Who: Daniel Muggleton
What: Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy (But I Reckon it’s Easier for Straight, White Men?)
Where: Laughing Horse @ The Counting House – The Lounge
When: 16:00
Why:
“I’m glad the NHS is free because you cunts look like you need it. That’s why Americans don’t have universal healthcare – they’re pretty…”
Early on in Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy (But I Reckon it’s Easier for Straight, White Men?), Daniel Muggleton calls his audience ugly. “You lot are gross,” he clarifies. This is received with warm laughter and the Adidas-clad Aussie commends the British on their ability to take such abuse. He then shares his theory on ugly people on public transport and launches into a brilliant riff on how the Royal Family get first dibs on the one good-looking person each generation.
As with so much in his show, you wonder how Muggleton gets away with it. He somehow manages to say the most obnoxious, twisted things and yet the largely liberal crowd lap it up. It is partly because he’s just really fucking funny and that forgives a multitude of sins (most genuinely offensive comics also happen to be shit); and partly because it’s very obviously not a cunt – he just *really* enjoys playing with the idea of being one.
It’s an important distinction, and Muggleton is a useful litmus test. If anyone finds him offensive, they don’t get the joke and probably deserve Mrs Brown’s Boys. The great thing about PAE(BIRIEFSWM) is that Muggleton not only mocks sexism, toxic masculinity, racism and xenophobia, but also targets anyone conceited enough to believe they’re completely immune to those things. He recognises that anyone self-identifying as ‘woke’ is very likely a dick too.
He has a rare gift for mining the ridiculousness of any given situation. Whether it’s comparing Australian immigration to nightclub bouncers (“Wait you’re a white woman? There’s room…”), or an exquisite house party metaphor for taking over indigenous people’s land, Muggleton can distill the broadest hypocrisy down to a single example like it’s a blood diamond. He also absolutely nails how a white male comic can approach issues pertaining to diversity and inclusion.
Admitting that he’s ridiculously white (“I look like a graphic designer disguised as a barista…”) – so white that he could launch ‘hire-a-honky’ – he tackles racism and sexism from his own perspective. So he’ll dismember the ridiculously offensive faux-woke phrase ‘I don’t see colour’, and call bullshit on large corporations cynically monetising minority causes. He also pokes fun at himself with a stellar running gag about taking jobs from black/female comedians.
The beauty of Muggleton’s wickedly close-to-the-bone humour is that he doesn’t discriminate. He’s on the ‘woke’ side of the argument – but certainly not afraid to rip the piss out of the dickheads stood next to him. Whether it’s racists or ‘wokeys’, minorities or ‘honkies’, Muggleton has a unique ability of absolutely annihilate you and everything you stand for, and somehow leave you smiling.
You can find dates for Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy (But I Reckon it’s Easier for Straight, White Men? here.
