Simon Minty's recent thoughts and more

Disability Arts Cymru event Friday 24th July 2020 I was asked to speak at an event, along with Dr Erin Pritchard, who I believe instigated it, and Tammy Reynolds. There are two paragraphs explaining the topic below and then my response.  Please note - there are references to depression and suicide in this piece.  Dwarfism and the ethics of humour "Why is it that people who are shorter than the ‘average’ person, people born with a variety of conditions under the medical banner of ‘dwarfism’ are so often seen as the butt of the joke, an easy target to make fun of. As children many will experience bullying, some to such an extent that they become suicidal.  Yet, there is an industry that exploits people with dwarfism to act in shows such as Snow White and the Seven  Dwarfs, once being doubly exploited as they were filmed for a TV show about the seven cast members living in a house together as if that’s especially interesting to watch...

The latest BBC Ouch show is out! It sees the return of the brilliant and un-PC game, Vegetable, Vegetable, Vegetable where co-host Kate Monaghan-Coker,  @katiekatetweets   our guests and I try and guess the callers 'disability' against the clock.  We interview BAFTA nominated actor Ruth Madeley @ruth_madeley from the brilliant BBC television drama  Don’t Take My Baby and classical pianist Nicolas McCarthy  @ NMcCarthyPiano  who has one hand and plays us a tune or two on the grand piano (again, brilliantly) in the studio. Ruth and Nicholas tell us of their made up responses whe n someone asks 'how did you become disabled?' The team from Stay Up Late @stayuplateuk  call in and tell us about their gig buddy project.  You can download, stream or subscribe via iTunes.  BBC Ouch site BBC Ouch iTunes Host Kate watches on as Nichols plays piano in the studio