ASSESSMENT ASSETS
This page includes all key assets created for the 868P4 Activist Media Practice assessment at the University of Sussex. This project started on the 26th of February 2026 and was stopped on the 2nd of June 2026 for the purpose of grading. Please use the menu on this page to navigate to specific sections. Some sections do include links to other pages on this website, and external sites (Instagram and YouTube). You can also click on the background images to see them in full.
To return to this page, either type in www.quickiecomedy.com/assessment or find this page in the site menu marked "ASSESSMENT ASSETS".
QUICKIE will resume after grading is complete.
- Joe Carrick-Lawson, Student Number: 309713
QUICKIE SYNOPSIS
The Queer Inclusive Comedy Ensemble (abbreviated to QUICKIE) is an online comedy group which aims to:
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make comedy more inclusive and accessible for all skill levels, difficulties, and disabilities
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Comedy, both in physical clubs or online, has many gatekeepers and limitations that mean many people are disadvantaged. There needs to be a way for amateurs to share their content (in any medium) without a ruthless devotion to frequent, low-quality uploads and routines. QUICKIE allows for collaborators to work at their own pace, experiment with ideas, and be anonymous without repercussions.
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devalue queerphobia by destigmatising queer experiences
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With marginalised identities already being politicised, the discussion of everyone’s experiences is vital to destigmatise being queer. By talking (and joking) about facets of our lives, it also devalues hate by providing a coping mechanism and tactic to challenge negative rhetorics through humours remarks.
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create a supportive and decentralised connection between creators and audiences.
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Through a website (and related social media accounts) containing examples of positive queer comedies, resources on the theories and techniques, and open message boards, creators and audiences can share and enjoy various content. This provides a subaltern counterpublic allowing for a safe and monitored discussion of being queer in a light-hearted, not overwhelming or depressing format. There are also links to all the creators’ own channels to create a web of people working together in the QUICKIE assemblage.
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For more information on the reasons for these aims, and the attempts to achieve them, please read the reflective essay.
Ethics and Documents
With the vulnerable nature of queer identities, a strong commitment to feminist ethical practices has to be incorporated. Queer people are labelled as a special category group in ethics, and this identity can not be avoided as it is at the forefront of the projects.
Due to this being public on social media, anyone can comment on posts shared. Therefore, if negative, rude, or hateful remarks are stated, the participants may feel stressed, upset, or humiliated. Furthermore, if participants decide to use an identifiable name, or provide links to other pages they have created, this further allows negative comments to their other sites or personal accounts. To mitigate this, comments will have a filter on them removing any message that contains slurs, words often used in hate speech, and negativity. This will be updated as words are noticed. If posts become overrun, comments can be turned off. However, I will not do this originally as it also allows for a space for positivity and support. It will also be recommended that no personal accounts should be linked, and no full names provided on the site either. This aims to contain negative comments within accounts linked to creator's public lives only (not their private ones).
All participants have been made aware of the risks, and consented with the informed knowledge that QUICKIE can not guarantee complete protection. If someone is likely to be hurt due to their sensitivity to topics, it is recommended they do not participate. They also have the option to withdraw, have all posts deleted, and/or a check-up from myself with relevant material (such as those from the NHS website or trusted mental health charities such as Mind).
A design form was also provided to allow the participant a lot of control on how their project would be presented (specific pride flags, logos, bios etc.).
The ethics and rules are available on a specific page, in the "Join Us" page, and interlaced in the FAQs. In summary, the rules for content creation are:
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Don't Joke About It Unless You Are It
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Never "punch down", instead use your own experiences
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No Triggering Content
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Sensitive themes are difficult to navigate, so should be only be done with care. This care extends to queerphobia (although that theme is allowed due to the nature of this groups aims)
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Be an Activist, Not a Narcissist
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The primary goal should be about sharing messages and helping others, then your own personal goals of increasing your engagement and audience.
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Speak with the Community, Not for the Community
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Never state ideas as facts or use deterministic/naturalistic ideologies and stereotypes
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Have a Queer Theme
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Not every joke has to be queer, but the overall idea or topic must have queerness embedded throughout.
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Be You
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Don't plagiarise, instead be creative and free
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The key ethical clarifications are:
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Be aware you can choose to be anonymous
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Be aware we can not guarantee complete protection from harm
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Be aware you have the right to withdraw at any time
Consent Info and Forms
Full Ethical Considerations For Inclusion of Partcipants in An Assessment Document
The InstagRam
The Instagram's purpose was to provide the zero and first moment of truth to potential audiences. It utilises weekly posts, hashtags, and various content to maintain engagement. It is maintained via the Meta Business Suite, allowing schedule management and demographic insights.
To make the account appealing and accessible, each post and thumbnail had a uniform border, clear headings, and colour coding to indicate the type of post. These are:
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White/Grey - General Information
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Red - Written Submission (Poems, Stories, Scripts)
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Orange - Example Queer Comedy
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Yellow - Miscellaneous or Mixed Media
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Green - Audio Submission (Song, Podcast, Speech)
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Blue - Visual Submission (Art, Photos, Comics)
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Purple - Audio-Visual Submission (Short and Long Form Videos)
This contrasts the use of the same meme, figure, or generic screenshots featured on many accounts (as either a lack of consideration or a tactic to force engagement via scrolling each individual post to find a specific one)
The most frequent post was the "What to Whatever Wednesday" weekly series, which highlighted an example of positive queer comedy. This is texts that do not heteronormalize, disrespect, or undermine queer experiences, while still having genuine humour. The intent of this series is to firstly celebrate the texts that already fulfil QUICKIE's ethos, and secondly provide inspiration for how comedy (including satire and dark comedy) can be done tastefully in various media forms.
The Website
The website contains most of the various content produced for this assessment. The aim was to create a participatory culture and subaltern counterpublic, situated in one accessible space, all relating to the production and enjoyment of queer comedy. In this regard, the main pages are as follows:
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Home
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Contains links to various areas of QUICKIE and an overview of aims and values
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Explains what QUICKIE is, the benefits, and the accessibility manifesto that underpins the project
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All the collaborators and links to their work
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Discussions of queer comedy theories and techniques, with relevant citations presented in an informal way
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Upcoming events from the community
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Mainly for the creation of content
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Information on how to submit content to be featured on the platform, or join a public message board to share ideas and try out jokes
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Monitored message boards for people to share ideas without negative backlash
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General questions that may need clarifying
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Many principles have been incorporated to make it accessible and engaging. For example, each section is highlighted in a new colour, making it easier to remember the part you are on. The colours still have a high contrast to help with readability and colour-blindness. The language used throughout is informal but not demeaning, allowing the resources to be understood but not overly simplified. Each image also has alt text, and the pages are optimised for phone screens as well with large text as the default. It is navigable by multiple buttons, linked words, and menus located in the header and footer. Overall, the website does not feel boring or repetitive (which will be further enhanced through the planned addition of more images, background graphics, and videos).
Stickers and AdVertising
Aside from the hope of passive, native advertising through social media posts appearing on people's feeds, the group was also advertised in person. This includes at a queer night club, the Sussex LGBTQ+ Society, queer themed lectures, Queer Friendly Improv Brighton, and during my various Mr. Jerkoffman performances.
Along with word of mouth, stickers were also distributed which includes the comedic slogan "Join Us For A Quickie" with the social media handle (@quickie_queer.comedy) or website URL (quickiecomedy.com) underneath. The statement is purposely vague to induce interest, but the themes should be made apparent via the inclusion of a pride flag background and the prominence of the word "comedy" in the links. This is for both the person given the sticker, and for anyone else that sees the sticker on their person.
Overall, 315 stickers were created, of which 105 were sent to a collaborator to distribute in their home county. I individually handed out approximately 125 of the remaining stickers, along with a short synopsis of QUICKIE said to each person.
Disappointingly, engagement was not as high as I had hoped. Currently, the Instagram has 45 followers. The social media handle was the most prevalent sticker distributed, so I had hoped the non-committal aspect of following would be the easiest way to gain engagement. Evidently, this was not the case. This may be due to the temporality of stickers (being binned after worn on clothes), legibility issues, forgetfulness, and people only accepting the stickers as a kind formality.
To increase marketing, more posts need to be created showcasing more content. Posters could also be distributed to queer businesses (something I did not have the rapport for in the duration of the project). Flyposting, while being illegal, is also an option. Although, ethically this would not be done in private areas (such as shops, pubs, and clubs) and would be done in public areas with biodegradable materials.
The Stickers
"RACE" Graph
Using the RACE framing by Dave Chaffey, this graph shows the expected progress of engagement. Green points were completed, orange were done to a minimal extent, and red were not done at all. Progress will continue to be made.
Click the image to Expand
Mr. Jerkoffman
As part of QUICKIE, I made a new project with the aim of devaluing queerphobia. Using Wedderburn's notion of "the parodic parasite", I took advantage of my privilege in being White, middle-class, and male to embody a right-wing influencer called "Mr. Jerkoffman" (a purposefully cringey name). It was inspired by Turning Point and Restore Britain demonstrations, conversations with friends of Nigel Farage, and satirical content creators (such as Munya Chawawa and Adam Brichto). Similar to the public rage bait debates prevelant with these groups, I held signs with absurdist, prejudice claims captioned with the statement "Change My Mind". The intent was to show how idiotic and hypocritical these people sound through exaggeration, and to educate people that any interaction with them is effectively helping them (as they will edit it to make you seem like a fool).
In total, I did four performances:
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"Hugh Grant is Hotter than Colin Firth" - University of Sussex Campus (01/05/26)
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"Wearing Skinny Jeans Does Not Mean I Am Gay" (Filming) - Stanmer Park (16/05/26)
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"It is a Disgrace That We Import 2/3rds of Our Cheese" - Biggin Hill Opposite the Waitrose (23/05/26)
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"Wearing Skinny Jeans Does Not Mean I Am Gay" - George IV Monument, Brighton (25/05/26)
Success was limited due to a lack of interactions, the short time to make the statement to passersby without harassing them, and the misinterpretation of the satire being a genuine stance. This is explored further in the reflective essay.
A longer video (approximately 5 minutes long) was filmed on the same day as the short video. It has been half edited but was not completed as other aspects were prioritised. It will probably be uploaded to my personal channel ("Satin Squares") soon.
Overview and Risk Assessment of Project: Young Knob (AKA Mr. Jerkoffman)
Collaborations
The images shown here are not my work, but are the creations made by people for QUICKIE (all of their consent forms are in the .zip folder). More collaborations are already planned for the future (from these people and new people) but it has been difficult for people to make content. This reaffirms the reason for QUICKIE being accessible, inclusive, and supportive. Disability and mental health struggles in my life and in their own has inhibited some ideas. However, as the QUICKIE ethos clarifies, it is better to not rush creation as that leads to an unenjoyable and stressful process and a sub-optimal result. This section is thus testament to the achieving of this goal, as these projects would have either not been made or received limited engagement otherwise. Whilst QUICKIE is not creating many impressions at the moment, each new collaborator does cause a small rise as more posts are made. Overall, in all cases, progress is being made.
Future Direction
Despite a currently low impact and engagement, I believe this project has potential to continue and expand. As noted, more collaborators are joining and creating content (which should snowball the impressions via social media). Furthermore, as more web pages are added, there are more ways to find QUICKIE via search engines.
Some specific future plans is a weekly mock newspaper called "The QUICKIE on Sunday", which will feature satirical articles akin to The Onion or The Daily Tism, and a humorous Agony Aunt section run by another collaborator. There will also be themed weeks to encourage more creations using this non-committal deadline (missing the cut-off just means your work may be featured in a non-themed week). Currently this is planned to coincide with various visibility and awareness days, but to avoid "slacktivism" more needs to be included aside from prioritising amateur creators' and specific group's comedic voice. Finally, along with expanding the resource section, I am still in talks with the LGBTQ+ society and Queer Friendly improv regarding their assistance in making resources and collaborative events (such as an open-mic or workshop about the ethics of comedy). This is still very much in its infancy, and will likely occur after September.
