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May 13, 2022 - David Icke
18:22
Right Now - Gareth Icke Talks To Comedian Alistair Williams About Being Cancelled Over A Brexit Joke
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This week on Iconic's news and current affairs show right now, we ask, is comedy dead?
Alastair Williams tells us about how his career took a nosedive after he made an onstage joke about Brexit.
He found himself promptly cancelled.
If you want to watch his full interview, then start a free seven-day trial.
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Our next guest this evening is a comedian who was riding high on the UK comedy circuit until he made a joke.
A Brexit joke.
A pro-Brexit joke.
Alastair Williams suddenly found himself promptly cancelled and saw gigs dry up after his humour fell on the wrong side of the woke fence.
This is what all the fuss was about.
My friend is from another country and she came in and she was like, can you please explain what everyone is annoyed about with this whole Brexit thing?
I said, look, imagine if you and ten of your friends were in a Burger King.
Right? And you said, listen, who wants to leave the Burger King?
And six people were like, we want to leave the Burger King.
And then somebody who didn't want to leave the Burger King was like, I'll get us out of there.
I'll have a word with the manager. I'll get us a deal.
It's like, do we need a deal? No, you can't leave without a deal.
I'll get a deal. You want to leave?
Yeah, I'm going to get us a deal, right?
So she goes to talk to the manager.
she comes back two years later.
She's been trying to leave.
The door says push. She's pulling that thing.
Can't get us out. She goes, great news.
I've done us a deal to leave.
What's the deal? We've got to pay the manager £40 billion.
And then we get to leave.
Technically, yes. What do you mean, technically?
Well, physically, we'll still be in the Burger King.
LAUGHTER But if anyone asks you, are you in Burger King?
You'll be able to tell them, no, no, no, we left.
I thought it was pretty funny too.
Well, Alistair joins me now.
Alistair, the joke was hardly offensive.
Can you tell us what happened in the fallout of that?
Yes, you can't make jokes, Gareth.
Sound comedians can't run around telling jokes anymore.
You can't... I mean, people say you can't say anything anymore.
But you can't say that a man is a man and a woman is a woman anymore.
You know? So...
I don't actually...
No one actually ever got offended by this joke.
And you know when you say, like, the joke doesn't seem that bad?
No one was ever offended by it.
No one at the show was offended by it.
To be honest, no one in comedy is really offended by it either.
It's just, you know...
It is what it is, isn't it, really?
Yeah. What was the reactions that you had then?
Did you get any, or was it just a case of like...
None. None. None.
None. From like regular people?
Like none. People were just like, lol.
Right? But from inside the comedy industry, all of a sudden it was like, oh no, this guy, this guy can't carry on.
All of a sudden people start saying, oh yeah, Alastair Williams is this, they start calling you all the words, homophobic, racist-a-phobic, you know, anything they can come up with, they start saying about you.
But the truth is, You have to stick to a certain agenda if you want to be a famous musician, a famous comedian, a famous anything.
You want to be famous? You have to stick to the establishment agenda.
That's why you see so few famous people step outside of the establishment agenda, because if you do, you simply won't be famous anymore.
I mean, I could reel off the industries for you that are controlled by the establishment.
You know, it's basically all of them with regards to entertainment.
Yeah, and I must admit that the whole Covid thing, that was a really good example of that, wasn't it?
Where just everyone just went along with it.
No one would put their head above the parapet in fear of getting cancelled.
And I'm thinking like, isn't comedy and music and film, it's supposed to be about free expression and kind of rebellion in a way.
So if you wanted to clamp down on freedom of expression, where's the number one place that you would start?
You know? Especially comedy.
People always say, I thought comedy was the opposite to that.
Comedy is like the most policed.
It's the most policed because when everyone's laughing along, they're agreeing with what you're saying.
So what I was saying back in the Brexit Burger King times, what I was saying, the audience we're agreeing with.
And the thing that freaks people out is most audiences, especially in London, which is where I was performing there, most audiences, they're not pro-Brexit at all.
But they're laughing along with this joke because if you hear the joke, what's actually being said is the people that voted for Brexit are getting screwed.
Now, people that didn't want Brexit, they think that's hilarious.
And the reason why it's funny is because the people that voted for Brexit were getting screwed.
It has been two years.
We are still in the European Union.
You're not trying to get us out of here.
So really, it was an anti-establishment joke.
And then the whole of the comedy community, pretty much, there's been some people that have stood by me and still give me work.
But everyone else was just more than happy just to see me, you know, not get any work anymore.
And what's interesting with me, if you look at most people that cancel, they've done something outrageous or something that people can point to and say, this guy did something wrong, this guy did something wrong.
In my case, I did something right.
That room full of people was laughing.
That's what I'm supposed to do.
So why have I been cancelled for doing my job well?
And this is the reason why music sucks, the reason why films suck, the reason why TV sucks, the reason why comedy sucks is because it's not an accident.
The people who are in charge of this world, they can turn your enjoyment down like they've got a little meter, like they're turning down the lights.
That's why everything sucks.
That's why straws suck.
You know, you can't even enjoy a cold drink anymore because they give you a paper straw.
Do you think they don't know that paper straws suck?
Of course they do. They really do suck as well.
That's why Star Wars sucks. That's why everything sucks.
It's not an accident. Okay?
And I know this because I was just out there trying to be a good comedian, just trying to make people laugh.
And man, did they make my life a misery.
They made my life a misery.
And at the end, I wasn't even trying to be famous.
I wasn't even trying to be rich and famous.
I was like, okay, you're not going to let me on the TV. That much is clear.
I'll just stay in the comedy clubs and I'll do jokes for a tiny room of people.
And it was like, no deal.
No deal. We can't even let you do that anymore.
Right? So then I ended up doing YouTube videos from my bedroom.
And they were like, no deal.
We have to cancel YouTube channel.
So now, here we are.
It is extraordinary, because when you watch that video of the Brexit joke, you're right, there isn't, you know, sometimes you hear a joke and you hear like, ooh, like bits of the crowd almost groaning, like, oh man, that was a bit far, jeez.
It's just laughter. And so I would love to actually have a conversation with some of those people within the industry that wanted to cancel you as a route and just say, can you, you know, just buy him a beer and just say, can you just explain to me, like I'm five, exactly what Alistair did wrong there.
No one will even tell you I'm cancelled.
If you speak to everyone in comedy, they'll be like, I don't know what you're talking about.
No, he's not cancelled. He's welcome here anytime.
I asked the comedy clubs.
I said, oh, he's not cancelled here.
I didn't say, well, when's he next here?
All of a sudden, I guess he's never going to be here because everyone just sort of stopped booking me at the same time, sort of secretly, because no one could come up with a reason why I should be cancelled.
But if you ask me...
You'll notice that people are always arguing.
Back in Brexit, it was two sides and everyone was arguing.
And then you had COVID and you had two sides and everyone was arguing.
You had vaccines, everyone was two sides, everyone was arguing.
But my joke was bringing both sides of people together, which is what they really, really don't want.
They actually don't care.
If you're making people argue with each other, that's fine.
They don't care about that.
But if you're getting two sides to come together, now you must be exterminated.
This is such a good point, and it's so true.
The UK comedy scene, I was going to ask you what it's like now, but obviously I'm guessing it's not great, really.
When I see some comedy on the telly, it's woeful.
You won't even let me in, Gareth. How am I supposed to know what it's like?
But there's a lot of comedians that are out there.
They must see the world the same way you do.
They must do. So they'd self-censor, basically, just to get gigs.
I don't think so, man.
I think maybe most of them don't see the world.
I guarantee you most of them would tell you I don't see the world the same way Alistair sees it.
So, in that respect, they're being true to themselves.
You know, how many people these days are actually thinking, using discernment and deciding what they think on stuff, or how many people are just being told what to think?
You know, how many people switched from COVID to Ukraine just immediately?
Yeah, that's very true.
People just being told, do you really think that about Ukraine?
People with a big Ukraine flag.
You really know anything about Ukraine?
Really? You're on the ground, you know something?
You don't know anything about Ukraine.
You just, people started to tell you to stand with Ukraine, so you are.
You know, that's it. Yeah, I noticed that around my way, but I must admit this morning I was driving in and there's three places, one's a pub and two are just people's houses, where it was like, it was like Ukraine Golden Jubilee, all of us, there was flags everywhere.
And I noticed this morning that they've taken them all down, so I don't know what to read into that, if anything, or whether they're just moving on to the new thing now, whether they're going to have like an Amber Heard flag or something go up.
How funny is that?
How funny is, how obvious is the Amber Heard thing?
It's like, you really think this is important?
The Ghislaine Maxwell trial had no coverage.
That was about an international gang of famous child sex traffickers that was operating.
Probably still is operating, right?
No coverage. Johnny Depp and Amber What's-Her-Face Taking a crap in the bed or something.
Wall-to-wall non-stop coverage.
It's the most obvious distraction I've ever seen in my life.
Her opening statement was like the opening statement from a movie.
Like, Talented Mr. Ripley?
That's like word for word.
I saw that on the internet. I haven't seen it.
I haven't confirmed that.
But I heard that. And I saw a video of her supposedly doing a bump of something on the witness stand, and I'm like, come on, guys.
Come on, guys, please try harder.
This is such an obvious distraction.
Actors and actresses acting, basically.
Right. Yeah. Of course.
In terms of the comedy, though, because obviously you were saying those owners of those venues would say, oh, no, he's not cancelled, it's fine.
What would happen if you phoned up then?
You just phoned up and went, oh, yeah, a friend of mine said that I'm not cancelled, so what slots have you got?
It's always the way, like, oh yeah, there's a slot for you maybe next year or so.
We've just done the books. Unfortunately, we've just done the books, so we won't be doing the books again for a while.
Or no, yeah, we'll definitely call you with some dates.
It's just like that. Yeah, just being fobbed off.
It's their place. If they don't want me in there, fine.
You know, it's their place, fine.
I'm not going to go around scratching, begging people for, please let me in, etc., etc., etc.
You know, it's up to them.
It must affect you in some way though, because you're a funny bloke, and people enjoy your comedy, and you should be out there being able to do that to crowds of people.
So in terms of like a personal level, has it affected you in any way?
I mean, you've probably seen the world in a different way now, maybe.
Yes, I mean, it's affected me in a major way, to be honest with you, but in like a good way, you know?
Like you wouldn't believe.
When they close the door, another one opens somewhere else.
The world doesn't need Alistair Williams, the comedian, right now.
You know what I mean? That's not exactly what the world needs.
So maybe I was in the wrong place.
Maybe there's better things that I can be doing with my time.
But at the end of the day, I feel better now than I did back when they cancelled me, so that must mean something.
That's a really good point. Yeah, maybe you are destined for something else, you know?
How history will look back on this time, okay?
The people that got cancelled during this time, do you think history will look on us like, oh, look at that loser.
Look at that loser who got cancelled for being a comedian and lost his YouTube channel for telling people the truth, you know?
And that's not how people are going to look back on people who were cancelled.
In my opinion, if you haven't been cancelled, why not?
Look how terrible this culture is.
Look how awful this world is.
You don't want to be cancelled by these people?
I do. So true.
So true. Did you see a breakaway comedy circuit, or maybe not even just a breakaway comedy circuit, but a breakaway everything circuit forming as a result of this attack on free speech that we've seen over the last two years, but it's probably longer than that.
The Brexit gag wasn't in the last two years, so it's been going on for a while.
Yeah. You mean like an alternative scene to, you know, what's going on sort of thing?
Yeah, basically an alternative everything, really, where people are going, like you said, I don't want to be part of your club, we'll start our own.
I see an alternative everything coming in terms of people are getting tired, just in general, of, when I say this world, when I say people are getting tired as well, I think people are getting tired of this system that we live under.
You know, that serves very few people and that doesn't really make us happy.
Like, everyone just walks around staring at their phone, you know, not really living anymore.
Like, children used to play on the street where I live.
Do children play on the street where you live?
No. They don't, do they?
And I ask everyone that all over this country.
And they say, yeah, children don't play on the street anymore.
And there's something very wrong with that.
And it's not just happening in comedy.
It's not just happening in film. It's happening everywhere.
People are living under the spirit of fear.
They're afraid for their kids to go outside.
They're afraid to say what they think.
They're afraid not to go along with the establishment agenda and everything.
It's very much like people are afraid.
I understand why people are afraid because we're living in a time of great darkness.
You know, there's a lot of evil being thrown about the place for the last couple of years.
But I think in these times of great darkness, people will turn to the opposite of what they're being given, what they're being fed by the system, which is evil.
And they're going to turn away from the darkness into the light.
And I do believe that's the future that we have come in.
So as perilous as things look out there, and you might think that me being cancelled and I'm, oh no, it's terrible, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
I think the world is coming into a new way of living.
A great awakening, if you will, is taking place.
And it's going to be painful. It's going to be suffering.
But I think we're going to end up, I'm sure we're going to end up on a better place on the other side of it.
So it's really a matter of getting through it, I would say.
I can't disagree. And I think, unfortunately, in some ways, these things, you know, even down to your cancellation, it forced you to look at the world in a different way and kind of explore other avenues, which you probably wouldn't have done.
Like you said at the start, you know, you didn't want to be famous.
You'd have just been going around the clubs and cracking jokes and stuff.
And I guess with the population in general, maybe If it's not too hard, then you just kind of carry on, don't you?
It's okay, I can get through it, it's fine, I have a few beers on a Friday night.
Whereas now, people are at a point where they can't afford to have a few beers on a Friday night, or they can't even afford to put food on the table.
You know, maybe, as a result of that, you know, people will rise.
Listen, you will own nothing and you will be happy.
Remember that one? World Economic Forum.
You will own nothing and you will be happy.
If you think about that, what they're actually telling you, it's very intimidating what they're telling you.
They're telling you, we're going to take everything you have and you're going to like it.
Do you know what I mean? It's like we're going to take all your stuff and you're going to like it.
Who are these World Economic Forum people?
They're in charge of the world's money.
That's what the economy is, right?
It's the world's money. Well, they've decided that the way they're going to sort out the world's money is they're going to have it all and you're not going to have anything, right?
And you're going to be happy about it.
I mean, if you think about it, this is a massive criminal operation.
And it appears to have taken over most of the governments in the world.
I can't see many governments in the world that are not going along with this thing.
And this is the time that we're living in.
This is the time that we're living in.
We're living through, in my opinion, the greatest criminal move that I've ever seen, where they're coming to take everything that you have.
That's all. Yeah.
And I feel that we're here for a reason as well.
Like you said, in terms of being cancelled, you're here for another purpose.
And I honestly believe, without sounding too airy-fairy to some people, that we chose this, man, before we even came here.
We chose this battle and it's on now, I think.
That's interesting. Somebody said to me the same thing the other day, the exact same thing.
You were saying exactly the same thing.
No, somebody was saying the exact same thing to me.
They were saying, I feel like I was chosen to be in this time.
I'm a man of Christian faith, so I believe that God chose us to be in this time.
Like, I don't believe that I chose to be in this time.
I believe God selected us to be in this time.
And, you know, that's...
I can see that in why I would be here at this time.
Like, you know, somebody that likes poking fun at stuff that's obviously made up, like most of the stuff that we get fed through the news these days.
So, you know, I can see what I'm supposed to be up to.
But they sure are making it hard for me to operate, that's for sure.
Yeah, but, you know, nothing worth doing is easy, is it, in the end?
Absolutely not. But where can people find you now, then?
If you say, like, YouTube channel?
Very difficult, Gareth. It's very difficult.
I have a Rumble channel, that's my name, Alastair Williams.
A-L-I-S-T-A-I-R, Williams.
You can find me on there.
And, you know, I have a Telegram channel, but even I don't know how to find people's Telegram channels.
I don't know how I'm on the Telegram channel.
Okay, Rumble it is then.
Rumble, Alistair Williams.
Yeah, fantastic. Well, thanks for coming on, Alistair, and thanks for talking to us.
And I know, obviously, you were supposed to be on last week, and I kind of was clapping you about a bit.
I apologize for that, but thank you very much for coming on.
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