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The Forum > Article Comments > And now for something completely different... > Comments

And now for something completely different... : Comments

By Russell Grenning, published 5/7/2018

Stop me if you've heard this one...a BBC executive with the marvellously Orwellian title of Controller of Comedy Commissioning walked into this newspaper interview.

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//So comedy is dead, because the old type of comedy (the kind we actually used to laugh at) is either no longer politically correct, or considered too sensitive for the immigrants swamping us to cope with?//

I dunno, mate. I don't know what kind of comedy you like. 'The kind we used to laugh at' isn't very specific. But since the article referenced Monty Python's Flying Circus, and I naturally assume everybody loves Monty Python as much as I do (more than life itself; Monty Python was the finest comedy group the world will ever see) I guess by the 'old type of comedy' you mean absurd sketch comedy.

And I'm totally with you. Sketch comedy done well is the best form of comedy. And it's been ages since we had a good sketch show on the telly - the last one that springs to mind is 'That Mitchell & Webb Look'. The BBC do seem to be mostly churning out sitcoms at the moment, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Some of their finest comedies - Fawlty Towers, Only Fools & Horses, Blackadder, The Young Ones, Red Dwarf - are sitcoms.

And along with all the poor-to-average sitcoms come some quite decent ones. 'Upstart Crow' has been quite good - a Ben Elton effort, and quite Blackadder-esque. It doesn't quite compare to the brilliance of his earlier work, but David Mitchell makes a fine bard and there are plenty of laughs to be had. Also worth checking out is 'Back', also starring David Mitchell. The humour can be a little dark and it's definitely not PC, so maybe not for everybody's tastes. But I thought it was a scream.
Posted by Toni Lavis, Thursday, 5 July 2018 8:25:22 PM
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A good place to keep your ear to the ground, as it were, is BBC Radio 4. I started tuning in online a few years back because they often replay the classic radio comedies I enjoyed as a lad, like 'I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again' and 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. Most of the great sketch shows of the last 20-ish years have had their genesis on Radio 4 before they jumped to TV - The League of Gentleman, Little Britain and Mitchell & Webb were all radio programs before moving to the small screen.

For the last few years Radio 4 has been host to one of the funniest sketch comedies I've heard/seen in years. It's called 'John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme', and I really wish somebody would hurry up and give John Finnemore a TV slot. Lord knows he deserves one. And those who are more concerned about the identity politics of their comedians than whether or not their jokes are funny will be pleased to know that all the cast of the show are white, although some are women. As to whether or not the jokes are funny, I'll let you be the judge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbk4lmrdF8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX4KuEAYIYY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LHkN6fmY6A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sgWqiXvtN0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIEAWN45CN8&index=7&list=RDfkZMYtic9FY
Posted by Toni Lavis, Thursday, 5 July 2018 8:26:03 PM
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If you want to have a good laugh these days you turn off the TV & go to the Pub & listen to some good old swearing, cursing, non-PC jokes & general face to face interaction which is just plain old socialising that the Socialists abhore.
Posted by individual, Sunday, 8 July 2018 7:48:29 AM
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//If you want to have a good laugh these days you turn off the TV & go to the Pub & listen to some good old swearing, cursing, non-PC jokes & general face to face interaction which is just plain old socialising that the Socialists abhore.//

Lefties don't go to the pub? O.... kay.

Well that's definitely a new one. Sometimes I wonder where people get the strange ideas from. If you really think there are no lefties down the pub, I think it's probably time you burst your bubble and spent some time in the real world. Lefties are not aliens from the planet Teetotal, nor are they joyless puritans. They like a cold beer and a game of pool as much as the next man (even though I am remarkably crap at the game).
Posted by Toni Lavis, Sunday, 8 July 2018 10:16:48 AM
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Got a good laugh many years ago in a pub where two locals one white the other black were having a good old yarn. As was their habit when another shout was due one said to the other "it's time you shouted a drink you black or white b.....d, depending whose turn it was.
Well, one day a tourist mob rolled up & an older white woman overheard one such exchange & she turned to the white bloke & said " that's disgusting & racist", upon which the black fellow turned to her & said "mind your own business you silly cow".
Just pure Gold.
Posted by individual, Sunday, 8 July 2018 12:15:43 PM
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Individual, brilliant. That's the kind of comradery and piss take I grew up with.
Being a wog in a world of skips', initially, then came the abo's, the spinks, the chinks, you get my drift.
Our circle of friends were from ALL backgrounds, cultures and creeds.
We did not see what 'others' saw.
We were just all mates, and some still are today.
These 'names' people find offensive today, I find offensive that I get called out on using them.
These names/words are part of MY life and I will attack anyone who has the audacity and arrogance to confront me about using them.
Anyone of my generation of ANY race, will know what I'm talking about and think back with fond memories of all the piss-take and name calling.
They were terms of endearment, not slurs.
The person trying to call out the one seemingly being racist, has shown their hand by chastising the whitey for his apparent racial slur.
I have to put all the pansy arsed PC halfwits in their place at this time, by saying; If you see two or more people 'slagging off' at each other, with smiles on their faces, or better still, laughing, just shut the f@(k up and move on and go tear up your PC book.
You are not part of that interaction, so it is none of your business.
Had they been exhibiting anger and even gotten physical, it's still none of her business.
She has no idea what led to this fracas.
She is the one who has shown herself to be the racist by speaking out.
If your not a racist you don't comment.
Oh, how I miss the comedy of old.
I was shocked (pleasantly) recently when 'Kingswood country' was back on air.
Being a wog I loved the slagging off he used to give his wog son-in-law.
The reason I was shocked is because the poofters and the nany's have taken control of our speech and this show was, 'absolutely un-acceptable' by their regressive standards.
I enjoyed the show till, all of a sudden, gone!
Posted by ALTRAV, Sunday, 8 July 2018 2:14:09 PM
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