Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s new comedy about the freedom of the press, Trial by Laughter comes to Richmond Theatre on Feb 18. Simon Collins meets the writers...
As the most sued man in Britain, Ian Hislop, editor of the satirical magazine, Private Eye, could be forgiven, along with his writing partner, cartoonist Nick Newman, for wanting to satirise lawyers, or more particularly the ass of the law.
Yet when I interviewed the pair at the magazine’s offices they were wary of describing their new play, Trial By Laughter, as a satire. Perhaps the term sounds too virtuous. Instead, Hislop suggests it is a “historical comedy” in which the audience will recognise parallels between the present and the era in which the play is set, the Regency of George IV two centuries ago. “But we didn’t want to hit the audience over the head with the comparison,” Hislop says. Nick Newman adds, ”It’s in the tradition of The Madness of King George.”
The play concerns the fate and three court cases in 1817 of one William Hone, a poor businessman, brilliant journalist, government critic and satirist who fell foul of the law with his sarcastic parodies of Christian prayers and the creeds. Most condemnable then as now was the satirical savaging of royalty. In his defence, he argued to the jury (against a biased judiciary) that the real motive for prosecuting him was not blasphemy so much as the discomfiture of the establishment at his criticism. By representing himself, acting as his own counsel, and insisting on the liberty to laugh, Hone managed to turn the proceedings of the court into a farce.
Nick Newman points out that at the time laughter was frowned upon by the ruling classes. They believed it expressed the brute nature of the mob. Hone turned this to his advantage, Hislop explains. He realised that on strictly legal grounds they – the establishment – would probably convict him. Instead, he made the case a matter of humour.
Outside the Guildhall in London, where the trials were held, huge crowds gathered to learn the result. In that connection it is difficult not to remember newsreels of Hislop himself emerging onto the pavement standing mobbed by press and public outside the High Court of Justice in 1989 having been landed with a bill of £600,000 in damages for the libel of a murderer’s wife declaring, “If this is justice then I’m a banana!”
At the time of Hone’s trial, the crowds were drawn onto the street by several converging factors: freedom of the press and its limits combined with the deep emotions aroused by religion and profound dissatisfaction with a political elite living in their exclusive bubble out of touch with the daily lives of the public. “Those battles,” says Hislop, “are exactly the same in every generation. You just have to fight them again.”
In the present period misuse of the law to attack adversaries or stifle dissent is commonplace in many countries, and not unknown in ours, as is a political class notoriously ignorant of ordinary experience. Royal scandals then as now are a gossip’s delight. The parallels between Hone’s day and the present hardly need to be stretched.
That leaves enormous leeway for highly skilled humorists such as Hislop and Newman to tell a straight story angled just enough to topple an audience into laughter. It goes without saying that they are the direct descendants of Hone and his friend, the renowned cartoonist, George Cruikshank, a key character in the play.
The partnership of Hislop and Newman extends back almost 50 years to their school days when they wrote sketches together. Subsequently, they wrote for classic comedy shows like Spitting Image as well as Harry Enfield and Chums, and the sitcom My Dad’s the Prime Minister, in addition to pursuing individual careers in journalism.
In 2008 they co-wrote with others the screenplay for the film, A Bunch of Amateurs, starring Burt Reynolds as a has-been Hollywood star who comes to England to play King Lear, a laughably tragic idea. In 2017 they wrote the play and television hit, The Wipers Times, which told the story of a magazine published by soldiers fighting in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War.
Now, with Trial By Laughter, they again have a play that is not only funny but thoughtful also. As Ian Hislop insists, “Humour has to make a point.” The production has been touring the country and will arrive at Richmond on 18th February.
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Venue: Richmond Theatre, Richmond
Dates: 18 February – 23 February (book here)
