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Preview: a comedian and a revolutionary?
Sarah Warden25/11/2005
WITH issues like 90-day detention without charge and the use of
chemical weapons making headlines, what better way could there be
to cheer up the weekend than with some revolutionary humour?
In recent years Mark Steel has thrown history, comedy and political
activism into the blender together and carved a niche for himself
as a columnist, comedian and journalist as well as a
self-deprecating authority on historical figures.
And this weekend he is coming to Manchester with a lecture on Che
Guevara - first given as part of his BBC series.
The event will raise money for the Socialist Worker Newspaper
Appeal - a cause Steel has supported since he began his career of
comedy and activism as an angry young man.
It is somehow appropriate that when a fired-up leftie reaches
middle-age he should turn to lecturing, but Steel's lectures are
more fascinating than most.
He manages to probe the historical facts about people's lives while
continually drawing parallels with today's world.
Mind you, that task is probably easier with Che than with some of
his other subjects, as student poster sales and widespread support
for campaign groups such as Hands Off Cuba show he's a less
historical figure than some of his other targets - it's been a
while since Aristotle or Lord Byron had such an eager
following.
Steel's autobiography, Reasons to be Cheerful, documented the
struggle against Thatcherism and fascism from the point of view of
one who played a minor role throughout.
While his other book It's Not A Runner Bean poked fun at his comedy
career.
His historical interests became more apparent with Vive la
Revolution, which took a lighthearted yet detailed look at some of
the finer and funnier moments of the French revolution.
It's a brave man who takes on the mantle of lecturing on one of the
left's most sacred revolutionary figures.
Che Guevara may be hero or villain depending on your perspective,
but his memory evokes strong feelings in most people of any
political persuasion.
But if anyone can bring the spirit of a Latin American revolution
to warm the cockles of a crowd in freezing Manchester, it's
Steel.
He has joked hundreds of times that he's no stranger to SWP
gatherings with crowds numbering less than a handful, but somehow,
I don't think this will be one.
Mark Steel's Che Guevara Lecture is on at the Dancehouse Theatre on Saturday.
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