Bombings mark return of the political comic
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Your support makes all the difference.Stand-up comics will take on the terrorists this month in the only way they know - by making people laugh at them. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which starts next Sunday, will feature a number of comedians prepared to make light of the war on terror.
The attacks in London have prompted a resurgence in political comedy. As well as a record number of comedians performing political material, the Fringe will also host several plays, musicals and an opera that take on the theme.
Comedians say they are finding more of an appetite for political material now than at any time since the early 1990s. The Iraq war and the Make Poverty History campaign have given them a wider audience than they would have previously enjoyed.
Stewart Lee, who wrote Jerry Springer - the Opera, which caused a storm among Christian groups when it was shown on BBC2, has rewritten his show for the Fringe since the bombings.
"It will be a really interesting year at Edinburgh after the bombings and the war," he said. "I try to get people to cheer the IRA. They were gentleman terrorists - at least they gave a warning."
Another comedian who reflects on the London attacks is Paul Chowdhry, who went to school with one of the suicide bombers, says that as a young, bearded Asian man the attacks on 7 July have changed his life.
"You can feel it when you get on the Tube," he says. "I couldn't even get a seat before. Now I get a whole carriage.
"Four big black guys got on the bus the other day but everyone looked at me. They had knives and guns. All I had was a bag."
Earlier this year, John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman set up Political Animal, a platform forcomic political material.
"Satirical comedy can find a funny angle on something quite depressing," Zaltzman says.
His comedy partner, Oliver, adds: "Quite a high percentage of people will spend five or 10 minutes talking about an issue, even if it's a socially political issue rather than a party political one."
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