The left, Brand & Walliams. On being otherwise engaged.
Noting the long overdue jailing of Russell Brand and the media coverage of the activities of David Walliams I note articles in the Mail and Telegraph pointing out how the left engaged with and promoted Brand, though not Walliams.
Having examined my social media and on-line posts going way back I find that I had nothing to say at all about Walliams ever. I mentioned Brand in a few tweets in late 2013 mainly to suggest that his disdain for voting (later revised) was not a good idea.
Of course I knew who Brand and Walliams were and are (if not the details of their sexual activities). However I never listened to Brand’s BBC radio shows, did not watch Big Brother’s Bigmouth or read his Booky Wook. I did read the issue of the New Statesman he edited (24th October 2013) because I’ve been reading the NS on and off since my late father introduced me to it in the 1960s. I wrote a letter pointing out that Brand was wrong. I did not watch Owen Jones 2015 Guardian interview with Brand, although I recall thinking that someone with the following of Brand raising the issue of revolution (however vaguely) might start useful discussions.
I did not watch Walliams in Little Britain ( a road name in central London btw) because I was aware of what kind of ‘humour’ was being purveyed.
Of course you can say that his just reflects how cut off from the wider public discourse left activists like myself were, although I’m happy to discuss what happened in Celebrity Traitors or the various tweaks to Master Chef (IPlayer helps here, it didn’t exist then).
But the reality is when I wasn’t paying attention to Brand or Walliams I was down the pub chatting to actual people about life, the universe etc. Or I was at a union or socialist meeting or reading a book. I recommend it, although choose your meetings with care…
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