Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy character Ali G. Photo by John Rogers/Getty Images
Great climate change comedy moments in video clips
From Will Ferrell to Ali G, here's a pick of some of the funniest moments in climate change comedy
Graham Readfearn, 28 May 2014 theguardian.com
This is the 50th post on Planet Oz, so let’s take a brief celebratory turn down Productivity Dive Way before heading along that popular commuter route Distracting Things On The Internet Road.
Once there, nestle down for this selection of great comedy moments in climate change with a nice brew of organic fairly traded coffee made using a carbon neutral machine (served in a reusable cup from low energy intensity materials).
I apologise to your bosses in advance. If swearing offends, then don’t say you weren’t warned. Because you were. Just then. That was the warning.
Enjoy, and thanks for all the comments, engagement and sharing.
Great Moments in Climate Change Comedy
Will Ferrell's President George W. Bush thinks about “global warmings”, tee ball and lava flows. Watch on YouTube.
John Oliver
That thing you get on current affairs shows where they have one dude filling half of the screen saying global warming is bad and is caused by humans and the other half of the screen has someone saying humans have nothing to do with it and even if we did, then whatever.
That.
John Oliver was sick of the false balance too, so he held a “statistically representative climate change debate” on his new show Last Week Tonight. Watch on YouTube.
What should we be teaching kids in school? The Onion spoof news service reports how a school district in the US has decided to present both “Global warming and the Biblical Armageddon” as legitimate theories about how the world will come to a horrific end. Watch on YouTube.
Arj Barker
I’ve heard of magnetism and God as causes for climate change, but US stand-up Arj Barker has his own theory. Watch on YouTube.
Jazz Twemlow
“Tonight on the everything is possible news,” comedian and writer Jazz Twemlow considers accusations of bias against Australia’s public broadcaster because it had scientists on a science show. Watch on YouTube.
Ali G
Before Kazakhstan’s cultural attaché Borat Sagdiyev and Austrian fashion presenter Brüno Gehard, Sacha Baron Cohen gave us Ali G.
The Staines-based alter ego asks some experts about the environment and recycling.
“Ain’t it dirty to use somefin dat as been used before?” Watch on YouTube.
[bonus content: Australian satirists The Chasers interview British climate science sceptic Lord Christopher Monckton, who they tell us Monckton is just another Sacha Baron Cohen character].
John Nikolakopoulos
Australian Filmmaker John Nikolakopoulos was trying to tap “directly into the corporate mindset” when he made this parody promotional video for a fake coal company’s new climate change public relations strategy. If you don’t like f-bombs, head for cover now. Watch on YouTube.
David Mitchell
David Mitchell, the perpetually mildly annoyed UK comedian and writer, thinks about a perpetual furniture company that won’t squander resources by making cheap furniture from “MDF and hope”. Watch on YouTube.
In a previous video, he had already solved climate change.
The Onion again
More from The Onion, reporting how a new coal industry report warns too many wind turbines could blow the earth out of its orbit. Watch on YouTube.
Sean Lock
Ever catch yourself wondering if all that recycling and thriftiness with resources is really making a difference? If so, British comedian Sean Lock shares your pain, especially after visiting the US. Watch on YouTube.
Tripod
It’s important to end on a song.
There are loads of songs out there about climate change, especially if you ignore the actual content of the songs and just go off the title.
There was The Divine Comedy’s Everybody Knows (Except You), Disco Inferno (Burn, Baby Burn) from The Trammps or perhaps even the 1998 Bluetones album Return to the Last Chance Saloon which had to have been written about next year’s United Nations climate change meeting in Paris.
Actually, there was an undergrad student from the University of Minnesota who composed a cello piece based on satellite temperature data, but you couldn’t dance to it.
There’s also this, from Australian group Tripod. Watch on YouTube.
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