Why reality is now too strange for satire
As the political comedy Veep returns to TV, Nicholas Barber investigates the problems satirists face since current affairs have taken a such a bizarre turn.
Difficult as it may be to remember, there was a time when Western politics seemed fairly stable and predictable. That was certainly the premise of Veep, the Emmy-winning White House sitcom which has just returned to HBO for a sixth series. “When the show started it was very much satirising the stasis of Washington,” says Will Smith - not the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but one of the writers of Veep. “It was about the feeling that nothing really changes, and that bureaucracy keeps grinding on.”
Then came 2016. Triggered by a series of populist votes, an earthquake rearranged the political landscape in the US and Europe. The United Kingdom chose to leave the European Union. The United States chose to elect Donald Trump. Whether you think this shake-up was long overdue, or whether you’re stocking up on canned goods and digging a fall-out shelter in your back garden, there is no doubt that our leaders and their decisions are, shall we say, less conventional and more colourful than they once were. And this raises the issue of whether any comedy set in the political realm can possibly be as ludicrous, hilarious, exciting and terrifying as what we see on the news every day. Is reality officially beyond satire?
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