You’re Fried: The Realities of Youth Employment in the West Midlands – Making Serious Issues Engaging: The Power of Comedy

A comic poster made by a youth co-creator showing the struggles of youth employment and judgement experience of the process.  

A blog by youth co-creators

June 2025

The conversation we have captured below took place after a theatre rehearsal where the scenes they had created started taking shape. Weaving together a narrative that follows a young person's rocky journey from unhelpful school careers advice and into the brutal realities of the workplace. 

Yet what really excited everyone was how they had figured out how to make serious issues genuinely engaging. Take their McDonald's scene – the creators themselves called it "chaotic but very entertaining" – where workplace discrimination and dead-end jobs become genuinely funny. Our youth co-creators are showing that serious social issues do not have to be presented in a boring way. 

Youth co-creator 1: I really liked today's session because I like the scenes that we did, like the scene was really funny and I like the shouting and the chaos of it.  

Youth co-creator 2: It shows discrimination everywhere… There are favourites everywhere. There's always going to be favourite students, workers, family members, everything.  

During the conversation, the discussion turned to what they should call their play and how to make sure it would connect with audiences. 

Youth co-creator 1: I would say it should be a funnier title cause the whole play throughout has, like, funny, funny, funny.  

Youth co-creator 3: It's sort of like a sitcom, even though there's comedy, there are still things that are relatable and true.   

Following youth co-creators 3's observation, the group pick a title that lets them keep all the engaging, relatable bits whilst making sure their serious message still gets through. You’re Fried is a play on words on “You’re fired!” (as the protagonist is) but also a hint to low pay jobs in a fast food, while also conveying the young people’s feelings of burnout and limited options available to them. Together, the young people are creating something that is entertaining enough to keep people watching, but meaningful enough to truly matter: age discrimination in hiring, workplace favouritism, rubbish career guidance, and that vicious cycle of low-paying jobs that so many young people get stuck in. 

The laughter isn't just for laughs – it's recognition. When people laugh at that chaotic McDonald's scene or the useless careers adviser, they're connecting with experiences they might have had themselves. This is how the scenes shine a light on the discriminatory practices that young people deal with so often.