Having fun in the midst of misery | Ben Uffindell | TEDxChristchurch

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.

Good evening, ladies, gentlemen,

assorted hipsters, pseudo–intellectuals,

students, baristas,

green party affiliates,

(Laughter)

Steve. (Laughter)

Thank you so very much

for the warm welcome
that I could only assume

that you would give me
when I wrote this in advance.

(Laughter)

It is so very humbling

to be standing here before
so many people I know nothing about.

(Laughter)

But statistics are helpful.

I know that at least one of you
was probably called Steve.

I know that many of you
are probably women.

(Laughter)

I know that the rest of you
are likely to be men.

(Laughter)

I know that at least one of you voted
for the current Prime Minister.

And if that one person was you,

I would keep very quiet about that here.

(Laughter)

You should not have come here today.
(Laughter)

This is not a safe environment for you.

(Laughter)

I promise you.

(Laughter) (Applause)

And if you are that one person,

if you would quietly
approach me after the event,

I'll get you out of here.

(Laughter)

But if you didn't vote for National,
TEDx is a wonderful thing.

(Laughter)

It's a tremendous event where people
of incredibly like-minds come together

to share what they believe
to be profound and challenging thoughts.

And yet for some reason,
everyone sits and nods in agreement.

(Laughter)

Audiences are treated
to speaker after speaker,

or elevated individual,

who one after the other talk about things

that inspire other people
to talk about things.

(Laughter)

There was a line about the sponsors here,

but it was suggested that I remove it.

(Laughter)

Bow to your corporate overlords, TEDx.

Know your place.

But as I was saying...

(Laughter)

As I was saying,

TEDx is a wonderful place where
people of all races, colors, and creeds,

but mostly white people... (Laughter)

Come together to spread ideas.

I have an idea.

A 111 emergency loan line service.

Take that home with you today. (Laughter)

So we know what TEDx is,
and that TEDx is great,

and we all feel quiet enlightened,

but why am I here?

(Laughter)

Why is Ben Uffindell standing before you
on a beautifully decorated stage?

With beaming lights bearing down upon him,

and a timer in front of him

that's, quite honestly,
freaking me out right now.

(Laughter)

It's going down faster than it should.
I want that checked.

(Laughter)

What gives me the right?

I'm here today because
in mid March of this year,

I started a website called The Civilian.

For those of you who read The Civilian,
it needs no introduction,

because it already has one,
on the side, on the "About Us" tab.

(Laughter)

If you haven't seen it, then you should
click around more, live a little.

(Laughter)

But if you're not familiar
with The Civilian,

let me briefly explain to you what it is.

The Civilian is a satirical newspaper,

much like its American counterpart,
The Onion.

A satirical newspaper

is a newspaper that essentially conducts

an ongoing and elaborate
parody of the news.

We run headlines such as

"An overpay debacle
solved by restarting computer."

(Laughter)

And most recently,

"Nation struggles to masturbate
the Len Brown Affair."

(Laughter) (Applause)

When I started writing The Civilian,

many people around me said to me:

"Ben, a lot of people are going
to take these stories seriously."

(Laughter)

And at the time, I said to those people,

"No, no, that's ridiculous.

No sensibly thinking human being

could possibly ever mistake these
for the truth."

And I've spent the last 7 months
eating humble pie.

(Laughter)

One of the first articles that I ran
on The Civilian was titled:

"North Korea threatens New Zealand
with nuclear attack.

Nothing we can do, says Key."

(Laughter) (Applause)

And within hours,

it had spread to every corner
of the internet you can imagine.

And everyone was panicked, and terrified.

And believed that they were
about to face the imminent doom.

Seared into my memory forever

is the Twitter conversation
between two teenage girls

who were absolutely mortified,

telling one another they loved each other,

and saying their goodbyes.

(Laughter)

Just this week, The Civilian
published a story titled:

"Stewart Island to be renamed Harry Styles
as a result of an online poll."

(Laughter)

And I have a collection of some 400 tweets

of excited One Direction fans
from all around the globe...

(Laughter)

Who want to come to New Zealand,

to, as one girl put it,
be on Harry Styles.

(Laughter) (Applause)

And as if that weren't enough,

and this is true,

the Dutch Wikipedia,
presently, as of today,

lists the English name
for Stewart Island as Harry Styles.

(Laughter) (Applause)

But perhaps more fascinating to me
than people believing The Civilian,

is people who don't believe it,

or who realize what it really is,

but they're angry about it.

I get emails to the effect of "Why?!"

Why would you do this?

Why would you write something
that's not true?

(Laughter)

And you may laugh, fair enough,

but I actually found this to be
a rather poignant question,

and it's something that
I've been thinking about a lot lately.

And God forbid, your laughter
is pushing me over the time limit.

(Laughter)

But I know that when people
book me for a TEDx talk,

they expect me to be funny.

It's fine. I mean, that's my job.

But I'd just like
to take a moment, if I may,

to be very earnest about something,

and about what satire is to me.

One year ago...

I was working as an English tutor,

and I was teaching kids,
you know, vital lessons,

like the very real connections

between Shakespeare's Othello
and The Matrix.

(Laughter)

I didn't have the kind of platform
that I have now.

But I did have a lot.

I had a life that I was
very, very lucky to have.

And at the time, I didn't know it.

I wasn't in a very happy place.

And I didn't know it because...

I was too busy worrying about my future
to appreciate what I had in the present.

And this year, I've gained a lot.

I'm here.

So, to me, that's a lot.

But I've lost a lot as well.

I've lost a lot of the things
that last year I took for granted.

I've had a rough couple of months.

And...

And when you start to feel that way...

sometimes it's very easy
to feel disconnected.

To isolate yourself, to feel separate.

And once upon a time,
that would have been me.

But I'm lucky,

because I get to wake up every morning

and do something that is about
making connections.

I get to piece together narratives
in my own way,

I get to take events
from the world around me

and put them into digestible narratives
that people can consume.

And to me, that's not actually
that different to what the news does.

The news just takes abstract facts
and processes them

into consumable narratives,
that we can all understand,

that we can relate to,
and make us feel something.

And that's why I do what I do.

It helps me to feel connected,

and stay connected, and stay happy,

when things aren't always going my way.

Sometimes The Civilian, in its coverage,
has treated some...

reasonably serious events

with not much seriousness.

It has, you know, found fun
in some rather serious issues.

It has had fun in the midst of misery.

And to many, that might be insensitive,

and it might seem wrong.

And you could be right. It might be.

Sometimes, I feel a little bit bad myself.

But understand that it is not born
out of just silly humor.

It is not born out of
thoughtless derision.

It is born out of the belief, the idea,

that even in our worst moments,
there is humor.

That even in the darkest places,
there is light.

And that no matter what,

we can always and should always laugh.

Thank you, Christchurch.
You've been very good to me.

(Applause)