No laughing matter? What Ukraine’s joker-in-chief says about politics today
He’ll be quick-witted and funny – but how can Volodymyr Zelenskiy possibly lead a country? A comedian gives his verdict on the new president and other gag-cracking politicians
‘Ukraine have elected a comedian as president,” the text message began and, as a comic myself, I knew what was coming next. I’m sure comedians all over the world have enjoyed friends and family telling them that they should consider becoming a world leader since comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy won the Ukrainian presidency last week. Maybe it’s because I’m a comedian who worked in politics (and is still tragically obsessed with it), but the relationship between the two worlds seems increasingly pertinent. It’s not hard to see why, when certain leading political figures cultivate a “comedy” persona to help them get ahead. But can politics learn from comedy? How much has comedy been part of Zelenskiy’s appeal. And do comedians make good politicians?
I worry about politicians who try too hard to be funny. Flashes of wit and humour are important and help the public warm to you, but politics is serious and if someone is clowning around too much, my instinct is that they’re not suited to high office. According to a recent ConservativeHome survey, Boris Johnson is the favourite to be the next Tory leader. As we are all completely aware, Johnson has constructed a persona. It’s a persona designed to get him off the hook. If we all think he’s a joke, then what are our expectations of him? To follow the logic, he’s created a veneer that allows him to behave differently and more to the point, allows him to behave worse than his peers. Johnson is a lesson that when politicians enjoy the warmth of laughter too much, they pursue that addiction at the expense of more important attributes.