Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch
-
0:15 - 0:18Good evening, ladies, gentlemen,
-
0:18 - 0:22assorted hipsters, pseudo–intellectuals,
-
0:22 - 0:24students, baristas,
-
0:24 - 0:26green party affiliates,
-
0:26 - 0:27(Laughter)
-
0:27 - 0:29Steve. (Laughter)
-
0:30 - 0:32Thank you so very much
-
0:32 - 0:34for the warm welcome
that I could only assume -
0:34 - 0:37that you would give me
when I wrote this in advance. -
0:37 - 0:42(Laughter)
-
0:42 - 0:44It is so very humbling
-
0:44 - 0:49to be standing here before
so many people I know nothing about. -
0:49 - 0:50(Laughter)
-
0:50 - 0:52But statistics are helpful.
-
0:53 - 0:57I know that at least one of you
was probably called Steve. -
0:57 - 1:01I know that many of you
are probably women. -
1:01 - 1:03(Laughter)
-
1:03 - 1:06I know that the rest of you
are likely to be men. -
1:06 - 1:08(Laughter)
-
1:08 - 1:13I know that at least one of you voted
for the current Prime Minister. -
1:13 - 1:15And if that one person was you,
-
1:15 - 1:18I would keep very quiet about that here.
-
1:18 - 1:20(Laughter)
-
1:20 - 1:24You should not have come here today.
(Laughter) -
1:24 - 1:27This is not a safe environment for you.
-
1:27 - 1:29(Laughter)
-
1:29 - 1:31I promise you.
-
1:31 - 1:33(Laughter) (Applause)
-
1:33 - 1:37And if you are that one person,
-
1:37 - 1:40if you would quietly
approach me after the event, -
1:40 - 1:42I'll get you out of here.
-
1:42 - 1:43(Laughter)
-
1:44 - 1:48But if you didn't vote for National,
TEDx is a wonderful thing. -
1:48 - 1:51(Laughter)
-
1:51 - 1:55It's a tremendous event where people
of incredibly like-minds come together -
1:55 - 2:00to share what they believe
to be profound and challenging thoughts. -
2:00 - 2:04And yet for some reason,
everyone sits and nods in agreement. -
2:04 - 2:08(Laughter)
-
2:08 - 2:11Audiences are treated
to speaker after speaker, -
2:12 - 2:14or elevated individual,
-
2:14 - 2:18who one after the other talk about things
-
2:18 - 2:20that inspire other people
to talk about things. -
2:20 - 2:23(Laughter)
-
2:26 - 2:28There was a line about the sponsors here,
-
2:28 - 2:30but it was suggested that I remove it.
-
2:30 - 2:33(Laughter)
-
2:33 - 2:37Bow to your corporate overlords, TEDx.
-
2:37 - 2:39Know your place.
-
2:39 - 2:41But as I was saying...
-
2:41 - 2:43(Laughter)
-
2:43 - 2:45As I was saying,
-
2:45 - 2:48TEDx is a wonderful place where
people of all races, colors, and creeds, -
2:48 - 2:52but mostly white people... (Laughter)
-
2:52 - 2:57Come together to spread ideas.
-
2:58 - 3:00I have an idea.
-
3:01 - 3:05A 111 emergency loan line service.
-
3:05 - 3:08Take that home with you today. (Laughter)
-
3:08 - 3:11So we know what TEDx is,
and that TEDx is great, -
3:11 - 3:13and we all feel quiet enlightened,
-
3:13 - 3:15but why am I here?
-
3:15 - 3:16(Laughter)
-
3:16 - 3:21Why is Ben Uffindell standing before you
on a beautifully decorated stage? -
3:22 - 3:25With beaming lights bearing down upon him,
-
3:25 - 3:26and a timer in front of him
-
3:26 - 3:29that's, quite honestly,
freaking me out right now. -
3:29 - 3:32(Laughter)
-
3:33 - 3:36It's going down faster than it should.
I want that checked. -
3:36 - 3:38(Laughter)
-
3:40 - 3:42What gives me the right?
-
3:43 - 3:46I'm here today because
in mid March of this year, -
3:46 - 3:48I started a website called The Civilian.
-
3:49 - 3:53For those of you who read The Civilian,
it needs no introduction, -
3:53 - 3:56because it already has one,
on the side, on the "About Us" tab. -
3:56 - 3:58(Laughter)
-
3:58 - 4:01If you haven't seen it, then you should
click around more, live a little. -
4:01 - 4:04(Laughter)
-
4:06 - 4:08But if you're not familiar
with The Civilian, -
4:08 - 4:11let me briefly explain to you what it is.
-
4:11 - 4:13The Civilian is a satirical newspaper,
-
4:13 - 4:17much like its American counterpart,
The Onion. -
4:17 - 4:18A satirical newspaper
-
4:18 - 4:20is a newspaper that essentially conducts
-
4:20 - 4:24an ongoing and elaborate
parody of the news. -
4:25 - 4:28We run headlines such as
-
4:28 - 4:32"An overpay debacle
solved by restarting computer." -
4:32 - 4:34(Laughter)
-
4:34 - 4:36And most recently,
-
4:36 - 4:39"Nation struggles to masturbate
the Len Brown Affair." -
4:39 - 4:44(Laughter) (Applause)
-
4:44 - 4:48When I started writing The Civilian,
-
4:48 - 4:51many people around me said to me:
-
4:51 - 4:55"Ben, a lot of people are going
to take these stories seriously." -
4:55 - 4:56(Laughter)
-
4:56 - 4:58And at the time, I said to those people,
-
4:58 - 5:00"No, no, that's ridiculous.
-
5:00 - 5:03No sensibly thinking human being
-
5:03 - 5:06could possibly ever mistake these
for the truth." -
5:06 - 5:10And I've spent the last 7 months
eating humble pie. -
5:10 - 5:11(Laughter)
-
5:13 - 5:16One of the first articles that I ran
on The Civilian was titled: -
5:16 - 5:19"North Korea threatens New Zealand
with nuclear attack. -
5:19 - 5:21Nothing we can do, says Key."
-
5:21 - 5:25(Laughter) (Applause)
-
5:32 - 5:33And within hours,
-
5:33 - 5:37it had spread to every corner
of the internet you can imagine. -
5:37 - 5:41And everyone was panicked, and terrified.
-
5:41 - 5:45And believed that they were
about to face the imminent doom. -
5:45 - 5:47Seared into my memory forever
-
5:47 - 5:52is the Twitter conversation
between two teenage girls -
5:52 - 5:54who were absolutely mortified,
-
5:54 - 5:57telling one another they loved each other,
-
5:57 - 5:59and saying their goodbyes.
-
5:59 - 6:01(Laughter)
-
6:03 - 6:09Just this week, The Civilian
published a story titled: -
6:10 - 6:14"Stewart Island to be renamed Harry Styles
as a result of an online poll." -
6:14 - 6:16(Laughter)
-
6:16 - 6:22And I have a collection of some 400 tweets
-
6:22 - 6:25of excited One Direction fans
from all around the globe... -
6:25 - 6:26(Laughter)
-
6:26 - 6:30Who want to come to New Zealand,
-
6:30 - 6:34to, as one girl put it,
be on Harry Styles. -
6:34 - 6:38(Laughter) (Applause)
-
6:39 - 6:42And as if that weren't enough,
-
6:42 - 6:44and this is true,
-
6:44 - 6:48the Dutch Wikipedia,
presently, as of today, -
6:48 - 6:51lists the English name
for Stewart Island as Harry Styles. -
6:51 - 6:55(Laughter) (Applause)
-
6:58 - 7:02But perhaps more fascinating to me
than people believing The Civilian, -
7:02 - 7:04is people who don't believe it,
-
7:04 - 7:06or who realize what it really is,
-
7:06 - 7:08but they're angry about it.
-
7:10 - 7:14I get emails to the effect of "Why?!"
-
7:14 - 7:16Why would you do this?
-
7:16 - 7:22Why would you write something
that's not true? -
7:22 - 7:27(Laughter)
-
7:27 - 7:29And you may laugh, fair enough,
-
7:29 - 7:33but I actually found this to be
a rather poignant question, -
7:33 - 7:38and it's something that
I've been thinking about a lot lately. -
7:38 - 7:42And God forbid, your laughter
is pushing me over the time limit. -
7:42 - 7:43(Laughter)
-
7:44 - 7:51But I know that when people
book me for a TEDx talk, -
7:51 - 7:53they expect me to be funny.
-
7:55 - 7:58It's fine. I mean, that's my job.
-
7:58 - 8:02But I'd just like
to take a moment, if I may, -
8:02 - 8:04to be very earnest about something,
-
8:04 - 8:06and about what satire is to me.
-
8:14 - 8:17One year ago...
-
8:19 - 8:22I was working as an English tutor,
-
8:22 - 8:25and I was teaching kids,
you know, vital lessons, -
8:25 - 8:28like the very real connections
-
8:28 - 8:33between Shakespeare's Othello
and The Matrix. -
8:33 - 8:36(Laughter)
-
8:40 - 8:44I didn't have the kind of platform
that I have now. -
8:49 - 8:50But I did have a lot.
-
8:50 - 8:53I had a life that I was
very, very lucky to have. -
8:54 - 8:57And at the time, I didn't know it.
-
8:58 - 9:00I wasn't in a very happy place.
-
9:00 - 9:04And I didn't know it because...
-
9:05 - 9:10I was too busy worrying about my future
to appreciate what I had in the present. -
9:11 - 9:15And this year, I've gained a lot.
-
9:15 - 9:16I'm here.
-
9:16 - 9:19So, to me, that's a lot.
-
9:20 - 9:22But I've lost a lot as well.
-
9:24 - 9:28I've lost a lot of the things
that last year I took for granted. -
9:32 - 9:33I've had a rough couple of months.
-
9:35 - 9:36And...
-
9:39 - 9:41And when you start to feel that way...
-
9:43 - 9:45sometimes it's very easy
to feel disconnected. -
9:48 - 9:52To isolate yourself, to feel separate.
-
9:54 - 9:58And once upon a time,
that would have been me. -
9:59 - 10:01But I'm lucky,
-
10:01 - 10:04because I get to wake up every morning
-
10:04 - 10:08and do something that is about
making connections. -
10:09 - 10:15I get to piece together narratives
in my own way, -
10:15 - 10:19I get to take events
from the world around me -
10:19 - 10:22and put them into digestible narratives
that people can consume. -
10:22 - 10:26And to me, that's not actually
that different to what the news does. -
10:28 - 10:30The news just takes abstract facts
and processes them -
10:30 - 10:34into consumable narratives,
that we can all understand, -
10:34 - 10:36that we can relate to,
and make us feel something. -
10:36 - 10:39And that's why I do what I do.
-
10:39 - 10:41It helps me to feel connected,
-
10:41 - 10:43and stay connected, and stay happy,
-
10:43 - 10:46when things aren't always going my way.
-
10:48 - 10:53Sometimes The Civilian, in its coverage,
has treated some... -
10:54 - 11:01reasonably serious events
-
11:01 - 11:03with not much seriousness.
-
11:04 - 11:09It has, you know, found fun
in some rather serious issues. -
11:09 - 11:12It has had fun in the midst of misery.
-
11:15 - 11:19And to many, that might be insensitive,
-
11:19 - 11:23and it might seem wrong.
-
11:24 - 11:27And you could be right. It might be.
-
11:28 - 11:30Sometimes, I feel a little bit bad myself.
-
11:32 - 11:36But understand that it is not born
out of just silly humor. -
11:36 - 11:39It is not born out of
thoughtless derision. -
11:40 - 11:45It is born out of the belief, the idea,
-
11:45 - 11:49that even in our worst moments,
there is humor. -
11:49 - 11:53That even in the darkest places,
there is light. -
11:53 - 11:55And that no matter what,
-
11:55 - 11:58we can always and should always laugh.
-
12:00 - 12:02Thank you, Christchurch.
You've been very good to me. -
12:02 - 12:04(Applause)
- Title:
- Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch
- Description:
-
While finishing a degree in political science, 22-year-old Ben Uffindell spent the majority of 2012 haplessly trying to find his way in a world he wasn't prepared for. Earlier this year, he stumbled upon good fortune when he established and began managing a satirical news website called The Civilian. In this charming talk, he share what satire means to him and why he started The Civilian.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 12:18
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch | ||
Krystian Aparta approved English subtitles for Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch | ||
Adrienne Lin accepted English subtitles for Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch |
Krystian Aparta
Thanks for transcribing this talk! I'm sending these subtitles back because they need edits for technical issues to become eligible for publication: please fix the reading speeds so that they don't go over 21 characters per second and break subtitles longer than 42 characters.
These browser extensions highlight subtitles in need of technical fixes: http://archifabrika.hu/tools/
Please also watch this new tutorial that explains how to fix these issues in the review step: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ2CZonFYgA&list=PLuvL0OYxuPwxQbdq4W7TCQ7TBnW39cDRC&index=7
Dewi Barnas
Hi, can you assign it back to me so I can make the revision? Thanks! :)