WE MUST BE JOKING

not overlook the scriptwriters.

Today, comedians are treading on eggshells. It’s not only the more risqué that need to be careful, but the inoffensive as well. This is because there are so many sensitive groups who object to the mildest hint of criticism or discrimination. Is this why they are no longer so funny? Or is it me?

On the other hand, many people today would be outraged by this: Customer: “I’ll have the pissoles and chips.” Waiter: “Sorry?”

Customer shows waiter the menu: “Here; pissoles and chips!”

“That’s not a P, it’s an R.” “Okay, then; arseholes and chips.” And yet the F ­ word is used as frequently on television today as the word ‘never’.

In the past, comedy shows commonly raised their laughs by the way the lines were spoken. In many cases, as long as a poor ‘joke’ was delivered in a Cockney or northern accent, audiences would howl with (canned?) laughter. Today, it seems that a gay accent has the same effect.

More recent popular television comedies included ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys’ while today’s most popular comedian seems to be Michael McIntyre. I rest my case.

On the other hand there used