On Saturday night, we went to a small theatre in Beverley which is a vibrant market town in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It's where I went to school. We were with Tony and his lady - Pauline and they had kindly sorted out the tickets.
I didn't know what to expect as I had never heard of Mitch Benn before though thinking about it I must have inadvertently heard him on "The Now Show" on BBC Radio 4 without realising who he was.
He was manic, energetic, musical, irreverent and above all funny. His two sets covered a wide range of topics along with self-penned songs. There was mirth and anger, self-deprecation and a strong sense of the absurd. Mitch was rolling along so swiftly it was as if he'd swallowed a handful of amphetamine pills before the performance.
He had much to say about Brexit which increasingly appears like a form of unnecessary national self-mutilation. It was as if he was articulating what most of the audience were already thinking about our country's painful extrication from the European Union.
I found this recent video clip on You Tube. By the way, chubby Mitch was wearing the same horrible shirt on Saturday night. I know that British visitors will "get" the Eurovision reference in this song but I wonder if overseas visitors might be a little confused:-
Sorry YP but that was about as naff as I've heard in a long time.
ReplyDeleteWe are all entitled to our own opinions Derek.
DeleteTotally agree
Delete"Unnecessary national self-mutilation" indeed! I've never heard of Mitch Benn. (I inadvertently typed "Tony Benn," which makes me wonder -- is Mitch related?) I'll watch his video when I get home...
ReplyDeleteThe video doesn't do his live act justice. I suspect that you and Dave would also enjoy Mitch Benn in concert. Absolutely no relation to Tony Benn - the late father of current Labour MP - Hilary Benn.
DeleteEntertainers can sometimes get our attention on a topic like Brexit. here, we don't really understand the Brexit issue.
ReplyDeleteI don't really understand it either or why the hell anybody voted to leave the European Union.
DeleteThe current actions of the EU have confirmed to me why I needed to vote Leave and would vote Leave again without a thought. They enjoyed controlling this country while we were in it and are now making us grovel through every minute of negotiations in order to get their own back for us daring to leave. If only we had a Maggie Thatcher in charge at the helm.
ReplyDeleteNo comment and re. the last point - No Bloody Comment!
DeleteWhat a shame your fellow Remainers don't adopt the same attitude and stay bloody quiet!
ReplyDelete48% of the electorate voted to remain. 28% of the electorate did not vote at all. !00% of the leaders of the Leave campaign lied and misled the electorate. Why should we be quiet? We need a second referendum.
DeleteI wasn't lied to or misled, that's only the response of people who didn't get their way. And if a second referendum also said Leave, would you call for a third and a fourth. Time to move forward into a Great Britain again, not a Britain subservient to Europe.
ReplyDeleteThis "Great Britain again" talk is what makes me so crazy. Why aren't we great AS part of Europe? This idea that we have somehow deteriorated and will be restored to a position of postwar greatness is the same poison driving American politics. The 1950s are GONE, people, and they are not coming back. We have to make a new path in a new, modern world -- and that means working in tandem with our neighbors.
DeleteSteve's perspective on this is the same as mine. Though there was and is a lot wrong with the European Union, it was and is a better option than going it alone. Besides, in this interconnected world it is actually impossible to fully disentangle ourselves from Europe. A forty year relationship cannot so easily be dismissed as Davis and May and the rest are realising more and more each day. Brexit is already making Britain a poorer nation and I do not feel that is an acceptable legacy for our children and grandchildren.
DeleteHow are we poorer YP, or is that just part of the anti Brexit talk whereby everything is blamed on that, I suppose my dog suddenly not liking to go out in the rain is because of that. Being "Great Britain" is having the gumption to stand on our own again and not be subservient to laws passed by countries that have agendas aimed at keeping Britain in their place. Laws for one, that see their fishing fleets getting better fishing quotas than our fishermen.
DeleteDerek - All you have to do is to look at what has happened to the pound because of Brexit. That's just one direct way in which we have become poorer.
DeleteOverseas visitors are always a little confused.
ReplyDeleteTheir confused mental state can easily be corrected with strong liquor.
DeleteI hesitate to say anything about Brexit, because I am part of the "bossy" nation that is, at least partly, being blamed by many for what the EU has become.
ReplyDeleteLet it suffice to say that I fully echo Steve's and YP's comments.
But I also thank Derek for being so outspoken on this controversial topic, and for not claiming (like so many other leave voters) that he's been tricked into it.
You are very diplomatic ma'am. Perhaps you possess the credentials necessary to replace Mrs Merkel who, politically, is apparently having a very difficult time right now.
DeleteWith all due respect Mr Pudding, (she says, with tongue firmly in cheek) the comments made for more entertaining and enlightening reading than the post...
ReplyDeleteAlphie
Alphie