funny

Crank up the Benny Hill theme song and let the belly laughs commence.

As President Trump’s summer of immigration raids turns into a fall of occupation, I need some — and who knew his deportation machine could bring them? To watch videos of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in action failing bigly is like watching “Star Wars” Stormtroopers constantly misfiring or bonking their heads despite the full backing of the emperor himself.

Have you seen the one where two masked agents struggle to subdue a Latino male on a lawn while a small dog barks from behind a fence? And when the agents grab onto his T-shirt, he slips out of it, grabs his discarded hat and darts away like Bugs Bunny humiliating Elmer Fudd?

Or what about the reel where a handcuffed white man, evidently a protester, dressed in all-black walks alongside his captors before spinning off them like Saquon Barkley evading a tackler as he disappears into a crowd — but not before a fellow protester filming the scene offers his comrade an enthusiastic back slap?

You can get your jollies with a Dave Chappelle special, or by catching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth trying out his Gen. Patton impression before another group of stone-faced generals, but it’s better to settle on yuks that matter — chortles that provoke as much hope as humor.

It’s a reminder that martial law-hungry Trump’s would-be empire is not all powerful. And that Americans can still snicker in the face of official wrong — and should.

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion,” Kurt Vonnegut supposedly said, adding that he “prefer[ed] to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.”

When you see la migra unable to kick down the front door of a Nicaraguan immigrant at a Fontana apartment just a second after the man shut it in their faces, you just have to giggle at a scenario straight out of the Keystone Kops. And then there’s the viral footage of a food delivery driver on his bike cussing out a phalanx of armed Border Patrol agents in downtown Chicago last month.

“I’m not a U.S. citizen!” the guy yells, daring someone to detain him. Someone finally barks “Get him!” as a bunch of agents feebly give chase; the man pedals away like he’s a Tour de France champion with a peloton hot on his trail. The defeated agents run like they’re wearing concrete boots with skates on them as their quarry makes his escape.

These videos are balm and inspiration for our dark times and they’re even better with a soundtrack — I’ve seen people remix them with jaunty Mexican banda classics such as “La Chona” or “El Sinaloense.” The best ones use “Yakety Sax,” the high-energy romp so many of us Yanks remember as the tune that Benny Hill used when ending his eponymous show with a bunch of people chasing after him after yet another comedic misunderstanding.

Because that’s what all these immigration crackdowns are: sick charades. Armed men grabbing tamale ladies? Tough guys too scared to show their face? Billions of dollars spent on all this? All one can do is laugh at the absurdity of it all to keep from weeping.

Those videos are sadly just a drop in the toxic river of posts showing immigration agents brutalizing migrants and citizens alike that long ago drowned out almost anything else on my social media feeds. That’s why each of those ICE-as-ignoramuses videos is a treasure and why I see so many of my friends share. They bear witness that Trump’s deportation leviathan not only is not invincible, it’s also beatable.

The videos are especially important as a repudiation of one of the Homeland Security Department’s main propaganda planks: use slickly produced clips to glorify la migra as badass avengers with attempts at humor as fundamental to their mission. A recent one consisted of a close-up of one of those vents above your airplane seat that regulates air circulation while the plane’s captain welcomes the viewer to “ICE Air” over the intercom.

“Next time, come to America legally or don’t come at all! Thank you!” the captain announces in a goofy voice.

Cue the “Simpsons” clip of Bart tossing a cake that reads “At Least You Tried” into the garbage.

What Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her writer’s room of revanchists don’t get is that only the worst of the worst ever root for Goliath. That means the joke is on them every time they march through peaceful neighborhoods like “Call of Duty” knockoffs. Scenes like that don’t strike fear in anyone; they just expose the buffoonery behind the bravura. That’s why we need to share anything that captures them flailing around as much as possible.

Humans have laughed at tyrants going back to the days of the ancient Greeks. Yet I’ve also seen some pro-immigrant activists insist now is not the time to laugh, even if it’s at ICE’s expense. To them, Otto Santa Ana says they’re missing out on a valuable tool in the fight for our democracy. He’s a retired UCLA Chicano studies professor who’s working on a book about the history of humor, down to its biology.

“The people who are laughing at ICE are not contrary to the people who are standing on the front lines,” he said. “The mocking allows us to redirect that frustration into something positive. We both laugh at the perpetrator and bond with other people laughing. When it reaches viral levels, we know that our community takes joy in it — and our community needs any joy right now.”

Santa Ana chuckled as I described some of the better videos I’ve seen. He turned me on to more. When I asked whether republishing those clips with ironic songs represented a new front in political humor, he said they reminded him of Martin Luther, the man who sparked the Reformation by calling out the moral and financial rot of the Catholic Church at the time. Part of his strategy was publishing a heretical, hysterical song against the pope based on a German folk tune that ensured people would listen and allow his critiques against the Catholic Church to spread faster and further.

“Today’s videos are just another manifestation that technology can be used to embolden us, to unify us,” Santa Ana said.

“The act shifts the public narrative of ICE from scary and powerful to laughable and weak,” he added. “And the oppressed sense their moral superiority vindicated against an evil.”

He concluded: “The authoritarian feeds on fear and ignorance and when people who can stand up for their rights articulate it humorously, it helps to bring the henchman down.”

You heard the profe, America. Go find the latest ICE Follies, and tell everyone you know!

Keeley Hawes stars in Prime Video’s upcoming thriller series, The Assassin, opposite Freddie Highmore

Keeley Hawes admitted, “I find them funny”, as she made a rare family admission.

The Bodyguard actor is set to star in Prime Video’s upcoming thriller series, The Assassin, which comes from The Tourist writers Harry and Jack Williams.

The six-part drama follows a retired assassin called Julie, played by Keeley, who has made a new life for herself on an idyllic Greek island.

However, when her estranged son, Edward (Freddie Highmore), turns up with questions about his father, Julie’s dangerous past soon catches up with her.

“With questions around Edward’s paternity and Julie’s past life as a hitwoman, the pair go on the run across Europe, working together in a fight for survival,” reads the official synopsis, reports the Express.

“Along the way, their dysfunctional relationship is tested to its limits. They uncover a dark conspiracy they believe to be their only threat, but a greater danger emerges that could destroy their relationship entirely.”

The description concludes: “In a race against time, Julie fights to save Edward and salvage their relationship as past and present collide in a showdown across the globe.”

Alongside Keeley and Freddie, the series also stars Shalom Brune-Franklin, Devon Terrell, Gina Gershon, Jack Davenport, Alan Dale, Richard Dormer and David Dencik.

Speaking to Reach and other press ahead of the show’s premiere, Keeley shared how her real-life parenting experiences helped inform her character Julie’s relationship with her son.

The 49-year-old actor shares 20-year-old daughter Maggie and 18-year-old son Ralph with her husband, Succession actor Matthew Macfadyen, and is also mum to 24-year-old Myles McCallum, whom she shares with her first husband, Spencer.

“I have two sons – three children, two sons… So, I can totally relate to it,” Keeley said.

“What I loved about it is quite often you see relationships on screen and it’s people getting along and they don’t feel particularly real. Whereas, this feels very honest, very authentic.”

Reflecting on her own home life, she added: “You know, you do get p***** off with each other when you have children, and they certainly get p***** off with me. There is quite a lot of sarcasm and my kids, I find them very funny so I really related to this and loved how truthful it felt.”

When discussing Julie and Edward’s dynamic, Keeley noted: “They’re brutal with each other a lot of the time, and those relationships that you have with your children, sometimes they’re the only people that you can be that brutal with, because they can’t get rid of you.

“It doesn’t matter what you say or what they say, so that’s what I took from it that was quite useful for me.”

Keeley went on to reveal that she is “great friends” with her eldest son, which she feels translates into Julie’s layered on-screen relationship with Edward.

“My oldest son is 25 next month… I was young when I had him,” she shared.

“I am his mother, I’m very much his mother but at the same time, we have a relationship that is not like siblings, but we’re great friends as well. And I think something similar has happened there.”

The Assassin will premiere on Prime Video on Friday, July 25

British holidaymakers Mark and Karen Gregory, both 50, are frequent Benidorm-goers and usually opt to stay at apartments – but their accommodation often overlooks major hotel pools

Holidaymakers at a Benidorm hotel have been filmed participating in a frantic “sunbed dash”, where every available lounger is claimed within a staggering three minutes.

Frequent Spain holidaymakers Mark and Karen Gregory, both 50, typically opt for apartment accommodations that often overlook major hotel pools, giving them a front-row seat to the morning mayhem.

During their May trip, the couple from Swansea, Wales, captured multiple instances of sun-hungry Brits racing to secure the best sunbeds. Mark, who runs an online sales business, recounted: “We saw people queuing from first thing – the queues were horrendous! People were properly running in.

“One hotel we did stay in, the pool opened at 8.30am and by 8.33am every bed had a towel on. I think it happens everywhere – just because hotels don’t have as many beds as they do guests.”

Have you witnessed any hotel shenanigans? Email [email protected]

READ MORE: Livid Brits take ‘sunbed wars to a whole new level’ with sneaky 2am tactics

The pair prefer to observe the chaos rather than participate. Mark added: “We don’t partake at all, we just observe. I know it’s a bugbear for a lot of tourists – but we just find it funny.”

Making sure you have a good spot by the pool or beach is serious business. And the stakes are high.

Brits who lay out their towels to reserve a sunbed for hours at a time have been warned they could face hefty fines of up to €250 (approximately £210).

The team at travel insurance comparison site Tiger.co.uk have warned Brits heading on Spain holidays to think twice before laying out a towel on the beach, as it could actually land you facing some hefty extra charges.

They explained: “In popular areas of Spain like Barcelona and Costa Blanca, tourists can now be fined €250 for reserving sunbeds, meaning waking up early to bag a spot for you and the family is no longer allowed. This rule was introduced following numerous complaints about sunbeds being reserved for hours with no one in sight.”

The rules were brought into force last year, in a bid to stop tourists from reserving spots on public beaches with towels and sunbeds, despite then not returning for hours a time – meaning other visitors had to make do with leftover space, causing issues such as fights breaking out, or crowding.

The fines don’t always stop poor behaviour, however.

While having a late-night chinwag on their balcony in Magaluf, Spain, Mandy Boyd spotted some lads she thought were having a cheeky swim in the pool. But upon closer inspection, the 34-year-old realised the young men were trying to nab the best beds at 2am, despite the fact that the pool wasn’t due to open until 9am the next day.

The quartet of girls watched as the lads dragged out their sunloungers to try and secure prime spots. Mandy and her mates patiently waited on the balcony for the perfect moment to dash down and swipe the towels.