Danielle Ward - My Comedy Hero: Chris Morris

My comedy hero is Chris Morris. Many people assume the only point of a comedian is to make people laugh, but an ambitious comic realises there is much more potential than that. Chris Morris is an artist rather than a tradesman, creating things rather than being a ‘hired clown’. I find the dark tag is often misused. I consider dark comics to be the ones that are purposefully offensive: Jerry Sadowitz is dark. Chris Morris writes very, very silly jokes in the vicinity of taboos. The Brass Eye Paedophilia Special has some ridiculously stupid jokes as well as being a brilliant bit of satire yet people remember the subject first, and forget it is one of the funniest things that’s ever been shown on TV.

He is a fearless comic and satirist producing the work he wants to, knowing the audience will come to him, rather than tailoring everything to a fictional demographic. And he uses the medium he’s working in to its best results: Blue Jam was a wonderful bit of radio comedy and it’s impossible to watch rolling news items without them feeling like a Brass Eye feature. Finally, I love Chris Morris because, like those other greats such as Daniel Kitson and Stewart Lee, he lets his work speak for itself. He’s not one for cropping up on a Big Brother spin-off show simply to ‘boost his profile’. He is a comedian.

The Stand, Edinburgh, Tue 6, Thu 8 Jul; The Stand, Glasgow, Wed 7 Jul

More: Comedy, Chris Morris, Danielle Ward, My Comedy Hero

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