Is laughter is the best medicine -- for the planet?
Gone are the days when po-faced greenies were seen as serious types with no sense of humour; these days, many of the worlds greatest comedians are going green, and producing some great new material as a result.
Earlier in the year, I wrote about Mark Watson and his Crap at the Environment (sometimes more politely referred to as 'CATE') project, which uses humour to get people doing their bit for the planet. And now, I've found out that the world's first 'ethical folk band' is in our midst, and the good news is they're apparently very funny.
Quentin and Crisp, described by their mentor Gavin as “the hottest ethical folk-pop-rock duo to emerge from the cultural melting pot of post-Communist Hungary”, are nothing short of genius. Their mission is simple: to re-ignite the smouldering coals of protest folk; to blow on the flames with the bellows of their genius; to shape this conflagration into a mighty furnace of ethical folk-pop-rock that will effect real and lasting change.
Already, their first hit single “What ails you, world?” has received hundreds of hits on MySpace, a music site that is apparently quite popular amongst young people, Quentin and Crisp’s main target group. Acclaim has been pouring in for the self-styled “nice” duo from the moment the song first appeared on the web. Look out for this duo and their toe-tapping music that "does not pull any punches about the state of the world and what we need to do to fix it, but also provides a lovely melody to sway to in your rocking chair.”
Dear Hippy Shopper
We are very pleased to find that you have encountered our music and thus our mission to bring about lasting change to a world sadly bereft of ethical living.
Admittedly, we are somewhat befuddled that you find us "funny". In fact, we are both very serious minded gentlemen who enjoy nothing more than a meaty discussion of social issues and a sturdy old pipe.
To prove our commitment, we shall be taking part in Live Earth Hungary to call for a change to climate change. I must confess that we have not exactly been invited to perform, but I think there should be no problems unless Quentin has one of his episodes. He hasn't been the same since the Kalahari incident. Normally he is fine unless the wind picks up and blows sand into his face. If this happens, he usually ends up in a corner brushing invisible spiders off his body.
But don't worry: we shall not let this prevent us from spreading the message to all and sundry, particularly the younger generation.
We shall be posting videos of our performance on our You Tube channel (www.youtube.com/quentinandcrisp) after the event. We only hope that by doing so we can help ward off the climatic calamity that awaits us.
Thank you for helping spread the word of our mission.
Yours in ethical folk-pop-rock (and hippy shopping),
Quentin and Crisp.
Posted by: Quentin and Crisp | July 7, 2007 1:32 AM