Have Eye got Quips for You! (Private Eye)

Member Name: paule23

Product:	Private Eye
Date:	13/02/01 (90 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Witty, full of content, cheap

Disadvantages: Poor print quality, tory boy editor!

With a four hour train journey ahead of me I reached into my bag to retrieve my CD player fro some soothing tunes to ease the boredom, then TRAGEDY, bugger, bugger and double bugger! I'd left the bloody thing at home. I had a huge selection of CD's but nothing to play them on, making them about as useful as, well, CD's with no CD player I suppose.

The prospect of a four hour train journey without any music wasn't a very enticing prospect, especially as I was travelling by Virgin Trains, so the probability of the journey extending beyond four hours was pretty high! There was nothing else for it, I went for the next best option, a quick trip to the station's WHSmith.

I thought I would live life on the edge and try something new, and after perusing the shelves for a while my eyes were drawn to Private Eye. This was mainly due to a very witty front cover, which had a picture of Tony Blair and Peter Mandleson, with Blair saying 'I'm very, very sorry' and Mandleson replying 'You will be!' which I found quite amusing.

Although I've never bought Private Eye I used to work in a newsagent and always read the front cover cartoon as they were usually very witty and entertaining. I've occasionally flicked through the pages but was never too impressed with the content. Even though, as it was only £1.20 and I was feeling adventurous I thought I'd give it a go.

Apart from that witty front cover, first impressions were disappointing. The print and paper quality really are quite poor for a well known, national magazine. Some might say it is part of the character of it, but it doesn't do much to encourage new readers to look further. The magazine looks and feels like a University Rag Mag, though this is probably doing Rag Mags an injustice as they are usually better quality than Private Eye! Maybe it's time for Ian Hislop to stop spending money on flash suits for Have I Got News Fo
r You, and out more into upgrading his printing press. Anyway, in the big scheme of things it's not the print quality or paper that's important, so I read on.

And that's the next thing I noticed, there really is an awful lot to read in Private Eye. Most magazines I buy are usually full of full page adverts, with lot's of glossy photographs, leaving little space for actual editorial content. Private Eye differs as there really is a lot of content. Admittedly the magazine only has 36 pages, so we're not talking an epic novel here, but with a small typeface and only 12 full pages of adverts (it sounds a lot but doesn't seem that much when you flick through the mag) there really is a lot of room for articles, reviews and features. Considering the magazine only costs £1.20, you seem to get quite a lot for your money.

Having said this, it is only god value if the content is up to scratch, and I'm pleased to say for the most part it is. With any satirical publication or programme, the content can be a bit hit and miss, but overall the writing in Private Eye is very witty, sarcastic and entertaining. As well as amusing me through my rather boring train journey, some of the articles are quite well researched and fact-filled, a rather scathing attack on the redevelopment of the British Museum springing to mind.

There are various cartoons and sketches sprinkled throughout the magazine, providing a humorous take on recent news events. My pick of the bunch, apart from the front cover was a cartoon of people surrounding an injured person who's just been run over, and someone commenting about an approaching person 'Don't let him through, he's a doctor!' OK, it doesn't sound funny written out, but it made me laugh!

The magazine is largely based around satirical comment on recent political events, and in this particular issue Peter Mandleson was taking a pretty good hammering. I'm n
ot going to go through the magazine reviewing each section because, quite frankly, I find writing and reading stuff like that boring, but if you do buy a copy, be sure to read some stories in the 'Rotten Boroughs' section, some of the antics and sheer incompetence of our local government departments have to be read to be believed! There are some truly startling and revealing stories about the antics of various companies such as Marie Clare (the magazine), Matrix Chambers (of Cherie Booth QC fame) and even the police, although I'm not going to tell you exactly what was revealed, if I had to spend £1.20 on the magazine, you lot can too!

I should direct your attention to 'Funny Old World' which feature some bizarre articles from the world's press, one about lactating mothers' squirting breast milk in a bar being particularly surreal! There are also various other stories and some spoof articles. There are some regular columns, such as 'St Albion Parish News' loosely based on the news of New Labour. I also recognised the well known and popular 'Colemanballs', which if you've never heard of them is a selection of nonsensical quotes, a gem from Suzy Quattro being.. 'In this age of mobile phones, faxes and e-mails, we just don't communicate anymore' very astute, I think you'll agree.

Oh, I forgot to mention a section in the classifieds I found. No, it's not some dodgy escort service, it's a section called 'Eye Need.' There are adverts asking for people to send money, with no goods or services offered in return, one reads 'Lazy Man seeks unearned cash, anything welcome' I mean, the cheek! I don't know if it works, but I'm placing an ad in the next issue to find out! And if you've got any spare cash you wish to contribute, feel free to start the ball rolling!

Overall I must admit to being very impressed by Private Eye. Although of poor quali
ty and only 36 pages, it is packed with content that kept me amused throughout my train journey. I know Ian Hislop can be an annoying and pompous little prat on Have I Got News For You, but he does seem to put together a very good magazine, which is excellent value at only £1.20 every fortnight, If you're not a reader, give it a go, you might find something you like.

Incidentally, if you're interested my train arrived 40 minutes late. Thanks Virgin!

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