Armando Iannucci
Nov. 28th, 2006 04:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tealinIf you're interested in a really entertaining interview with one of the funniest and cleverest people in the world, check out In Conversation with Armando Iannucci (till Sunday). He talks a bit about growing up as a radio nerd and shows that he's worked on (with clips!), and then at the end says something I wish everyone in the entertainment industry would listen to:
One of the questions I'm repeatedly asked - and the people who ask it always confess that they were told to ask it and they didn't really mean it - they always say 'Um, yeah ... isn't that a bit clever?' And I always think, well, if it's clever but not funny then it's failed, clearly. But there's nothing wrong with demanding ... I wouldn't even call it 'intelligence' because it's sort of implying that you have to have a, you know, a science degree. I do think you must never, ever underestimate the intelligence of the audience. People enjoy sophisticated things, really. I don't think standards of intelligence are going down, or whatever; I think there's a bit of a panic within the industry, that you have to sort of play down certain things and play up other things, and I don't think that is necessarily true of the public who are watching it.
If you want an example of his work, there's the eponymous 'Armando Iannucci' on BBC7, which was originally a Radio 1 show, or you could look up 'Time Trumpet' on YouTube for some absurd TV goodness.
One of the questions I'm repeatedly asked - and the people who ask it always confess that they were told to ask it and they didn't really mean it - they always say 'Um, yeah ... isn't that a bit clever?' And I always think, well, if it's clever but not funny then it's failed, clearly. But there's nothing wrong with demanding ... I wouldn't even call it 'intelligence' because it's sort of implying that you have to have a, you know, a science degree. I do think you must never, ever underestimate the intelligence of the audience. People enjoy sophisticated things, really. I don't think standards of intelligence are going down, or whatever; I think there's a bit of a panic within the industry, that you have to sort of play down certain things and play up other things, and I don't think that is necessarily true of the public who are watching it.
If you want an example of his work, there's the eponymous 'Armando Iannucci' on BBC7, which was originally a Radio 1 show, or you could look up 'Time Trumpet' on YouTube for some absurd TV goodness.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-11-29 06:41 am (UTC)Even better than my roommate's inebriated animated tales of Captain Peachfuzz and the Anchovy Bandit.
So thank you for brightening this incredibly dull(snowy) day.