Bucharest Life is currently reading a wonderful little book we picked up at (where else) Anthony Frost last week, called Hammer & Tickle: A History of Communism Told Through Communist Jokes, by BBC man Ben Lewis. It is rather good, and we recommend it.
More than a joke book (yet much less than a full history) it is the story not just of how people living in communist societies put a brave face on things by telling jokes, but also of how the majority of communist regimes tried to control humour and – in some cases – simply outlaw it.
Best joke so far (one still, alas, valid in some parts of the country):
“What’s the only thing in Romania colder than the cold water?”
“The hot water.”
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The white book was… “Acum nu e momentul”… the one that you can see in the Evz article… I can’t find it
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Found it! But it’s not that one, it’s another one called “Umor 50%” (roughly translated as “50% comedy”) and it’s written more on social themes rather than political themes.
) I can hardly wait to dig into that one, I already saw a picture of Iliescu on the 2nd page 
)
It’s big and blue, unfortunately I couldn’t find the white one…
And you know what I also found? I found the Academia Catavencu 1995 almanac
@Craig Marvellous. I think I want a mug. If you are ever in there could you see if there is anything suitably cool and I’ll figure out a way to give you the money and get it sent over here
Yessss, I think I have one of his books! Actually two of his books but I lost one of them; it was called “Din lac in put” roughly translated as “jumping from a lake and into a fountain” and it had a suggestive drawing on the cover representing Ceausescu and Iliescu
)
I think I was about 8 or 9 y.o. when I read that book and I still remember its blue cover
And the second book had a white cover but I can’t seem to remember the title. Both of them were cartoon books and now that I remembered I’m going to look for the white book in my bookshelf…
@Geronimo Mihai Stanescu is your man. He has a shop selling t-shirts, mugs etc. with his cartoons opposite Sala Palatului More here http://www.evz.ro/articole/detalii-articol/795730/Mihai-Stanescu-desenandu-si-viata/
Excellent. Just downloaded the three part series. Will find out laughing boy’s name.
If I may be so bold, you can download the episode at http://www.thebox.bz and presumably get his name. There’s another good programme there called ‘The King of Communism’, which is all about Ceausescu and people’s lives under him.
In the recent Lost World of Communism documentary on BBC2, there was a whole section on a satirical cartoonist who was banned under Ceausescu but continued to produce work that the securitate spent their time confiscating and reading themselves. Anyone know who he was and what he is doing now?