Danny Shine, also known as the ‘Social Experimentalist’, runs a YouTube channel where he posts videos of himself out in London with a megaphone, voicing his polemical views. (His more recent content on his channel is recorded monologues on various social, cultural, and philosophical topics.) In public, he’ll interact with passersby or those standing to listen – either because he poses questions to people or because others feel provoked to respond.
One of his areas of focus has been antinatalism: the view that it is morally wrong to procreate. You can find various megaphone rants, monologues, and interviews with Danny on this topic here. (Both Danny and I appeared, separately, on the Exploring Antinatalism Podcast, where we discussed the subject.) Danny is also interested in (and often talks about) veganism, the police, social conditioning, propaganda, drugs and psychedelics, sex, technology, mental health, politicians, and God and religion. He’s taken his megaphone to Camden Town and busy areas of central London, as well as Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, where public debate is normalised and encouraged. Some of his more uplifting videos, quite old ones, are the ‘Happy Carriage’ experiments, where he would try to cheer up miserable commuters on the Tube in London.
I wanted to write something about Danny because I’ve long been fascinated by jesters, particularly their history, archetypal nature, existential and psychological significance, and appearance in psychedelic trips (see here, here, and here). I’m also interested in the modern instantiations of the jester – while we no longer have court jesters in modern Western culture, we do have stand-up comedians, practical jokers, pranksters, and TV and film actors (e.g. Jim Carrey and Sacha Baron Cohen) who display many of the characteristics of the archetypal jester. Some figures, outside of comedy, also embody the jester/trickster, such as the LSD guru Timothy Leary.
I also think of Danny Shine as a modern-day jester, or at least, jester-like (of course, he doesn’t wear jester garb or act in the way a traditional jester would, such as entertaining royalty and their guests at court, festivals, and tournaments; but he does behave like a jester in several ways). Like traditional jesters, Danny entertains the public. But more than that, like jesters throughout history and all over the world, he is also a critic: he criticises those in power and challenges social and cultural conventions.
Beatrice K. Otto, the author of Fools Are Everywhere: The Court Jester Around the World (2001), said in an interview:
But it isn’t just the need for entertainment that makes jesters so widespread, since pure entertainment could come from a variety of sources. There simply seems to have been a need (or desire) among the ruling elements of many cultures to allow certain individuals (or even small groups) of entertainers to be more intimate with those at the top.
For the most part this was an ongoing relationship, though in some places it could be a license that was limited to a specific, usually festive, occasion—some ritual clowns in America, India, or Africa (and I dare say other places) might fall into this category, or the fools-for-a-day that could pop up during a medieval European festival of fools, or the occasional liberties enjoyed by slaves during Roman Saturnalian topsy-turvy fun-days.
The intimacy enjoyed by jesters could manifest itself in different ways—the freedom to offer advice, to comment on or to criticize politics and policies; the trust that allowed confidences to be shared; or a certain readiness to let the jester have access to or address the king-pin without the formality that other members of his entourage might observe. It’s this recognized license to speak freely which really distinguishes jesters from their colleagues, although of course that isn’t to say nobody else could or did speak freely.
But it’s also their tendency to offer opinions or criticisms using witty or quirkily indirect means—or stunning candor—that would distinguish them from most ministers or advisers.
Danny, as a modern-day jester, isn’t tethered to and employed by a ruler, who gives him license to criticise, mock, and advise the higher-ups – he’s just making use of his freedom of speech to do so, a license which everyone has. Like jesters and tricksters, he challenges what is considered ‘normal’, ‘good’, expected, routine, and the default. His defence of antinatalism (or, alternatively, his criticisms of procreation) exemplifies this. The goal of having children is typically unquestioned and considered positive (perhaps even morally obligatory). Of course, it is a natural impulse, the most fundamental one to the continuation of the species. But Danny has continued to push back against this biological drive and social assumption. And by doing so, he often elicits dismay and counter-criticism from the public.
As a modern-day jester, Danny also calls into question authority – be that authority figures, authoritative institutions, or authoritative norms (those that stifle human interests, our natural inclinations, or alternative ways of living that would be better for our well-being). In this way, he is much like Leary (with less of the psychedelic evangelism and pseudoscientific, elitist theories). Like jesters, through his humour and wit, Danny’s social and cultural critiques become sources of disruption, entertainment, laughter, curiosity, reflection, and offence. As a jester, he is able to mix humour with social commentary in an irreverent (but good-natured) way.
In an interview this year, Danny spoke openly about his battle with cancer (and he has done so on his Social Experimentalist YouTube channel as well). He received his diagnosis in March of this year, and soon after researching his treatment options and prognosis, he decided to forgo radiotherapy and chemotherapy, based on their side effects and unlikely chance that they would prevent his particular form of cancer from returning. Instead, he relocated to Cyprus and now lives out a lifestyle conducive to physical and mental well-being, involving sunshine, cycling, swimming, meditation, being in nature, clean eating, and tranquility – certainly a different kind and pace of life compared to London. This decision to squeeze the most peace and joy out of life after a diagnosis like this is commendable.
It’s also encouraging to see that Danny is still making lots of thought-provoking content. Modern society, like every society in history, needs jesters, or those approximating the important function of the jester, which is to challenge authority, social order, and conventions, as well as to find the lighter side of serious or dark subjects. This is why comedians and all kinds of comedy entertainment will always exist. But Danny, I think, is akin to a jester and trickster than a typical stand-up comedian, as he is causing disruption (both literally and in people’s minds) by taking his megaphone rants into public. This might be an annoyance to some (or many), but the aim, nonetheless, is to unplug people from unquestioned habits of thought and behaviour.
You might disagree with Danny’s method, as well as his views on particular issues. That’s completely valid. However, what I wanted to highlight was why his approach and opinions make him a modern-day jester, and why seeing someone adopt this role is reassuring. There’s value in being shaken out of the humdrum, at least momentarily, and being invited to consider deep questions about the way we’re living.
