Professor David Peimer
Satire and Subversion, Part 2: Make em Laugh
Summary
Professor David Peimer argues that satire is one of the most remarkable and profound qualities of the human imagination. He discusses what satire is, how it works, and why we need it. Throughout, he shows a variety of clips and examples, both well known and lesser known. Part 2 of 2.
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a Professor of Literature, Film and Theatre in the UK. He has worked for the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, New York University (Global Division) and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing in New York, UK, Berlin, EU Parliament (Brussels), Athens, Budapest, Zululand and more. He has most recently directed Dame Janet Suzman in his own play, Joanna’s Story, at London Jewish Book Week. He has published widely with books including: Armed Response: Plays from South Africa, the digital book, Theatre in the Camps. He is on the board of the Pinter Centre (London), and has been involved with the Mandela Foundation, Vaclav Havel Foundation and directed a range of plays at Mr Havel’s Prague theatre.
That’s a great question. That could go into a play, Alfred. Great line. If you can’t laugh it yourself, I don’t think you have a valid basis for being on the planet, to be honest from my point of view.
Now that’s a fascinating question, which I thought a lot about. How do you satire in the era of Covid? And I know lots of writers all over who are grappling with this exact question. And it’s essential because we will write satire whether a little bit later, maybe, perhaps not right now, but in a moment there will become satire on it. You know, there’s certainly satire on the Black Death, and many others, you know. On the Spanish Flu and others. It’s perhaps a little bit too close right now, but it will come.