Page 79 - Zone Magazine Issue 006

Does your objection to paying the water tax need a re-boot? Want technical help in avoiding the TV license? Getting hounded for an outrageous sum in so- called M50 toll fines by an intimidating debt collection company?
Then reach for the new book by Irish comedian, Aidan Killian. In Dear Plonker: Comedian Vs Corporations, Aidan takes the reader on a joyous and empowering trip through the empire of corporate bullshit that is increasingly foisted on us on a day- to-day basis – until we learn to strap on a pair, and equip ourselves with the know-how to stand up to the white-collar psychopaths and their political and economic scams which aim to rob us of our power and our wealth.
Like so many people across Ireland, Aidan has felt the sting of the asset-stripping known as ‘austerity’, whereby the corporate / political ‘kleptocracy’ actively steals wealth and sovereignty from individuals and communities under the stealthy guise of debt. And like many other people across Ireland – such as the hundreds of thousands who are objecting to the water tax – Aidan’s been making a concertedefforttoresistthisEmpire of Bullshit, by asserting himself as a sovereign human being instead of a debt-slave. (Hence his nom-de- plume, ‘King Aidan’.)
However, unlike many other people across Ireland, Aidan has taken a very quirky, highly-documented, humorously ironic approach to his resistance, based around informing himself of our whacky financial system and the law – including the practical application of moral law – and writing letter after letter to corporations, in defense of his non- compliance with systematic extortion.
The resulting book, Dear Plonker, collates the convoluted, often hilarious, always cheeky and frequently bizarre correspondence between Aidan and various corporations over the past few years. In between the letters, Aidan explains knowledgably and eloquently why he is resisting exploitation. An expert communicator and a gifted storyteller, Aidan cuts through the brainwashing and conditioning that has us thinking we deserve no better than to line up and be robbed. And in the process, he
invites us to observe his own ‘arc of transformation’, as he moves from fear, confusion and misdirected anger in the face of corporate bullying, to healthy anger, self-empowerment and self-liberation – and a big dose of sheer joy at beating the extortionists at their own game.
Before becoming a professional comedian, Aidan worked in investment banking. This experience gave him an insider’s edge on the financial system, and sharpened his critique as a consciousness insurgent.
Aidan writes in his book’s ‘Introduction’, “I also have a little hobby of trying to understand the bizarre legal world and the financial matrix that has been used by various human beings to try and take other human beings’ stuff and freedoms away. This isn’t a book of jokes, but neither is it a professional manual written by an ‘expert’....
“I have no legal training,” adds Aidan, “but in this book I offer you everything I have found to be useful and empowering when standing up for my rights. The information I share has helped me deal with banks, insurance companies, debt collectors, toll bridge companies, solicitors, phone companies, TV license people, and basically anyone who tried to takemymoneyorthreatenmewith legal letters. This information has helped me save money, but much more than that, it also empowered me to overcome much of my own fear when dealing with ‘authorities’, and I hope it helps you too.”
While Dear Plonker is often very funny, Aidan doesn’t shy away from the seriousness of the situation faced by ordinary punters in Ireland right now.
“I once chatted to a parish priest,” he writes, “who informed me that at least one person in every parish across this country has taken their own life because of the banks... From what I have studied and experienced, many people are living in terror of losing their homes and being thrown into the streets; some have lost their lives and many their homes due to the banks, which is why I agree with journalist Max Keiser when he describes the banksters as ‘financial terrorists’.”
I got to know Aidan a couple of years ago, when he very kindly helped to raise money for my son,
Caoimh, who has severe autism. As well as doing stand-up comedy gigs, Aidan runs very popular comedy coaching workshops, where punters learn to create and perform their own stand-up sketches.
Last year Aidan invited me and other activist / insurgent types to a stand-up comedy weekend workshop, where we each had to take our very serious issue and make it into a funny five-minute sketch. (Mine was the dire lack of services, or even basic human rights, for autism families in Ireland. Other subjects included abortion, homophobia, water fluoridation and hunger-striking in response to financial terrorism.) We then had to perform our sketches at a show called Stand Up For Humanity before a large audience in Whelan’s in Dublin. Money raised from the show went to my son’s Trust Fund to pay for therapies that the State fails to provide.
A documentary team, directed by comedian Gary Lynch, accompanied us on the weekend. They’re currently putting together their film, whose title – Some Fucker’s Son – gives a flavour of the dark, politically incorrect irony in which the endeavor is drenched (it’s a reference to my son).
Check out the trailer for the documentary –andhelpwiththe funding if you think it’s worthwhile – by visiting the Some Fucker’s Son Facebook page.
I’ll part with an Oscar Wilde aphorism, quoted by Aidan in Dear Plonker: “If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh; otherwise they’ll kill you.”
Get more truth served up humorously by purchasing Dear Plonker at www.dearplonker.com, and check Aidan’s upcoming gigs and free videos at www.aidankillian.com.
Dear Plonker is published by the Irish-based Common Law Society, whose motto is ‘Educate the People to Protect Themselves’.
Visit their informative site at www.commonlawsociety.com.
adrienneclaremurphy@eircom.net
ESSENTIAL DANCE MUSIC 79
With Adrienne Murphy
REAL WORLD
The Comedic Art of Subversion
Here at Zone we are all firm believer in the "TRUTH". People should know about issues that effect us all. So here in the "REAL WORLD" with Adrienne Murphy, we are gonna do just that! Plain facts, no lies!