Josh Berry on Comedy, Satire & Impressions — Part One

What can comedy teach us about human decision-making?

That’s something that my guest on this episode Josh Berry, knows all about. He’s a comedian, impressionist and satirist — though as you’ll hear on the episode, he’s not hugely keen on that third label. If there’s anyone that can help us to understand human risk, it’s someone who is really good at observing human behaviour and making us laugh about it.

I first discovered Josh last year, thanks to videos he released on social media which went viral. In them he plays, Rafe Hubris, a 25-year-old SPAD - short for SPecial ADviser — to the current UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The construct Josh uses for his Rafe videos is really simple. Something newsworthy — usually ridiculous — has happened in reality and Rafe is on the phone providing strategic and communications advice to whichever government minister has got themselves into trouble.

The comedy comes both from the storyline and Rafe as a character — the surname Hubris is very apt to describe the incredibly self-confident, posh, entitled Oxford graduate. We know he studied at Oxford because he never ceases to tell us. If you’ve never come across a Rafe, congratulations! — just imagine what a younger Boris Johnson must have been like.

Since releasing the videos, Josh has written & published Rafe’s 2020 diaries, and is in the middle of a UK tour. Our discussion went on so long, that there's a second episode coming very soon.

To find out more about the topics we discussed:

Josh’s website including details of Rafe’s diary and his tour: www.joshberryofficial.com

Josh on Social Media:
Twitter — https://twitter.com/JoshBerryComedy
Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/JoshBerryImpressions
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/joshberrycomedy/
YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLtucDoyC9QQyibS8BY3Vew

Mrs Doubtfire - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Doubtfire
Simon Lipson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Lipson

Russell Brand - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Brand

Josh’s interview with Andy Murray - https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/2017070340302/andy-murray-impressionist-funny-clip/

A clip from Rob & Romesh with Andy Murray - https://twitter.com/robandromeshvs/status/1413148366960164865?lang=en

The Michael Gove tweet that led to the creation of Rafe Hubris — https://twitter.com/michaelgove/status/1199304826468876288?

Alan Partridge - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Partridge

Jimmy Carr - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carr

Rafe’s Peppa Pig reference - https://twitter.com/JoshBerryComedy/status/1463203112076910596?s=20


Frankie Boyle - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Boyle

Chris Morris - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Morris_(satirist)