How To Make Racists Laugh (With You) - Asim Chaudhry

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleftEarly Access to Ad-Free Extended InterviewsAsk our Guests QuestionsLIVEs with Jovan + FreddieWL Book Club + Community DiscussionArticles + Exclusive Content**********************************************When Asim agreed to do this podcast, I messaged all my bros from school days immediately. Asim's character Chabuddy G, of 'People Just Do Nothing' fame, was one of the biggest cultural influences on those hazy days. In the playground, we used to spit Chabuddyisms over a bit of 2 touch, while deep cuts of UK Garage (Peven Everett pls stand up) blared off an iphone speaker. If Reform was talking about a nostalgia to this past, maybe I'd get on board. Asim has gone onto a stellar career in acting and screenwriting since his debut on the BBC. But it's his expertise in crossing the weather veins of cultural commentary with British character humour, that made him the perfect guest for our podcast. Never shy to wind up pearl-clutchers on the left or right with his exciting inversions of stereotypes, Asim encapsulates the type of comedy that we believe can heal the UK. His jokes are rich in cheek and healthily inclined to the absurd.So isn't it ironic, that as we sat lamenting the script-written transformations of once-idealised creators into right-wing grifters, all I felt was a glowing appreciation to be sat with one of my heroes - and him be exactly what I cracked him up to be.If reality has indeed become satire, grab your popcorn and find some of your favourite people to laugh with. We must, at the very least, enjoy the show.Chapters00:00 Intro03:30 Ending The Wasteman Life11:42 Desperate For Male Validation17:15 Making The Racists Laugh22:04 Baiting Out Grifters30:01 Finding Common Ground40:22 Escaping Echo Chambers47:17 What Figure Could Unite the Left?54:15 How Powerlessness Fuels F@scism1:03:30 Class, Agency and Finding Success1:12:15 Staying Grounded1:18:20 Ethics Of Chabuddy G1:22:03 Privatisation of Water + Dirty Business1:29:30 Comedy Is The Great Equalizer