor If it was the party of "The Pub Landlord", then you are likely right. However, is it possible that The Pub Landlord is just a character he plays for his act? Could it be that he is different in his real persona?

[@josetaylor7354]

Yea I should really have made it clear that the persona he portrays is what I meant. Cheers for pointing it out, mate. :)

[@harrymarshall]

,, if yr an Oxbridge alumni yr already a cog of the machine,, any1 who thinks comedians ridicule their paying audience doesn't understand basic finance contracts 😋

[@aseemawad4294]

The Pub Landlord is meant to be a caricature, but that really doesn't matter. Most Englishmen either covertly or overtly agree with him.

[@herseem]

I'm not sure about most. I think most of his fans recognise the caricature. There will be those people though who don't see what's funny about it because 'it really is common sense', just like there were a few that didn't get The Royale Family because they just saw it as a fictional version of their own lives and what was wrong with that?