The Funny Politician

The weirdly named (for an Englishman) Lembit Opik is one of the Liberal Democrat politicians who lost their seat at the last general election in the UK. As he had promised half-jokingly during the special post-election edition of Have I Got Elections News for You he has now taken up a new career – stand up comedy. The BBC reviews his first performance in a small London club here (Give it up for Lembit Opik).

Listening to the BBC news review I couldn’t help but wonder about our set of Maltese MPs. Would they make it onto the stand-up comedy circuit? Would, for that matter, any comedian in Malta make the reverse trip to the benches of parliament? J’accuse has been guilty more than once of firing the allegation that parliament is made up of a bunch of clowns but what if we were to take that assertion more seriously? Could JPO add to his never-ending repertoire of part-time jobs and indulgences and find himself on centre-stage cracking an audience up with his tearsome antics? Would Anglu Farrugia bring an entire coffee morning to a standstill with his anecdotes ? Can you imagine the (Edwin) Vassallo and (Anthony Profs) Zammit double act: Did you hear the one about the lesbian couple who had a baby? Side splitting I am sure.

It may be true that our parliament has found its benches stocked with the product of the lesser art of radio entertainment. The Agiuses, Musumecis and Cuschieris of this planet were all a by-product of the “everything goes” and “radio is popular” culture of the mid-nineties but how many politicians possess the necessary wit to give you a good joke on the level of a Stephen Fry or at least a Lee Evans? Anecdotes about past generations of politicans make you wonder whether the odd Bonello Dupuis or Hyzler senior could have done a decent job of it but that generation is long gone. A good sense of humour, a good feeling with the audience and a large dose of wit are prerequisites for the successful stand up comedian – and I don’t think that we’ll be seeing many of those coming out of parliament soon. If it’s slapstick comedy you are after… then it might be worth your while to wait a bit longer and start reaping the dividends of this generations’ bunch of reps.