Back from the dead: JoeM presents ... Chris Morris Day (orig. 11/10/06)

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The true Greats in comedy are those who come up with something totally unexpected. Something that seems to have no obvious influence. Chris Morris first came to our attention with The Day Today. It was an exaggeration of the TV news programs of the day. Monty Python (there I’ve said it) did mini take-offs of TV game shows/continuity indents/presenters but The Day Today was not one of a million Python echoes. What made Python different was that the creators were in the right place at the right time – the end of the anarchic surrealist 60s (and were all immensly talented) . What made Chris Morris different was the same - his luck was to be there when a load of cheap new visual techniques became available. What made D2D different from anything that came before was, among other things, the visual pyrotechnics – allowing completely over the top versions of the form over content style of modern News programs.

There were also some great charicatures. All the different types of newscaster are there – Ted Maul, the ‘this really is the end of the world as we know it’ drama king, Morris as the Hard Man Interviewer (who once started shooting up over the credits), the sexy female presenter, flirting with Morris, the clichéd clod on the sports desk – ‘And that was Liquid Football ‘– ‘Alan Partridge’ - who went on to his own mainstream infinity and beyond – as did many of those from Morris shows – always a good sign.

Brass Eye followed. This got loads of pompous ‘celebrities’ to pontificate on drugs/sex with hilarious results. How they let themselves be duped like that just goes to show how desperate ‘celebs’ are for publicity.

Then there was Jam. Nowdays - at least in the UK – there are few pure comedy series being made, it’s all ‘comedy/drama’.Everybody thinks it began with The Office. In fact it began with Jam. Which is more comic,dramatic – and disturbing - than anything since.

Since Jam, Morris has done a 6 part sitcom satire on young media hipsters –Nathan Barley - which was good and at times brilliant – especially on the meaningless jargon and styles which that tiny self-important gang came up with to set themselves apart from everyone else. But it wasn’t in the same class as what went before.

Chris Morris has influenced just about every comedian that came after him. Our current greatest comedian - Russell Brand - would not have existed in his present form if CM hadn’t existed.

(The background links are for diehards. If browsing - best clips are Cake, Paedogeddon, Chopped up Man, First Intro)

BIO

Chris Morris (born June 15, 1962, Bristol, England) is an English comedy writer, satirist and radio DJ.

Morris grew up in Cambridgeshire; both his parents were doctors. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit boys' boarding school in Lancashire, and studied zoology at Bristol University

CM Wikipedia

CM Archive
(Thanks rigby for this)



CM Top 10 Rebels

The Day Today is a surreal British parody of television current affairs programmes. It is an adaptation of the radio programme On The Hour.

Wikipedia Day Today

Day Today -- Rok TV

Day Today Manimatronics

Day Today -- Gay Desk

Brass Eye is a series of satirical spoof documentaries which aired on Channel 4 in 1997 and was re-run in 2001.The series was created by Chris Morris as a sequel to Morris's earlier spoof news programmes On The Hour and The Day Today.

Wikipedia Brass Eye

Brass Eye Cake – Made Up Drug

Brass Eye Crime





Brass Eye 2001 paedophilia special Paedogedoon

In 2001, the series was repeated, along with a new and entirely original extra show, which tackled the tricky subject of paedophilia and the associated moral panic prevalent in parts of the British media at the time following the death of Sarah Payne focused on the controversial 'name and shame' campaign of the News of the World. This included an incident in 2000, in which a paediatrician in Newport had the word 'PAEDO' daubed in yellow paint on her home.

Celebrities including Gary Lineker and Phil Collins appeared in videotaped interviews, in which they endorsed a spoof charity "Nonce Sense" ("nonce" is a common British slang term for paedophile). Tomorrow's World presenter Philippa Forrester and ITN reporter Nicholas Owen amongst others were tricked into explaining the details of "HOECS" (pronounced "hoax") computer games, which online paedophiles were supposed to be using to abuse children via the Internet. These fairly simple plays on words were opaque enough that none of the guest celebrities understood that they were being lampooned until the show was aired, in spite of what often seems to the viewer like plainly absurd subject matter. The Capital Radio DJ "Doctor" Neil Fox, for example, informed viewers that "paedophiles have more genes in common with crabs than they do with you and me", before qualifying his remarks with "Now that is scientific fact - there's no real evidence for it - but it is scientific fact". Viewers were also told by MP Syd Rapson that paedophiles were using "an area of Internet the size of Ireland", and by Richard Blackwood that internet paedophiles can make computer keyboards emit noxious fumes in order to subdue children (Blackwood even sniffed a keyboard and claimed to be able to smell the fumes, which he said made him feel "suggestible").

Around 2000 complaints (and approximately 3000 calls of support) were received.There was also a vociferous tabloid campaign against Morris, who refused to discuss the issue. The episode went on to win a Broadcast magazine award .

The show caused a furor among sections of the British tabloid press. The Daily Star printed an article decrying Morris and the show next to a piece about the then 15-year-old singer Charlotte Church's breasts under the headline "She's a big girl now". The Daily Mail featured pictures of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who were 13 and 11 at the time respectively, in their bikinis next to a headline describing Brass Eye as "Unspeakably Sick". Defenders of the show argued that the media reaction to the show reinforced its satire of the media's articifial hysteria and hypocrisy on the subject of paedophilia.





Paedogedoon 1

Paedogedoon 2

Paedogedoon 3

Blue Jam was an ambient radio comedy programme produced by Chris Morris. It aired on BBC Radio 1 in the early hours of the morning from 1997 to 1999.

The programme gained cult status due to its unique mix of surreal monologue, music, synthesised voices, heavily edited broadcasts and recurring sketches.

Archive Blue Jam
Wikieda Blue Jam



Blue Jam -- More Conceptual Art





Jam was based on the earlier BBC Radio 1 show, Blue Jam, and consisted of a series of unsettling sketches unfolding over an ambient soundtrack.

Many of the sketches re-used the original radio soundtracks with the actors lip-synching their lines, an unusual technique which added to the programme's unsettling atmosphere.

Jam is a sketch show like no other and the satirist's darkest hour. Combining video, full wide screen film, distorted digital video images and even security camera footage Morris creates a twisted reality in which to tackle thought provoking issues, courting controversy and flying in the face of formulaic bland television output as he does so. Not as immediate as The Day Today or Brass Eye but ultimately more entrancing, in Morris's own words, “It's loneliness in the modern world, dreams of the ill in a vacuum: welcome in Jam”.




Wikipedia Jam



Jam -- Suicide with an Escape Clause

Jam -- Phone Sex Doctor

Jam -- Sex for Houses

Jam -- Living Outside

Jam -- Spot Remover

Jam -- School Competition








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p.s. Hey. Since Chris Morris was recently a topic of conversation here, I thought I'd pull this CM post out of my old, dead blog for your delectation, courtesy of d.l. JoeM. Thanks a lot again, Joe, if you're out there, and thanks to everyone who gives it your time and comments today. A reminder that the Halloween SPD will be appearing here this weekend, beginning on Friday. I have a lonnnng day ahead of me, 11 am to 10 pm, involving final tech, rehearsals, etc. for 'Them' pre-opening night tomorrow, so I'm going to jump in and need to move a bit swiftly today. ** David Ehrenstein, Hey, David. ** Changeling, If you see this before you go, have an awesome trip, and I hope the dwindling gasoline over there gets fed expressly into whatever train or car you need. Should be interesting. Jammy apple, no, I don't even know what that is. Jammy sounds ... well, mysterious. If you get a signal over there, say hey and give a trip/riot report. Oh, and, yeah, that would be really fantastic re: the writers workshop. Of course, of course. I and here would be honored. Take care, my friend. ** Steevee, Sure, Peter Gordon. I was around when he was doing the Love of Life Orchestra, I'd be interested to check that out again. The peppy quality jibes well with my memory. Thanks, Steve. ** Pilgarlic, Kim Kardashian is a rare US celeb nonentity whose fame hasn't transfered to France, so I kind of don't have a clue who she is, which is, you know, kind of blissful. ** Killer Luka, Wow, that is a bump, and an awesome one. Good slot. Damn, I wish I could be here for that. Hm, probably not unless I head to LA around then and can swing a stop-through. Your mom, ha ha, that's cool. You can tell her that particular piece with the cat is basically a cut-up of police reports and trial transcriptions from the 'Ricky 6' trial, so I didn't actually think that cat thing up. I was just the messenger, ha ha. She's a big Foster Wallace fan? A DFW loving mom? Kind of utopian, that. NYC is being pretty A-okay so far, and once we get 'Them' up and running, I hope to actually experience life outside the East Village and Lower East Side. Lots of love and ongoing major congrats to you, Luka! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. I've only had a quick look-through of YnY so far because I literally haven't been 'home' in the last two days, but it reads/looks fantastic so far. Hope the Nine Trades launch today goes really well, and take care, man. ** Laurabeth, Well, that certainly is great news! Yeah, I should be able to meet up before the performance. When do you think you'll be here and ready to meet up? I'll have to get back inside the theater for a while before the show is all. And we have two shows that night, yikes, which kills any after show visiting except for hellos and stuff. If you guys can sort out a plan/time, I'll be there. Great! That's a terrific photo of you and Ian. Thanks for the share, L. ** David, I can't count the non-meh birthdays I've had on one hand easily, if that helps. That mail box walk sounds pretty nice, actually. ** Plexus, Hey, G. Sorry to hear about your shitty sleep. I have shitty awake this morning, so kind of a high five from me. Ha ha, your job. Well, and a boo-hoo too, I guess. Some day they'll put a plaque on that car wash saying you were there, or on the skyscraper that will replace it once we're either crawling across the scorched, dying earth or whizzing through the air in private UFOs or something. I don't think our maze is going to be too scary. Tragic and eerie and spookily sexy maybe. Rehearsals were fine, I guess, and I have a ton of them today. No gumball machine, though. I think you win. Loads of love from me. ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, Visa stuff is always, always more complicated than even its worse scenario, I think. Yury has to renew his on Friday. Kind of a gulp. A post would be awesome, of course, and, gosh, you're so generous, man. Only if you can. Which dancer? There's one who has gathered a kind of onslaught of crushes in the 'real world'. I won't say which one. ** Emily, Hey. So cool about your Halloween party. I'd say set up a live cam so I can watch it, but I'll be on a plane all day on Halloween and then a post-flight wreck. A zombie without the costume. Yeah, I've been dipping into your blog when I can over here. Stellar stuff. I'm too rushy to link it up today, but tomorrow I'll be freeish. ** Will Decker, Well, if your neighbor goes with you, you can do what I do whenever I watch Bresson films with other people. I tell them that if they don't love the film, they have to promise to stay totally silent and not betray any signs of dislike even in their more subtle facial expressions or I will either never talk to them again or cry. It's kind of vaguely true. Oh, your friend is newly back in prison. I'm so sorry. Thanks, Will. ** Andrew, No, I think some people say spooky but more people say haunted. I use spooky because haunted house also means 'real' haunted houses too. I think Halloween houses deserve their own title. I hope Spank is wise enough to grab your piece. Fingers crossed. When I write, I first create a fairly elaborate plan, framework, map, structure. That takes me quite a while. Then I start writing it, and the writing is usually very raw and usually longer and a lot flabbier than I want. Then I go back and refine and edit it down for a long time. It's easier for me to do it that way, and I think my talent, such as it is, is centered in editing and refining, not so much in the writing part at all. How do you write? What is your process? ** Brendan, I would of course be ultra-interested in a Collage of Day post, you bet, if you find doing that interesting and don't mind. Thank you, kind sir. I want to see Jackass 3D. I kind of love Jackass. Not sure if I'll get to. Dude, the Giants, what the heck. They might just win the whole thing, no? Crazy. ** Statictick, Let me know how it goes and what the phys. ed. stuff entails, yeah? ** The Evil Ghost of JW Veldhoen, Geez, I think of you as very sincere. It's always there, I think. Maybe I look for that. I don't know. ** Robert-nyc, Hey, Robert! ** Nb, Oh, it makes sense that Mizrahi does reality TV, yeah. He wasn't very funny at all. It's like he thought he was hosting the Lammy Awards or something. I'm going to try to find out the specifics on the Steampunk spooky house today during rehearsal breaks if my iPhone's 3G is working. By tomorrow, for sure. A Haunted House cross-country tour. With me as, like, the host, and you guys as, like, the Steveos. There's a reality show waiting to happen. I ... wonder. ** Sypha, Hey, James. Comic book day sounds exciting. Wednesday is the day movies come out in France. Albums used to come out on, uh, Tuesdays, I think, but I'm not sure if that tradition survived the mp3 revolution. Fully enjoy. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hey. No, at the awards thing, I was standing with the award presenters. They didn't get to have seats. It was kind of weird. Your day sounds kind of awful, man. I'm sorry. I hope you woke up with the kindest head in the world today. I have to zoom through my day because I'm running late. Basically, I was at PS122 all day while the lighting guy designed and fixed the lights, and then the performers drifted in, and the lights were checked again with them onstage. I went out for a quick lunch of Ukrainian food at Veselka, this legendary East Village joint. And I went out briefly again to buy a pastry and to get some stuff like Vitamin water and Pepto Bismol for the dancers. I ran into my pal the artist Matt Greene, which was cool. But mostly I was in the theater figuring stuff out. We did a rough run-through in the late evening, and it went okay, although we need to fine tune some stuff. Today the dead goat arrives, so we'll be rehearsing the 'shocking' scene for the first time. I didn't get out of there and back here until after 11 pm whereupon I ate some awful food I bought at a deli and then crashed. Today is more of the same but more intensely, and then we have a last dress rehearsal tonight with invited guests, and I guess we'll have a better sense of how the show works after that. Tell me about Wednesday please. ** Alan, Hey, Alan! ** L@rstonovich, Hey, L. Well, if it's easy to get that Woodring post together, very cool, and, if not, no big at all. Did you guys go to the spooky house yet? 'Tarantula', ha ha, wow. I remember thinking 'Beautiful Losers' was better. Oh, your show is on ... uh, spaced out, Wednesday? If so, I can catch it, I think. I can't remember what nights our shows are, hm. Thursday - Saturday? Not sure. Sounds awesome, natch. Not to mention that coast house. ** Michael_Karo, Ah, thanks a lot, Michael! I'll go find it when I get back tonight. Super kind of you, man! ** Misanthrope, Dude, ouch, on the ribs thing. I know rib pain. Ouch. My back's been killing me softly with its song, but without the song or maybe with a very bad song. I'll happily check out Little Show's FB pic when I make my nightly dash in and out of FB. Can one 'Like' profile pics? I can't remember. ** Bollo, Better bad shoes than a bad haircut. But then I never notice people's shoes ever. It's weird. People don't exist below the knees for me. That sounds dirty, but it isn't, I swear. ** Okay. Really sorry for the rush today. I'll be more leisurely starting tomorrow. Dig Chris Morris and JoeM's graceful post machinations, and I'll see you in kind of the morning.