Laughter can be the best medicine, watch these 5 clips of funny stereotype-breaking vegans/veggies and invite some giggles into your day
Sometimes it can feel like the weight of apocalyptic news and injustice in the world can get too much. Bringing about huge societal changes that we need for a fairer society and planet, is a marathon - not a sprint.
How can we look after ourselves? Avoid succumbing to the despair for too long or avoid burnout and getting caught up in doing, doing, doing.
We’ll explore self-care for activists in a future post but for now we’ll look at a trait that bonds all humans and some of the animals we share this planet with: laughter.
The physical and mental benefits of laughter have been well documented it can strengthen your immune system, build up your abs, relieve symptoms of stress and boost your mood.
So perhaps, given our planetary prognosis, we need it more than ever?
Here is our little attempt to bring some laughter into your day.
As the 1st of November was world vegan day we’re going to share five comedy clips that nip the vegan stereotype in the bud - here are some very funny vegans/vegetarians.
Because, let’s face it - saving the planet can be funny too.
Mr Broccoli
Have you heard of Mr Broccoli? He went viral last month during Extinction Rebellion’s, International Rebellion that took place across 60 different cities around the world.
Mr Broccoli participated in civil disobedience in central London with his fellow vegetables in Animal Rebellion. They occupied Smithfields Market, one of London’s oldest meat markets, selling fruit and vegetables instead of meat!
Mr Broccoli was arrested by the London Metropolitan Police but it was caught on film and makes for very entertaining viewing.
Listen out at the end as he raises his floret in the air and declares; “Give Peas a Chance!”
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Simon Amstell - Carnage
Comedian Simon Amstell produced Carnage in 2017, and arguably it played a role locally to bring veganism into the mainstream. Perhaps because it is so very funny? Playing with timelines, Amstell highlights the absurdity of our current high meat and dairy intake from the future, when the cultural shift to plant-based diet has become the norm. The full film is well worth a watch - but here’s a clip from a self-help group as the elder generation come to terms with the shame of loving camembert and bacon.
Through this fictional future we hear how vegans turned the labels around, calling those who continued eating meat, ‘carnists’ - the power of language.
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John Bishop
A throwback to those who were vegetarians in 1980s Britain. For those of us cutting out meat and dairy based products in 2019 we are likely to have an array of choices; many supermarkets have a vegan section, and more and more eateries are showcasing their plant-based offering with separate menus. But a few decades ago, it wasn’t that easy.
British comedian John Bishop shares a vignette into his veggie childhood
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Ellen
American comedian Ellen DeGeneres has been an ambassador for animal rights groups and has been veggie and vegan. Although in her latest stand-up Netflix special “Relatable” she admits that sometimes she does eat meat. For those of us reducetarians, knowing that icons can sometimes fall off the wagon too is very reassuring.
Here’s a throwback of Ellen’s stand up for a PETA event back in 2008.
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Romesh Ranganathan
British comedian, Romesh, is an outspoken vegan not afraid to bring up the subject on talk shows like QI (This is also a very funny clip) and writes opinion pieces and guides for vegans to survive Christmas - have a read here.
For our final video clip we’ve selected a validating clip for all the vegans out there. Romesh wrestles with why vegans rustle so many people’s feathers. Enjoy.
We hope you and your diaphragm enjoyed this blog post.
Keep saving the world and keep laughing along the way!
