London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

Berlusconi: The musical is real but phone calls from Macron might not be

Berlusconi: The musical is real but phone calls from Macron might not be

The Polish president fell victim to a prank call (not for the first time).

If I was to tell you that early next year you could go to London and watch a musical based on the life, loves and litigations of Silvio Berlusconi that features songs such as “Bunga Bunga” and “My Weekend With Vladimir,” you would, quite rightly, assume that the annual who-can-drink-the-most-sherry-in-a-minute competition at POLITICO Towers had been held earlier than usual.

But it’s true. The musical — simply titled “Berlusconi” and described by its producer as like “Evita on acid” — is coming to the stage in London in March 2023.

Berlusconi once played a practical joke — and the word joke is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence — on Angela Merkel, jumping out from behind a monument and shouting “cuckoo” at the then-German chancellor during a summit in Trieste to discuss the economic crisis.

Pranksters are, as we all know, juvenile. But when they take aim at politicians, it can be revealing.

Russian comedians Vovan and Lexus managed to get hold of Polish President Andrzej Duda on the day a missile landed in Poland and pretended to be France’s Emmanuel Macron. In Duda’s defense, he must have been under such stress at the time that he didn’t spot the terrible French accent of the pretend Macron. The Polish president should, however, have been wary as the same pranksters tricked him in 2020 by pretending to be United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres (and got Duda to admit that Donald Trump hadn’t called to congratulate him on his recent election victory).

Speaking of the former (and probably next) U.S. president, in 2019 Boris Johnson revealed that Trump tried to call him during a trip to the U.K. and Johnson hung up because he — incorrectly, it turns out — thought it was a prank (the call, not the Trump presidency, which was one giant prank on the world).

But the greatest success for pranksters can come when the victim knows of the person they are supposed to be talking to, but doesn’t know enough about them to realize they are been tricked. That’s why a series of pranks involving a fake Armenian prime minister were so successful for Vovan and Lexus.

In 2018, that man Johnson again held an 18-minute phone conversation with someone whom he believed to be Nikol Pashinyan (although as it was Johnson, at least half of that time was probably “errr” and “ahhhh”). The following year, the same jokesters got hold of Jean-Claude Juncker and Federica Mogherini (then president of European Commission and EU foreign policy chief, respectively). Presumably all of this fakery made it very hard for the actual Pashinyan to speak to any senior politicians, as everyone assumed it was a prankster.

COMPETITION



“You must be this week’s prime minister.”

Can you do better? Email pdallison@politico.eu or on Twitter @pdallisonesque

Last time we gave you this photo:



Thanks for all the entries. Here’s the best from our postbag — there’s no prize except for the gift of laughter, which I think we can all agree is far more valuable than cash or booze.

“See, it’s lonely at the top,” by Ivan Declercq.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
Italy Faces Population Decline Amid Youth Emigration
U.S. Goods Imports Plunge Nearly 20% Amid Tariff Disruptions
OpenAI Faces Competition from Cheaper AI Rivals
Foreign Tax Provision in U.S. Budget Bill Alarms Investors
Trump Accuses China of Violating Trade Agreement
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Against BBC
Russia Accuses Serbia of Supplying Arms to Ukraine
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
Chinese Woman Dies After Being Forced to Visit Bank Despite Critical Illness
President Trump Grants Full Pardons to Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act Mandating Age Verification
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Vatican Calls for Sustainable Tourism in 2025 Message
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on iPhones Amid Dispute with Apple CEO
Putin's Helicopter Reportedly Targeted by Ukrainian Drones
Liverpool Car Ramming Incident Leaves Multiple Injured
Australia Faces Immigration Debate Following Labor Party Victory
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
Macron Dismisses Viral Video of Wife's Gesture as Playful Banter
Cleveland Clinic Study Questions Effectiveness of Recent Flu Vaccine
Netanyahu Accuses Starmer of Siding with Hamas
Junior Doctors Threaten Strike Over 4% Pay Offer
×