There's so much of a debate at the moment about what Britain is and what Britain is not and how it's excluding and how it's isolating itself, i wanted to celebrate what I feel Britain is, which is something much more lively and vibrant and cheery - the comedy heritage, the literary heritage, the variety, the arts.

Armando Iannucci

Categorized in : Entertainment

Death is a fickle hen, and random are her eggs.

Armando Iannucci

fickle hens eggs

There's something inherently comic about the fact that politicians make things worse by worrying too much about something.

Armando Iannucci

worrying-too-much politician facts

The only shared reality we have is things we have seen on television.

Armando Iannucci

emotion reality television

It's still very relevant to how politics works within government, but in terms of the way into politics for an outsider, no, I don't think that would work. I don't know what would, other than... people are going online, and finding the single issue topics. I mean, look at the junior doctors' strike at the moment, or benefit cuts. That sort of cut across parties, and real pressure was felt in the government from inside and out.

Armando Iannucci

party real mean

It seemed like after the 80s and 90s there came a sort of weird time in politics, where something like Spitting Image was no longer feasible because politicians weren't the big personalities that they once were. But now it seems like we're coming out of that, I mean we've got Boris Johnson, and Trump overseas, and Jeremy Corbyn.

Armando Iannucci

politician personality mean

Write what makes you laugh not what you think will make someone else laugh.

Armando Iannucci

writing laughing thinking

The busier you are, the less time you have to make decisions.

Armando Iannucci

busier decision

As a gut thing, my next project is always the complete opposite of the thing I've just done. So if I've spent a lot of time doing film, I might then do some radio.

Armando Iannucci

guts film done

I don't think I could ever reach the giddy heights of the inspired comedy and tragedy that's happening now in Washington. I mean, it's mesmerizing to watch but it's also scary. For me, the scariest thing about it is all those people who were so absolutely opposed to Donald Trump before he got elected, and then have just drifted away and kept quiet. It goes back to: We've always got to be vigilant about democracy because it can go wrong.

Armando Iannucci

mean people thinking

It almost seems like anyone who doesn't seem political in any way is at an advantage. It's almost like anti-politics. A stage where anyone who acts - and it is an act - as if they have nothing to do with the way that daily politics works is lauded as some kind of superstar human being.

Armando Iannucci

superstar political kind

I always think you've just got to move on. If you keep wallowing in the thing that you've done for a while you get a bit stale.

Armando Iannucci

done moving thinking

I think it's a slightly crazy time actually, it's very difficult to satirise because each of politicians is in their own way enacting a commentary on the world of politics anyway. To then comment on them just feels like adding another layer. I find it very difficult to do jokes about current politics because for me it's all about... I actually genuinely want people to be involved properly, you know? I mean, the number of people who don't vote... Frightening, really.

Armando Iannucci

crazy mean thinking

We only now talk to our own, on Facebook and social media we talk to people, we friend and we like and we follow people who agree with us and rather than engaging with people who disagree with us, we unfollow them, we block them, we non-platform them.

Armando Iannucci

social-media block people

There's a guy on YouTube ... who just re-voices Donald Trump. He does a thing called Sassy Trump which is just to take Donald Trump's words and revoice them. Doesn't change them ...and strangely enough it just makes you listen to what Trump is saying. I think the biggest answer to comedy against Trump is Trump's own words.

Armando Iannucci

sassy guy thinking

I kind of like that thing of you being caught up. You think you can judge someone, and before you know it, you've been swayed by them, and actually you want more of them.

Armando Iannucci

judging want thinking

Any president's second term ends up being quite messy. It never goes quite according to plan.

Armando Iannucci

messy ends president

I'm a bit of a political geek anyway, so you tend to write how you think the rhythms of an administration will go.

Armando Iannucci

political writing thinking

What's funny about that office is it's entirely dependent on how close you are to the president, because the president decides what your role will be. If you get on with the president, that's great; if you fall out with the president, power can go away.

Armando Iannucci

office president fall

Listening to classical music is a journey not a state; it's an activity not a meditation.

Armando Iannucci

meditation journey listening

It felt very modern, it also speaks of these sort of contemporary issues and I just want to get that life and that humour and approach it maybe as if there were no rules as to how you make a costume drama.

Armando Iannucci

entertainment