Brexit - impact on musicians, touring and the music/events industry

[littlebabyjesus]

Yes, I said the vast majority of their income comes from their uk activities and the arts council, and it does.

What we dont know from that chart is how much of the 13 million from international box office (eu and non eu, ie including broadway) is swallowed by the costs of touring; I suggested that all of it plus more was (if you removed broadway from the figures at least), but I don't know for absolute sure. I do know that their uk activities are way more profitable though, and I'd say more culturally important.

Neither of us knows for sure, but I would suspect that most of the arts council funding is focused on UK activity and that there are limits on how much, if at all, the NT is allowed to subsidise its international tours with UK govt money.

 

[rutabowa]

Why would uk theatre be more culturally important?

Because it is the National Theatre. Its main focus should be/is on developing theatre in this country. International showcase performances are a nice bonus, but it's not the main purpose.

 

[rutabowa]

Here is the "mission statement": About the National Theatre | National Theatre.

 

[Flavour]

I'm not completely up to date with the cultural fabric of Europe but do UK comedians tour Europe?

Hardly any. It's a tiny tiny tiny minority of people outside the UK who will have heard of any of the famous UK comics of the last 20 years. There is of course a market for Roy Chubby Brown and the like among those fancy pants Grand Tour bourgeois expat lot, but in my experience unless someone has spent time in the UK (and had British friends when they were here) they are very unlikely to have heard of UK comedy beyond Monty Python and Mr. Bean.

 

[Raheem]

I'm asking about British comedians touring and their role in the cultural fabric of Europe because I was intrigued by this quote from some French 'cultural critic' Laura Cappelle writing in the Guardian in March 2020

I think it would not be too risky to say that British stand-up comedians do not generally tour Europe, except for Ireland. And possibly Malta FWIW. I would guess there are some opportunities to perform for tourists in Spain, and maybe also American and what few British troops there are in Germany.

 

[Maltin]

Hardly any. It's a tiny tiny tiny minority of people outside the UK who will have heard of any of the famous UK comics of the last 20 years. There is of course a market for Roy Chubby Brown and the like among those fancy pants Grand Tour bourgeois expat lot, but in my experience unless someone has spent time in the UK (and had British friends when they were here) they are very unlikely to have heard of UK comedy beyond Monty Python and Mr. Bean.

I know the response was aimed at touring Europe but I don’t think most of this post is true. If you restricted this to the non-English speaking world, I’d agree but English speaking countries like Australia have been exposed to UK comics. I imagine countries like New Zealand and Canada to be similar too. To a lesser extent, the US and South Africa.

 

[Flavour]

I was talking specifically about Europe, of course.

 

[editor]

Hardly any. It's a tiny tiny tiny minority of people outside the UK who will have heard of any of the famous UK comics of the last 20 years. There is of course a market for Roy Chubby Brown and the like among those fancy pants Grand Tour bourgeois expat lot, but in my experience unless someone has spent time in the UK (and had British friends when they were here) they are very unlikely to have heard of UK comedy beyond Monty Python and Mr. Bean.

I've no idea why this obscure point about comedians is being laboured, but Mr Bean is - inexplicably - hugely popular abroad as is Top Gear.

Mr Bean is one of the most successful British cultural exports ever: since the first Bean TV show was broadcast in 1990, its 14 half-hour programmes have been sold to more than 200 TV territories worldwide and shown on more than 50 airlines. The lastest Bean film, Mr Bean's Holiday, is a global smash hit, No 1 in 21 countries and top of the international box office

How did Mr Bean become our unofficial ambassador?

When the Iranians wanted to ridicule a British sailor, they knew just who to compare him with: the clumsy, gurning, undeniably British Mr Bean. How did Rowan Atkinson's bumbling bird-brain become our unofficial ambassador? Patrick Barkham reports.

www.theguardian.com

Record breaker: The motoring show is the most widely watched factual television program in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

3. Global footprint: Top Gear plays in 214 territories worldwide and has an estimated global audience of 350 million. It set viewer records for an unscripted series on BBC America in 2013, while also delivering its highest ever ratings for global channel BBC Knowledge

5 impressive stats about Top Gear

Top Gear is a massive cash cow for the BBC and hugely popular with audiences around the world. Can the broadcaster afford to lose presenter Jeremy Clarkson?

money.cnn.com

.

 

[Pickman's model]

Hardly any. It's a tiny tiny tiny minority of people outside the UK who will have heard of any of the famous UK comics of the last 20 years. There is of course a market for Roy Chubby Brown and the like among those fancy pants Grand Tour bourgeois expat lot, but in my experience unless someone has spent time in the UK (and had British friends when they were here) they are very unlikely to have heard of UK comedy beyond Monty Python and Mr. Bean.

Norman Wisdom was - maybe still is - very big in albania

 

[Pickman's model]

I was talking specifically about Europe, of course.

Without specifying europe

 

[ska invita]

That's actually a pretty big question. I'd be happy to see the UK's arms industry go to the wall. I make no bones about that - it does the world harm, and I want it gone. That would cause a lot of people to lose their jobs and I need to justify my position by saying what I would do for them, but certainly not all areas of the economy are equally deserving of support.

It wouldn't have to mean job losses because these are skilled jobs and could retrain in doing something with a social benefit, such as working on green technology. There are transition plans drawn up for this kind of thing.

As to Brexit there are no state transition plans for any industry about to get screwed.

 

[Flavour]

Without specifying europe

the thread is about brexit. it's sort of implied. pedant.

 

[Flavour]

I've no idea why this obscure point about comedians is being laboured, but Mr Bean is - inexplicably - hugely popular abroad as is Top Gear.

It's kind of easy to explain really, it's because it's very physical and silly and universal, you don't need to be able to speak English to appreciate Mr Bean and kids love it. It's popular all over, and there's not much else like it. Top Gear just car wank otoh

 

[The39thStep]

It's kind of easy to explain really, it's because it's very physical and silly and universal, you don't need to be able to speak English to appreciate Mr Bean and kids love it. It's popular all over, and there's not much else like it. Top Gear just car wank otoh

Mr Bean is very popular with kids in Portugal and I did have a short conversation about Benny hill with two old boys who overheard me humming the theme tune to Benny Hill to some English friends that were over. He isn't everyone's cup of tea but its no surprise that he does gigs abroad in the EU as he is multi lingual, the expectancy that European audiences have to learn English to appreciate British travelling comedians is on its head, to be honest, surely they should be trying to do their act in the appropriate language?

 

[killer b]

Benny Hill died in 1992, those must be pretty dull shows he does.

 

[The39thStep]

Benny Hill died in 1992, those must be pretty dull shows he does.

I think the clue is in the description of old boys that I used really.

 

[editor]

Mr Bean is very popular with kids in Portugal and I did have a short conversation about Benny hill with two old boys who overheard me humming the theme tune to Benny Hill to some English friends that were over. He isn't everyone's cup of tea but its no surprise that he does gigs abroad in the EU as he is multi lingual, the expectancy that European audiences have to learn English to appreciate British travelling comedians is on its head, to be honest, surely they should be trying to do their act in the appropriate language?

I must have missed the bit where anyone was arguing that European audiences should learn English to appreciate British travelling comedians. In fact, I'm still baffled why the topic of touring comedians keeps getting brought up. What is the Brexit-related point being pursued here?

That said, Eddie Izzard has done shows in German, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic.

 

[killer b]

Benny Hill was a mime show more or less anyway, which accounts for his popularity in non-english speaking countries more than Hill's own cosmopolitanism.

 

[rutabowa]

I feel the standup comedy tangent is a bit of a red herring.

 

[Raheem]

the expectancy that European audiences have to learn English to appreciate British travelling comedians is on its head, to be honest

Have you ever spoken to someone who expects this?

 

[Raheem]

That said, Eddie Izzard has done shows in German, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic.

I've seen footage of Eddie Izzard performing in French. A lot of effort had clearly been put in, but the audience was tiny and it's fair to say they weren't exactly rolling in the aisles. I don't reckon it is a realistic thing to try unless you are very proficient in the language and have a good understanding of the local comedy culture.

 

[rutabowa]

The audience for theatre in English in (non English speaking) European countries is definitely very niche.

Bands singing in English is entirely different. There is a huge market in europe.

 

[editor]

. I don't reckon it is a realistic thing to try unless you are very proficient in the language and have a good understanding of the local comedy culture.

Of course it's not. It's a ridiculous notion.

 

[The39thStep]

I must have missed the bit where anyone was arguing that European audiences should learn English to appreciate British travelling comedians. In fact, I'm still baffled why the topic of touring comedians keeps getting brought up. What is the Brexit-related point being pursued here?

That said, Eddie Izzard has done shows in German, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic.

My initial query was about whether UK comedians included in ' European touring by UK artists is part of the cultural fabric of Europe.' With the exception of the multi lingual Edie Izzard I think posters have clearly indicated that they are not. Pity really that more comedians don't make the effort to learn another language.

 

[editor]

My initial query was about whether UK comedians included in ' European touring by UK artists is part of the cultural fabric of Europe.' With the exception of the multi lingual Edie Izzard I think posters have clearly indicated that they are not. Pity really that more comedians don't make the effort to learn another language.

I think it's hard enough for a stand up comedian to earn a living telling jokes in their own language. Expecting them to become proficient in another language and know enough about the local culture to be thigh-slappingly funny is a very rare talent that - unsurprisingly - very few have managed. Still unclear why you're so interested in comedians touring Europe.

I keep waiting for your Big Killer Point to arrive.

 

[Pickman's model]

the thread is about brexit. it's sort of implied. pedant.

it's either implied or it isn't. if it's sort of implied you seem to be suggesting some sort of nebulous middle ground which may or may not be there, schrodinger's implication

 

[The39thStep]

I think it's hard enough for a stand up comedian to earn a living telling jokes in their own language. Expecting them to become proficient in another language and know enough about the local culture to be thigh-slappingly funny is a very rare talent that - unsurprisingly - very few have managed. Still unclear why you're so interested in comedians touring Europe.

I keep waiting for your Big Killer Point to arrive.

I think you're right but I have seen a few foreign comedians in the UK for whom English wasn't their first language As one of the few EU citizens on these boards, why shouldn't I be interested in UK comedians touring Europe?

 

[The39thStep]

Have you ever spoken to someone who expects this?

Only in my head

 

[Pickman's model]

Hardly any. It's a tiny tiny tiny minority of people outside the UK who will have heard of any of the famous UK comics of the last 20 years. There is of course a market for Roy Chubby Brown and the like among those fancy pants Grand Tour bourgeois expat lot, but in my experience unless someone has spent time in the UK (and had British friends when they were here) they are very unlikely to have heard of UK comedy beyond Monty Python and Mr. Bean.

except of course many of them have, without ever being here. just as a couple of examples fawlty towers is very popular in germany, as is blackadder while the french are very keen on the office.

 

[editor]

I think you're right but I have seen a few foreign comedians in the UK for whom English wasn't their first language As one of the few EU citizens on these boards, why shouldn't I be interested in UK comedians touring Europe?

You're entitled to be interested in anything you like but I'm struggling to see why you're bringing it up in a Brexit thread. But if you are genuinely interested, I've got bad news for you: Brexit is likely to reduce the number of UK comedians touring Europe.