Wit Larded with Malice

Or: The Satirical Russian Magazines of 1905-08

In Russia, following a string of embarrassing defeats in the Russo-Japanese War and the infamous Bloody Sunday incident, during the period of the so called Failed Revolution, no less than 480 underground magazines sprung-up to voice the outrage of the many disparate groups and factions and movements—nihilists, anarchists, socialists,  Mensheviks, Bolsheviks, etc—which though unorganized, were united in their calls for Tsarist reform. This outpouring of printed materials, critical of the State, was no small thing in a country with a long history of strict censorship and brutal punishments for dissension. These many short-lived publications are referred to, collectively, as “satires.” 




Peanuts, by Charles Bukowski. Funny, and strangely simpatico. Via Monkeyfilter.

10.09. filed under: books. comedy. play. 1

Quote, “Rockets, canoes, bagpipes, fish, good old chaps with patches on their elbows and jokes about Derrida: Glen Baxter’s world is always instantly recognizable. Blunt, innocent-looking lines tether its extravagant surrealism to the page like guy ropes, the economy of those pen strokes undermined by the accompanying text, blocked out in hand-written capitals, which sheds often surprising light on the dummy-blank expressions of the characters.” from an old Guardian article called King of the surreal. Anyone whose work contains multiple Giacometti jokes, or indeed a constant stream of art gags, gets the nod in my book. So let me ask you, are you, like myself, an admirer of this Glen Baxter by any chance? Well, you are about to become one.

Links: Glen’s homepage, Thorogood, Modernism Inc, The Tate, Flowers East, Int. Herald Tribune piece, and a short audio interview.

12.13. filed under: art. comedy. people. 3

The Laughing Head

Or: all you need to know about the art world

David Hensel, 64, from East Grinstead, West Sussex, was told his sculpture of a laughing head (title: One Day Closer To Paradise) would be part of the Royal Academy of Arts summer exhibition. But at a preview he found that just the piece of wood which was intended to support the head was on display. Mr Hensel assumed staff had accidentally left the sculpture in the basement where it was being stored. The Academy said the judging panel assumed the two pieces (the sculpture and its supporting base) were separate and decided the support was better. Link. Fucking hilarious.

06.20. filed under: art. comedy. wtf. 7

Hammer & Tickle. An interesting article about the peculiar brand of humor spawned by the Communist system. It’s an accompaniment to the film of the same name being shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. If you prefer one liners...

Slapstick, bawdiness, and farts- all time classics of primate humor which stretch way back, well past Benny Hill, or even the glory days of the Stooges. About 4 million years back evidently.

Space alien poop is making us sick! Space alien backs bush for president! Stunned farmer comes face to face with the pansy from planet x! Washington think tanks are riddled with space aliens! These are just a few of the extraterrestrial gems served up by that comedy gold-mine, The Weekly World News. For more head to the source.

05.02. filed under: comedy. ideas. theory.