This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/28/jeremy-corbyn-joke-twitter-feed-corbynjokes-labour-leadership

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Can Jeremy Corbyn ever be funny? Only on my joke Twitter feed Can Jeremy Corbyn ever be funny? Only on my joke Twitter feed
(35 minutes later)
Last week I was watching the LBC Labour leadership debate, when Iain Dale asked a final, throwaway question: “What music would you play at your victory rally?” Andy Burnham named whatever band it was that he was supposed to name; Liz Kendall went up approximately 3,000% in my estimation by choosing an obscure recent Public Enemy track; Yvette Cooper made a rather good gag about the candidates forming an Abba tribute band (the dark one, the blonde one, the bearded one and the other one – ouch, feel that burn, Andy).Last week I was watching the LBC Labour leadership debate, when Iain Dale asked a final, throwaway question: “What music would you play at your victory rally?” Andy Burnham named whatever band it was that he was supposed to name; Liz Kendall went up approximately 3,000% in my estimation by choosing an obscure recent Public Enemy track; Yvette Cooper made a rather good gag about the candidates forming an Abba tribute band (the dark one, the blonde one, the bearded one and the other one – ouch, feel that burn, Andy).
And Jeremy Corbyn, well, Jeremy Corbyn leaned into the microphone as if he was about to launch into a low-tempo harmonica solo and said “I would play Imagine by John Lennon. I think it’s a wonderful piece of music and a wonderful piece of poetry.”And Jeremy Corbyn, well, Jeremy Corbyn leaned into the microphone as if he was about to launch into a low-tempo harmonica solo and said “I would play Imagine by John Lennon. I think it’s a wonderful piece of music and a wonderful piece of poetry.”
I don’t laugh out loud very often, but I laughed out loud. How earnest, how serious, how humourless would you have to be to choose Imagine for a victory parade? And then I looked at Corbyn and had my answer.I don’t laugh out loud very often, but I laughed out loud. How earnest, how serious, how humourless would you have to be to choose Imagine for a victory parade? And then I looked at Corbyn and had my answer.
The jokes are a range of stand-up and playground staples turned into anti-jokes by an apparent lack of comprehensionThe jokes are a range of stand-up and playground staples turned into anti-jokes by an apparent lack of comprehension
So, off I went to Twitter to snark among strangers like a proper, politically engaged person wouldn’t. “Jeremy hasn’t heard or told a joke since 1964,” I wrote, estimating within the nearest couple of years. Then “Why did the chicken cross the road?“ “That is a very serious issue at the heart of agriculture and transport issues and not helped by PFI.”So, off I went to Twitter to snark among strangers like a proper, politically engaged person wouldn’t. “Jeremy hasn’t heard or told a joke since 1964,” I wrote, estimating within the nearest couple of years. Then “Why did the chicken cross the road?“ “That is a very serious issue at the heart of agriculture and transport issues and not helped by PFI.”
These became the bio and the first tweet of an account, @corbynjokes, which is currently enjoying its week in the sun, confusing left and right as to what its agenda is and causing occasional fratricidal war between the Corbynites who get it and the Corbynites who absolutely don’t, whichever way round that might be. The jokes are a range of stand-up and playground staples turned into anti-jokes by an apparent lack of comprehension or an extremely serious punchline delivered by the man Don King would call “the best in the vest”. These became the bio and the first tweet of an account, @corbynjokes, set up with John Rain or @mrkenshabby, and currently enjoying its week in the sun, confusing left and right as to what its agenda is and causing occasional fratricidal war between the Corbynites who get it and the Corbynites who absolutely don’t, whichever way round that might be. The jokes are a range of stand-up and playground staples turned into anti-jokes by an apparent lack of comprehension or an extremely serious punchline delivered by the man Don King would call “the best in the vest”.
Related: ‘This is like Stop the War with bells on’: Jeremy Corbyn team shocked at momentumRelated: ‘This is like Stop the War with bells on’: Jeremy Corbyn team shocked at momentum
When I set the account up, and whenever I’ve looked through the replies, or I’ve checked the comments below articles about @corbynjokes (on these pages, when I last looked, there was a spirited argument regarding the coming nuclear apocalypse), there’s been one great Clive James quote at the front of my mind: “Common sense and a sense of humour are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humour is common sense dancing.”When I set the account up, and whenever I’ve looked through the replies, or I’ve checked the comments below articles about @corbynjokes (on these pages, when I last looked, there was a spirited argument regarding the coming nuclear apocalypse), there’s been one great Clive James quote at the front of my mind: “Common sense and a sense of humour are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humour is common sense dancing.”
This is something that worries me about Corbyn, whether it should or not. We demand our politicians can display their common sense by telling good jokes – professional comedians provide gags for them to stumble over at conference and in parliament, their delivery instantly judged in liveblogs, on TV panels, on Twitter. Their advisers no doubt huddle in corners of hotel rooms discussing the finer points of timing as if they were backstage at the Palladium. Boris Johnson is a major political force in part because he has passable comic delivery. Barack Obama is the most powerful politician in the world and also happens to be one of the world’s finest tellers of jokes. If a humourless person wants to make the world better but that world might have a blind spot for joy, then people might wonder if that’s a fair deal. That’s the problem with Imagine too.This is something that worries me about Corbyn, whether it should or not. We demand our politicians can display their common sense by telling good jokes – professional comedians provide gags for them to stumble over at conference and in parliament, their delivery instantly judged in liveblogs, on TV panels, on Twitter. Their advisers no doubt huddle in corners of hotel rooms discussing the finer points of timing as if they were backstage at the Palladium. Boris Johnson is a major political force in part because he has passable comic delivery. Barack Obama is the most powerful politician in the world and also happens to be one of the world’s finest tellers of jokes. If a humourless person wants to make the world better but that world might have a blind spot for joy, then people might wonder if that’s a fair deal. That’s the problem with Imagine too.
I might be wrong about Corbyn’s lack of laughs – I’ve heard that I’m not, but I might be – but the response from his supporters on Twitter to @corbynjokes has been two parts heartening to one part hilariously confirming. If you want to see a picture of the Labour party under Corbyn, take a look at my @ feed and see the People’s Front of Judea and the Judean People’s Front having it out about which comrade is or isn’t a traitor for retweeting an errant “Knock, knock” joke. The factionalism will have been a delight to watch for the feed’s Tory followers, who seem to be enjoying the fact that Labour is being lightly ridiculed, while taking the absolute pillory of the policies of their own party very much on the chin.I might be wrong about Corbyn’s lack of laughs – I’ve heard that I’m not, but I might be – but the response from his supporters on Twitter to @corbynjokes has been two parts heartening to one part hilariously confirming. If you want to see a picture of the Labour party under Corbyn, take a look at my @ feed and see the People’s Front of Judea and the Judean People’s Front having it out about which comrade is or isn’t a traitor for retweeting an errant “Knock, knock” joke. The factionalism will have been a delight to watch for the feed’s Tory followers, who seem to be enjoying the fact that Labour is being lightly ridiculed, while taking the absolute pillory of the policies of their own party very much on the chin.
And maybe that’s the secret of @corbynjokes’ brief success. Even though the concept has developed by showing the left as occasionally bananas, but the right as vile, both sides can find things to laugh at. And within Labour, supporters of the disparate candidates laugh at themselves and each other. My version of Corbyn would be disgusted by, or at least oblivious to, such frivolity, and perhaps he’d be right. Me? I’d be voting for Yvette Cooper, because she told such a good joke.And maybe that’s the secret of @corbynjokes’ brief success. Even though the concept has developed by showing the left as occasionally bananas, but the right as vile, both sides can find things to laugh at. And within Labour, supporters of the disparate candidates laugh at themselves and each other. My version of Corbyn would be disgusted by, or at least oblivious to, such frivolity, and perhaps he’d be right. Me? I’d be voting for Yvette Cooper, because she told such a good joke.