Out of Joint, Hampstead Theatre and Sonia Friedman Productions present King of Hearts by Alistair Beaton

TIME TO LIGHTEN UP?
Comedian Shazia Mirza on satire

“I went to America recently. Not to blow anything up, just for work. There was a lot of prejudice there; anyone with a moustache was a target. My mum was attacked. Recently, a foremost cleric in Australia said “All uncovered women are meat” and if they get raped they asked for it. I couldn’t wait to get my clothes off. A few weeks ago I read in a UK broadsheet that a refugee in this country said “Britain is a toilet” but he still wanted a British passport. Mohammed Al Fayed really is an angry old man...”

I love Britain. I can stand on stage every night of the week and say what I want. Some people may laugh, some may not; some may be offended, some may not; but no one stops me. I don’t get arrested.

Freedom of speech really does exist in this country, but can offensive speech really be free? The only thing that is really free is the truth, and satire allows us to tell the truth in a funny way. Wit is the unfailing symptom of intelligence and it takes an intelligent person to be able to stand outside him- or herself and laugh at themselves and adversity.

This is important, because as we all know the only thing that helps us to endure tragedy, war, death, and Newsnight is a sense of humour. An intelligent society is one where free thought, free speech, ideas and creativity are embraced and valued. When all people can bring their different thoughts and talents to the mix it can only enrich a culture.

In Afghanistan, under the rule of the Taliban, young girls were not allowed to read or write (let alone perform stand up comedy). Why? Because ideas and opinions are dangerous in an oppressive society. Laughter can be a bullet through the brain. We need to laugh at ourselves in order to see ourselves. And there are people who really don’t want to see themselves. They don’t want to face their own hypocrisy, which is what satire does—it unveils hypocrisy by holding up a mirror to society. This is what great art does.

I was meant to do a tour of Pakistan last year, but at the last minute it was cancelled. When my manager asked why, they replied, “We don’t think Pakistan is ready for stand up comedy by a woman”. A woman on stage, in a culture where men dominate, would be threatening; but laughter would be even more threatening.

Some people believe that some things are sacred and should never be mocked: religion, sex, the Archbishop of Canterbury... I disagree. I think all of these need to be mocked. Especially the Archbishop. You’ve got to laugh at the old man. The Archie (no stranger to wearing a Gucci style gown himself) has backed a resolution proclaiming homosexual practices to be incompatible with the Bible. Apparently gays are now not welcome in his church unless they ‘change their behaviour’. That’s fine by me— because unless you change your ways and give that head a good cut and blow dry you sure as hell won’t be welcome in any gay man’s home.

In some societies religious leaders are held in such high esteem that they themselves are sacred. But we, the people, give leaders power and status. They are humans like us, fallible like us. They know that if we can’t criticize them then we can’t deconstruct or understand them. This is how a repressed and harmful society forms.

Religion, sex, death, love—all these can only be strong when we know everything bad about them, then we can protect them. But until then nothing is sacred and laughing at the hypocrisy, selfishness, idiocy that these things bring will allow us to be free. We feel great relief when we know we can laugh at something, because most of the time we are thinking it anyway.

Muslims get angry when anyone jokes about Islam. Christians tried (successfully in some places) to prevent performances of Jerry Springer the Opera; Sikhs forced the closure of the play Behzti in Birmingham; and then there are the British blasphemy laws. What is it that people are so scared of? The truth? Themselves? Will the subject they are laughing at seem weaker for the laughter? Lighten up!—people may start to like you a bit more!

So maybe it’s about power. About man’s desire to feel important and in control. But does it really make people feel better about themselves and their lives if they believe something to be sacred? Everything is up for mocking, because laughter is tears, comedy is tragedy, all of this is life and there is humour in all life even in the darkest dullest most painful moments. The Government and the media are scared to criticize, or make jokes about, Islam. But I bet they wish they could and they probably tell them when they get home. Even Prince Philip has a sense of humour. It might be a bit racist, but he’s still got one.