Letter to Radio 4's "Feedback"

Prompted by reams of humourless twats having a go at David Mitchell for a joke on Radio 4's Unbelievable Truth. i'm not a Mitchell fanboy or anything, but the people calling into this programme were a real excruciating band of humourless muppets (iPlayer).

From: Tom

Just want to put my voice forward to counter the storm of type-first/think-later auto-offendees submitting their knee-jerk faux-offence at the Anne Frank joke made by D Mitchell on The Unbelievable Truth. It was funny, sympathetic and not particularly offensive at all.

Your complainers seem to be prime members of the recently-developed "offencerati" class - those who sit around *waiting* for someone to 'offend' them so they can go crying to mummy - or audience feedback shows - as soon as they encounter something that doesn't square with their little eggshell worldview. More Mitchell, more Unbelievable Truth, more bold writing, and less capitulation to professional whiners, please.

Thanks.
tom.

Unnecessary comeback zone

Spinal Tap recording new material

Spinal Tap are recording their first new material in nearly twenty years.

The spoof English heavy metal band is the brainchild of American actors Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest.

They first featured in the classic 1984 "mockumentary" This Is Spinal Tap and went on to record two albums.

Shearer, who these days voices several Simpsons characters, told BBC 5 Live: "It'll be for download as well as on conventional media later this year."

[rest of story here]

Now, i dunno about anyone else, but i read this headline as "25-year-old joke told again".

Yeah OK, a good joke, admittedly. In 1984.

I suppose it's at least semi-apt that ST are now dragging themselves around the same kind of toothless cabaret circuit all the bands they were satirising are also currently doing (hi Sabbath! hi Maiden! hi Priest!) — but doesn't that also entirely negate the group's satirical purpose and render them just another bunch of reunion-touring geriatric rock bottom-feeders?

No more, thanks, guys.