SOAS: dismal students ban the wrong kind of jokes at UNICEF fundraiser
SOAS University of London sent comedians invited to perform at a benefit gig a set of rules. This “behavioural agreement” censors them for talking about anything that is not “respectful and kind”. Konstantin Kisin was “genuinely shocked” to get the diktat. “I’ve performed at students unions many times before and never been asked to sign a contract,” he says. But this is SOAS , where comedy dies and right-on anti-Semitism thrives.
The best gags show us ourselves and our country in a spark of energy and wit. They are effectively offensive. They catch our prejudices and subvert them with a spiky punchline. SOAS wants children’s entertainers that merely show us what happens when you pull their finger.
Fisayo Eniolorunda, organiser from Soas’s Unicef on Campus society, sent Kisin and his fellow comics the rules “to ensure an environment where joy, love and acceptance are reciprocated by all”. Performers were “agreeing to our no tolerance policy with regards to racism, sexism, classism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia or anti-religion or anti-atheism”. A night of cannibalism it is, then.
Furthermore: “All topics must be presented in a way that is respectful and kind. It does not mean that these topics can not be discussed. But, it must be done in a respectful and non-abusive way.”
Realising that SOAS had become the joke, a spokesperson for the students union opined: “The union believes fully in freedom of speech and the freedom to try to make people laugh.”
Haha. Good one. Student Unions only believe in their own power to control. why any student would join one is beyond me. I suppose it’s like being milk monitor at big school.
Posted: 12th, December 2018 | In: Key Posts, News Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
