There's nothing funny about the economic effects of Brexit: Don Pittis

If Brexit is the equivalent of a 10-tonne weight falling on the British economy, why are so many British peoplelaughing?

Despite enormous optimism by the Leave campaign that everything will be wonderful after departing the European Union,every independent indicator and economic study shows the long and painful process of trying to get there has been really bad.

In what seems like a humorously over-the-top comparison,one of latest studiesI spotted relates the long and wearing Brexit processto theultimate financialbogeymanof the last century.

"The clearest historical parallel that led to such an extended period of uncertainty is the Great Depression, which started with the stock market crash of 1929 and generated continued uncertaintyuntil 1932," said the authors, a group of credible international economists funded by British research money, writing in the Harvard Business Review.

The article, BrexitIs Already Affecting UK BusinessHere's How, says that not only did the unexpected vote to leave shock the economy, long-termuncertainty as to what's next has meantless investment and reduced employment.

Of course the contrast between horriblereality and theover-the-top optimism of the initial campaignhas been one of the tropes for British satire, that, as with the Trump presidency in the U.S., has been a growth industry.

In one skit an all-white Englishfamily sits around an imaginedpost-Brexitkitchen table happily discussing how things have improved since the U.K. has left the EU. The promisedboost in health-care spending has cured the disabled father. The country grows rich on fish.

Reading a paperwhosefront page headline screamsFree Puppies For Everyone, the daughter celebrates the manyavailable jobs now that the foreigners are gone. The cupboard is full of British food,and in the new paradise, the family is allowed to have "bendy"bananas because European restrictions have been lifted.

Quite wonderfully the skit, which to all appearances says only good things about Britain'sBrexit future,has been attacked from both sides of the debate. Humourless Remainerscriticize it as insensitive while humourless Leaverscomplainit trivializesimportant issues.

The tradition of humour that viciously attacks Britain's greatest institutions from the Royal Familyto the BBC is one of the things that, despite glaring inequality and miserable weather, gives the country a feeling of careening freedom so obviously different from Putin'sRussia or Xi's China.

Humour issubversive. It is also a coping mechanism when it feels like you may have lost control and may be in for something unpleasant.

Monty Python Parliament

Some of the country's biggest butts ofBritish humour are the politicians and the political system that even a serious political journalist in the Financial Timescompared last week to a giant Monty Python skit.

A dip into one of BBC Radio's jolly game shows such as The News Quizwill usually offer equal-opportunity ridicule of British politicians on aBrexittheme.

TheScots News Quiz comedian-contestant Susan Calman, who claimed to have voted Leave (to much laughter), pointed out one clear industrial winner.

"I think Brexit has been very positive for the metaphor industry," quipped Calman, pointing out that a comment by Prime Minister Theresa May about scraping mould off old jam in her fridge was being used by the Washington Post as a metaphor for the entire Brexit process.

"It's a scandal there aren't more funny Brexit-supporting comedians to come on this show," responded another contestant.

But an online sample of pro-Brexit comedians reveals that like many strong political devotees, they take things pretty seriously. Jokes about terrorists and Muslims seem especially humourless after last week's killings in New Zealand.

Brexitcomedy for export

When it comes to the comedy industry, not only has Brexit created domestic humour, but it has become an export commodity.

Last week a segment from Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, called A Brief History of Brexit for Americanspresented by British-raised American comedian Amy Hoggart,was making the rounds.

Hoggart'sfunnyvideo, which, like the Financial Times article mentioned above employed the Monty Python stomping foot, was more than just a joke. By satirizing the politicians, their confusionand their quest for more power at any cost, Hoggarttold a complex political tale in a palatable form.

Take a British history lesson:

With a signatureintroductory "No, no, no, let me speak," impressionist comedian Jon Culshawfrom the radio show Dead Ringersplays the role of United KingdomIndependence Party chiefNigel Farage, complaining about Tory government mismanagementof Brexit.

"You took something that was good and pure where a plucky band of idealists defeated the politicalelite with nothing but hope in their hearts and oodles of cash from a few shadowy billionaires," says the faux Farage, making light of an accusation reported in serious news elsewherethat the campaign was partially funded by cash from Russians bent on making Britain not a strong economy for the people but a tax oasis.

In a news story it is hard to declare so directly that the poor and stupid have been manipulated by the nefarious rich, but that is another comedy trope.

As one Twitter joke went, the solution to the whole problem is merely to end Brexit quietly, tell each other Britainhas crashed out of the EUand hand outpassport covers that require people to stand in longer lines at customs and immigration.

That would make people feel as ifthey were outside the European Union with the bonusof theireconomy not collapsing.

But to about half of British people who remain honestly convinced that the country will be better off outside the EU, that just isn't funny.

Follow Don on Twitter @don_pittis