Sanjana Varghese
Dec 24, 2020
Youtube / Larry & Paul
Boris Johnson has not had a great year – all things considered. But it doesn’t hurt that he’s so easy to make fun of – and people definitely are taking advantage of the circumstances.
Larry & Paul, a British comedy duo, make political parodies on their Youtube channel – they have nearly 4,000 followers and mostly mock British politics. Over the weekend, one of their other videos mocking Boris Johnson went viral on Twitter, racking up over 100,000 views in just a couple of days.
Now it seems like people can’t get enough of Larry and Paul, who’ve returned with another video mocking Boris Johnson’s daily coronavirus briefings, where he delivers updates on the state of the pandemic to the UK and takes questions from members of the public and journalists.
This one has gone viral too, starting with Paul as Boris Johnson explaining that we’ve now got a new three word slogan – Christmas is Cancelled.
BREAKING: The latest Government #RealDailyBriefing. Featuring updates on #CovidChristmas #Tier4 and #Brexit. FUL… https://t.co/pjf6uljxjV— 🥃 Larry & Paul 🥃 (@🥃 Larry & Paul 🥃) 1608657763
While Paul doesn’t exactly mimic Boris’ mannerisms – or his tone of voice – Paul’s Johnson basically narrates how Johnson delivers his press briefings, including his facial expressions and what he actually does in them.
The video takes aim at how Boris Johnson and his government announced new Tier 4 restrictions – with Paul saying, that he’s “stringently denying that there’s been any in decision.” Paul’s Johnson goes back and forth between relaxing and not relaxing the rules for Christmas, before taking questions from a scientist.
Then, when Paul goes to take questions from an American journalist, a parody of Trump – who says that he’s done a great job with the ‘Kung Flu’ and that he ‘doesn’t care about New Zealand’ – starts to rant.
Another character is the English journalist. Paul ends the briefing by saying that rather than wishing viewers a merry little Christmas, Johnson will simply wish people a “merry microscopic christmas”.
This one has racked up over 27,000 views on Twitter despite just being posted last night, compared to 1,500 views on Youtube. People seem to enjoy the parodies because they hit so close to home - and appreciate anything that’ll make them laugh.
You guys are fucking superb, and raising a smile and a laugh during the catastrofuck of 2020 is nothing short of mi… https://t.co/lZyknZdQl1— Ian Hobart (@Ian Hobart) 1608728486
Watch to the end. 😂 https://t.co/fBV1mC2Okk— Latika M Bourke (@Latika M Bourke) 1608715678
New three word slogan: “Christmas is cancelled”. 😹😹😹 pure genius https://t.co/B2CXATmg6r— Lizzie_B 🦃🦃 (she/her) 🌈🏳️🌈⚧🏳️⚧️ (@Lizzie_B 🦃🦃 (she/her) 🌈🏳️🌈⚧🏳️⚧️) 1608682898
This is only a taster. You gotta watch the full #RealDailyBriefing on YouTube - @Johnnyd23 and @jakeyapp in the fin… https://t.co/C1sQMhxmD2— Mr Paul Dunphy OBE (@Mr Paul Dunphy OBE) 1608664699
Larry & Paul are well known in Leeds – where they’re based – and have hosted radio shows and toured the country with their sketches. They’ve been working together in radio since 2007, and decided against hosting a platform – rather setting up their own comedy outfit in the North, called Northern Imposters.
Over lockdown, both of them continued to make sketches and political parodies on their Youtube channel, which also has a members-only section.
If you find yourself looking forward to a Larry and Paul parody with as much anticipate as the press conferences but far less anxiety, they’re tweeting new ones fairly frequently with the hashtag – #RealDailyBriefing. Even if fact seems stranger than fiction, sometimes it’s nice to know that it’s not quite as bad as it could be yet.
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