The Times: Comedian Paul Black on his most memorable Scottish gig (October 2, 2024)

Paul Black: I need to say sorry to anyone who ever gave me a job​

The comedian on avoiding doing anything hard at all costs, his Smiths obsession and stealing his earliest memory from his sister​

What has been your most memorable Scottish gig?
We’re gonna have to separate the artist from the art here: it has to be when I saw Morrissey for the first time. I had been obsessed with the Smiths throughout my teens and had made it my whole identity, so it felt like a big deal. I went to see Johnny Marr when I was 18 too and that was maybe even better because I didn’t have to live in shame of being there.

Paul Black: I need to say sorry to anyone who ever gave me a job

The comedian on avoiding doing anything hard at all costs, his Smiths obsession and stealing his earliest memory from his sister

www.thetimes.com

 

[goinghome]

That's a paraphrase of a Morrissey quote "The sorrow of the IRA Brighton Bombing is that Thatcher escaped unscathed." 5 people were killed in that 1984 bombing and 30 injured. Should we ban Morrissey as well?

A handy get-out in any case. You're defending someone who's repeatedly given glimpses of a soul that looks and acts like

 

[goinghome]

Do you realize you are preaching this on a site where when people express criticism of Morrissey, they are attacked and downvoted for simply having the steel, the resolve, the backbone and balls to say what they think?

That's not correct. Surely what you meant to type is:
Do you realize you are preaching this on a site where when people express criticism of Marr, they are attacked and downvoted for simply having the steel, the resolve, the backbone and balls to say what they think?

As this thread proves for the umpteenth time, any vile abuse can be leveled at Morrissey and it's permitted here. Shame.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Of course. But do you think he's in as good a position as he was fifteen or thirty years ago?

Is that a question that could really be answered? We all make choices, life throws things at us to deal with. What doesn’t kill ya, makes ya stronger, etc. What can be considered hardships can be more beneficial than always getting what you want, etc. the pigsty is the miracle!

I'm not talking about album sales or sold-out shows; I never cared about that. I care a lot about music quality, but we can put that aside. I just feel like he's really lost the upper hand with his adversaries, and you yourself have even noticed that he's gone relatively quiet on politics for unknown reasons. Not that I don't like recluses, either; I love the Garbo or Barrett kind of scene. But he seems to be inhabiting a sad middle ground, where he won't bother to exercise his wit against his detractors. Bigmouth doesn't strike again, and that's a shame. His observations about the politico-cultural scene seem like boilerplate "heterodox podcast" stuff. Your mileage may vary. But do you think his interviews, now so few and far between, and many of them done with inner circle flunkies or sycophants, have the same bite and verve as they once did? I thought he was going to be like Quentin Crisp or Gore Vidal, and have that regal, bitchy impertinence until to the end. He doesn't have to live up to my expectation of being a good interview forever. But whatever has happened with him, it feels like I'm watching a great cat hobbled by an injury, and the gazelles are sporting and prancing around almost tauntingly.

Who cares? Why care? From a fan’s point of view… let’s see what happens. I always wish him the best.

The fastball is figurative. Trump is still occasionally very funny. "You have never seen a body so beautiful," he recently said, remarking on his own physique. Current physique. And with Trump there's a >50% chance he's being serious, which adds to the hilarity. But overall he's off. He's eight years older and it really shows. He slurs and garbles words, and where he used to digress and come back to a thought, now he just digresses and rambles on.

an interesting specimen, to say the least. Lol.

sure. But, what’s next? Maybe nothing? maybe something? is there a difference? Let’s see! Shine on! Mozi! you crazy crooooner!

 

[Roman Holiday]

Is that a question that could really be answered? We all make choices, life throws things at us to deal with. What doesn’t kill ya, makes ya stronger, etc. What can be considered hardships can be more beneficial than always getting what you want, etc. the pigsty is the miracle!

I cannot agree. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is one of Nietzsche's dumbest aphorisms. His own mental illness didn't kill him, but it certainly rendered him a catatonic vegetable in the care of his bonkers little sister who edited his works to give it an anti-Semitic bent he would've abhorred. Sometimes what doesn't kill you makes you a cripple. That's what I meant about the injured lion: I take no pleasure in seeing something like that. It's sad. It's unlikely to end well. A pigsty is no miracle.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

I cannot agree. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is one of Nietzsche's dumbest aphorisms. His own mental illness didn't kill him, but it certainly rendered him a catatonic vegetable in the care of his bonkers little sister who edited his works to give it an anti-Semitic bent he would've abhorred. Sometimes what doesn't kill you makes you a cripple. That's what I meant about the injured lion: I take no pleasure in seeing something like that. It's sad. It's unlikely to end well. A pigsty is no miracle.

Lol. I wasn’t talking about life threatening diseases or things of that nature. Though, where there’s life, there’s hope. Cheer up, Sam.

 

[Redacted]

That's not correct. Surely what you meant to type is:
Do you realize you are preaching this on a site where when people express criticism of Marr, they are attacked and downvoted for simply having the steel, the resolve, the backbone and balls to say what they think?

As this thread proves for the umpteenth time, any vile abuse can be leveled at Morrissey and it's permitted here. Shame.

Yes it is permitted and you know that every single day you choose to come here to whine about it. Thanks for the update about your feelings

 

[hand in glove]

Someone paraphrased a Morrissey quote, and you said it was terrifying and that person should be banned. When it was brought to your attention that is was a paraphrase of a Morrissey quote, you didn't think it was terrifying anymore and started backpedaling with excuses, so yes, that is exactly what I think you are saying.
He also said he would kill the president of the United States if he could. He's mocked death, said the massacre of children was nothing, I could go on, but you get it. When will people understand these are the comments of an unhinged person?
There are always one set of rules for Morrissey and another set for everyone else.
What is so hard about saying he does and says some terrible things and may be earning all the criticism he gets?

Terrorism is terrifying at any point and time in history. I think that's a given. I did not backpedal with any kind of excuse. I just told you exactly what I thought. If you or your child were going to a concert, and someone made a comment like that - it would scare you. I'm going to see Moz in a couple of weeks. Yes, it is terrifying to see someone say that on solo especially knowing this site is full of lunatics. I don't think that's hard to understand.

What massacre of children is Morrissy talking about when he states it was "nothing"? I really can't remember that one. Now, when he said he'd kill Trump he said it was for the good of humanity. I dig it. I mean I get it. When Morrissey made that comment about Trump, he was being facetious. I know you're MAGA, so I can see where you'd like to press hard on that and other quotes to 100% vilify Morrissey, but he's simply not a bad person. Has he made stupid comments - yeah. We all have. Some of the things he has said, that so many people find unpalatable, really doesn't bother me at all.

As far as "rules" go - you do you. I don't follow them, and I don't make them.

 

[Redacted]

Terrorism is terrifying at any point and time in history. I think that's a given. I did not backpedal with any kind of excuse. I just told you exactly what I thought. If you or your child were going to a concert, and someone made a comment like that - it would scare you. I'm going to see Moz in a couple of weeks. Yes, it is terrifying to see someone say that on solo especially knowing this site is full of lunatics. I don't think that's hard to understand.

What massacre of children is Morrissy talking about when he states it was "nothing"? I really can't remember that one. Now, when he said he'd kill Trump he said it was for the good of humanity. I dig it. I mean I get it. When Morrissey made that comment about Trump, he was being facetious. I know you're MAGA, so I can see where you'd like to press hard on that and other quotes to 100% vilify Morrissey, but he's simply not a bad person. Has he made stupid comments - yeah. We all have. Some of the things he has said, that so many people find unpalatable, really doesn't bother me at all.

As far as "rules" go - you do you. I don't follow them, and I don't make them.

This doesn't make any sense at all and I am not "MAGA"

 

[hand in glove]

This doesn't make any sense at all and I am not "MAGA"

Oh, sorry. You were pro Trump in another thread, so I took it that you were.
Why doesn't it make sense? If it doesn't, then it doesn't, and that's fine.

 

[DagenhamDan]

Am I the only Bucks Fizz fan here? Cheryl signed my album, in 1990. I still treasure it.

I'm warming to them in me old age lol. They did make 2 or 3 great pop tunes back in the day, and Cheryl Bakers take down of David Van Day on youtube is always worth a laugh. She hates him and it's easy to see why.

 

[Surface]

Am I the only Bucks Fizz fan here? Cheryl signed my album, in 1990. I still treasure it.

I actually saw them live at King Georges Hall in Blackburn a long time ago. I had a new girlfriend and she wanted to go so I went along with her. It was odd on a number of levels as at the time I'd been to that venue to see bands like, Buzzcocks, The Jam, New Order which were pretty rowdy, so I was suprisedto see it was seated for Bucks Fizz. They were actually ok but never bothered again.

 

[Johnny]

Tangentially insults your hero, and is therefore dreadful at his profession. Got it.

No. He is just a bad comedian. I saw him on BBC Scotland last year. Even you are funnier.

 

[Who Rattled Your Cage]

Brain dead is two words, genius.

I used it as a legible, legitimate portmanteau, funnycunt.

 

[Angelito]

I used it as a legible, legitimate portmanteau, funnycunt.

 

[Who Rattled Your Cage]

Anyway. Be quiet now and go away now, genetic debris.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/braindead

 

[gashonthenail]

I cannot agree. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is one of Nietzsche's dumbest aphorisms. His own mental illness didn't kill him, but it certainly rendered him a catatonic vegetable in the care of his bonkers little sister who edited his works to give it an anti-Semitic bent he would've abhorred. Sometimes what doesn't kill you makes you a cripple. That's what I meant about the injured lion: I take no pleasure in seeing something like that. It's sad. It's unlikely to end well. A pigsty is no miracle.

I think that is one of his best aphorisms. It's also probably his best known, and for a reason - I think we all recognise its essential truth. Although, not meant to be taken too literally. Life is out to break us - we will all grow old and die, we will watch our body decay, and that of those whom we love. Pain and loss are givens in life. And therefore the aphorism encourages us to consider what is the most important factor when facing the despairs and tragedies of life - our attitude to them. Do we face them with courage and stoicism? Do we give up and end it all at our own hand? Do we give ourselves over to pathology and all the 'treatments' and 'therapies' of psychiatry and psychology? I think we all know instinctively which of those options is 'best'.

 

[Roman Holiday]

I think that is one of his best aphorisms. It's also probably his best known, and for a reason - I think we all recognise its essential truth. Although, not meant to be taken too literally. Life is out to break us - we will all grow old and die, we will watch our body decay, and that of those whom we love. Pain and loss are givens in life. And therefore the aphorism encourages us to consider what is the most important factor when facing the despairs and tragedies of life - our attitude to them. Do we face them with courage and stoicism? Do we give up and end it all at our own hand? Do we give ourselves over to pathology and all the 'treatments' and 'therapies' of psychiatry and psychology? I think we all know instinctively which of those options is 'best'.

I think you've set up a false dichotomy. The argument can be made that the person who opts for suicide is the stoical and courageous one. In terms of what we know instinctively, it is usually that we should keep on, in spite of the suffering. That's because we are animals, and nature has designed us to want to keep on. It's a perverse system. Nietzsche himself was perverse, because he said "yes" to it. He never refuted Schopenhauer, who said "no." Nietzsche had to resort to calling Schopenhauer a crypto-Christian, but in this aphorism, Nietzsche himself is far more the Christian: he believed that life was worth living, and that suffering refines the soul. That's what I call xtian gooeyness.

To keep this on-topic, are all the misfortunes befalling Morrissey these days (since, say, ten years ago) likely going to make him stronger? Has he been spiraling ever further into persecution complex, inner-circle toadies, fawning sycophants, dwindling record sales, smaller venues, and lame heterodox-bot views? Or do you think he'll emerge someday with a Smiths reunion, a mega world tour, and massive adulation? Because I think that's what he wants. He can't give it up. He's said he wants to die onstage and the microphone will be his headstone. He can't do what Barrett or Rimbaud did. Or even Philip Larkin, who Morrissey has now passed in longevity. Larkin went quiet for his last ten years.

 

[gashonthenail]

I think you've set up a false dichotomy. The argument can be made that the person who opts for suicide is the stoical and courageous one. In terms of what we know instinctively, it is usually that we should keep on, in spite of the suffering. That's because we are animals, and nature has designed us to want to keep on. It's a perverse system. Nietzsche himself was perverse, because he said "yes" to it. He never refuted Schopenhauer, who said "no." Nietzsche had to resort to calling Schopenhauer a crypto-Christian, but in this aphorism, Nietzsche himself is far more the Christian: he believed that life was worth living, and that suffering refines the soul. That's what I call xtian gooeyness.

To keep this on-topic, are all the misfortunes befalling Morrissey these days (since, say, ten years ago) likely going to make him stronger? Has he been spiraling ever further into persecution complex, inner-circle toadies, fawning sycophants, dwindling record sales, smaller venues, and lame heterodox-bot views? Or do you think he'll emerge someday with a Smiths reunion, a mega world tour, and massive adulation? Because I think that's what he wants. He can't give it up. He's said he wants to die onstage and the microphone will be his headstone. He can't do what Barrett or Rimbaud did. Or even Philip Larkin, who Morrissey has now passed in longevity. Larkin went quiet for his last ten years.

I suppose any assessment of Morrissey's current situation is in the eye of the beholder. There is an argument that he has never been more courageous and clear sighted - speaking out against cant and hypocrisy on topics that no one else will touch with a barge pole. And I for one would certainly argue that Dog on a Chain was his best album since Southpaw. I know that may be a controversial assessment, but it's my assessment nonetheless. And Bonfire also sounds like an excellent album.
His problem is that he seems entirely wedded to the idea of seeking a 'mainstream' contract with a major label, when his views and opinions, and the content of some of his songs, make that simply impossible.
As for Nietzsche, the idea that suffering is 'redemptive', in the widest sense of the word, is much older than Christianity. Don't forget that the 3 religions of 'The Book' owe their origins to Abraham, and the request by Jahweh to sacrifice his son, Isaac. The idea that the suffering and blood of another, via animal or human sacrifice etc., or our own suffering, via fasting, meditation, and psychological pain etc., is in some way 'redemptive' or 'propitiatory' has its origins in prehistory, and is found in every human society and civilisation.

 

[SteveWS]

How did Moz never quite grasp that the industry he chose to work in rewards tacky, throwaway earworm songs far more often than it does the work of far more serious artists? He's always been aware that just as he celebrated, say, Sandie Shaw's 'naivety', that industry would sooner clutch to its heartless bosom moronic songs like her Puppet on a String than greater and more meaningful works. How did he ever expect to gain the success he apparently thinks is his due when he continually failed to 'play the game' and craft crowd-pleasing singalongs?

An industry so massive, so financially powerful can't be changed from the inside, as it were, so I don't really understand his continual - if often justified - ire at the business. He surely must have known how things would likely turn out, and from the very beginning. The music business is just that: business...and any outbreak of 'art' is just haphazardly incidental and rendered peripheral to the actual business of making money.

 

[Roman Holiday]

I suppose any assessment of Morrissey's current situation is in the eye of the beholder. There is an argument that he has never been more courageous and clear sighted - speaking out against cant and hypocrisy on topics that no one else will touch with a barge pole.

Which topics would those be? He's not really going after anything your garden variety "anti-woke" pundit doesn't snap at. I guess it was daring for him to criticize #MeToo, but so did Catherine Deneuve, and when the backlash came she took it in stride like someone with conviction. She didn't beat a sissy retreat into "I was misquoted by a media that is always out to get me" (proven untrue when Der Spiegel released the tapes). Now it's, "I'm gagged." But complaining about free speech is hardly niche. All this stuff is what I meant by "lame heterodox-bot views."

To the extent that he speaks out on animal rights anymore, a PETA billboard in the Philippines and the occasional letter to the pope or Jet2holidays is not nearly on the level of what Moby or Billie Eilish are doing. I can't see any evidence that he "has never been more courageous and clear-sighted." It's a year now since Oct. 7. Does he stand with Israel?

And I for one would certainly argue that Dog on a Chain was his best album since Southpaw. I know that may be a controversial assessment, but it's my assessment nonetheless.

That certainly is a rare view. Best is subjective, of course. Personally I consider it his worst. I never expected Morrissey to sing over music that sounds like a pastiche of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the Human League, and the Prodigy; nor did I like it when I heard it. He's free to make his own artistic choices, but I think it also ranks pretty low in his catalog in terms of charts and sales, and that's definitely something that matters to him. Is this fact going to make him stronger?