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Armando Iannucci: Is this a bad time to be funny?

Can the creator of Veep find humour amid the world's crises?

It’s the job of the professional satirist to find the funny and expose the absurd in humanity’s most serious endeavours. But are there times when satire just doesn’t work, and is now one of them? Should we be laughing at Covid-19, or at racial discrimination? Stephen Sackur speaks to Armando Iannucci, a hugely successful writer and director of comedy on TV and film, whose credits include Veep, In the Loop and The Death of Stalin. Is there ever a bad time and place to be funny?

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23 minutes

Last on

Mon 19 Oct 202021:06GMT
BBC World Service

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Armando Iannucci (Credit: Sarah Jeynes/BBC)

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  • Mon 29 Jun 202007:06GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Mon 29 Jun 202014:06GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Mon 29 Jun 202015:06GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
  • Mon 29 Jun 202019:06GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
  • Mon 29 Jun 202021:06GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Mon 19 Oct 202007:06GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Mon 19 Oct 202014:06GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Mon 19 Oct 202015:06GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
  • Mon 19 Oct 202021:06GMT
    BBC World Service

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