Comments on: My War On The Chaser

By: Linda Radfem

Linda Radfem — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:49:54 +0000

Yeah to that tendency to assume cleverness; I think they enjoy a kind of halo effect which is common here, Jimeoin benefited from it and so did Rodney Rude if I recall. They did some really funny stuff early on and then kind of rode along on their own coat tails for fuckin’ years, no wrong could they do.
I saw Jimeoin live once and he did this thing where he would deliberately utter something unintelligible just to see the audience get bent out of shape laughing at nothing. I think this is what the chaser guys are doing only it’s on our dime, as Aileen pointed out.

By: Richie

Richie — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:06:27 +0000

I remember sitting through their “Best Of” a few years ago; it was just so… pointless. Like, they stuff their socks full of meat and then walk past a drug sniffer dog, which naturally starts sniffing even though they don’t have drugs. End of sketch. This is satirising what, exactly? Or, say, booking a flight under the name “Al Kaida” and getting it read out over an airport PA. Or just dressing up as Osama Bin Laden and not bothering to include a joke at all.

What’s telling is that if the other comedians you mentioned did the *exact* same material, it’d be written off as a bunch of manchildren using shock value to get attention. But because The Chaser are middle-class ex-law students who work for a non-commercial channel and bill themselves as “satirists” rather than “comedians”, there’s a tendency to assume what they do is automatically clever on some level. Class privilege is basically all they’ve got. Do the exact same show with working class accents and you’d basically have Ronnie Johns, only worse.

By: The DUFC is Up! « HellOnHairyLegs

The DUFC is Up! « HellOnHairyLegs — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:12:26 +0000

[...] Carnival is up at anjum rahman’s place. Full of interesting articles, including one by Linda about the Chaser. No, the chaser are not in sufficient possession of the smarts needed to pull off political satire. [...]

By: hellonhairylegs

hellonhairylegs — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:58:57 +0000

And the Brady Bunch/ Fritzl thing in the same episode. Because rape and incest is so freaking hilarious.

By: Linda Radfem

Linda Radfem — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:31:41 +0000

Thanks kardis! Good to see you around.

Aileen, the Anna Coren’s makeup truck skit was probably my first alarm bell, although there would undoubtedly have been others. Are they back on the air next week?

By: kardis

kardis — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:42:58 +0000

I’m so glad I read this post. Next time someone tries to give me some nonsense about how I need to “lighten up” or some such I will be much better prepared to make my case. Thank you.

By: Aileen Wuornos

Aileen Wuornos — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:24:44 +0000

It’s unfortunate. I agree that show was kind of funny and clever when it first came out but I just can’t stand all the misogyny that’s so deeply entrenched in it. And most of popular media.

My parents think I’m being pedantic, but I’m sticking to my guns, damnit!

By: Linda Radfem

Linda Radfem — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:12:22 +0000

That’s a bloody good point, Aileen. They’re being funded by us to fuck with us.

I’m also pretty pissed off that a woman has lost her job over it. Imagine if Amanda Duthie had dared to refuse to approve the skit. She was damned either way.

By: Aileen Wuornos

Aileen Wuornos — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:37:01 +0000

You forgot to mention that they’re more or less being paid by the public to pull of these kind of stunts, seeing as how the ABC is taxpayer funded (? please, correct me if I’m wrong!)