Are we losing our great British sense of humour because of PC?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....s-killing-comedy.html

'Del-Boy' seems to think so,

/// 'We have to be so careful nowadays, we have lost a lot of humour because people are too frightened of getting too near touchy subjects.' ///

I know the feeling Del.

[mike11111]

The idea that the Great British sense of humour has been lost is simply silly. The creation of The English Defence League alone gives the lie to that canard.

[craft1948]

A great example of British humour is Fascinating Aida.............

[woofgang]

setting aside the great british sense of humour discussion, I do think its disingenuous to link David Jason's comments with an unpleasant personal attack on a named individual.

[knockavacca]

"alan partridge funny" give me a break, bring back "alf garnet" i say

[emmie]

i confess that i don't think David jason is right, but for me much of what passes for comedy these days isn't funny. If taking the pee out of the disabled, mentally handicapped and so forth is, then I would rather watch repeats of dads army till the cows come home. I am rarely offended by what's on offer, but couldn't find anything to like in Russell Brand, add in Frankie Boyle, who uses shock tactics to get laughs, once funny in Mock the Week, but his last series was dire. and profanity is used instead of intelligent sharp witticism. Either that you are faced with the dire My Family, so perhaps somewhere in the middle there might be something that is edgy, but won't be completely offensive. Perhaps he is disgruntled
because his last outing was panned.

[emmie]

craft, now that i completely agree with, they are funny, and quite rude, but not sure they would get away with it on TV?

[joko]

i think british comedy is actually BETTER for all the PC issues nowadays

simple reason is that comedians can no longer just rely on lazy stereotyping and generally just being as rude and offensive as possible to as many minorities as possible that used to make up th bulk of their acts. churning out tired cliches aand all the usual garbage simply doesnt work any more

now they must actually think up clever genuinely funny jokes etc.
the odd un-pc thing is usually clever and well thought out rather than just a lazy tirade.

[emmie]

you clearly haven't watch My Family, that uses just about every cliché in the book. It's off air now, hope it stays that way.

[joko]

thats my point em...

it used them...and people generally didnt find it funny.

by cliches, i meant racist, homophobic, bigoted etc ones... not just cliches in general

we expect a lot more thought from comedy these days

[emmie]

joko, sadly we don't usually get it. I cannot abide at any time of day or night Ricky Gervais, he has me reaching for the nearest weapon..

[FredPuli43]

Still wondering what programme is more un-PC than Little Britain, and which would make the hair of anyone on here stand on end. We like quizzes on here. Is it recent? Is Zimbabwe a clue? Is it Rising Damp? No, probably not; the racial stereotyping by Rigsby was one of the character's features which made him such a fine comic creation. Any guesses?

[sp1814]

I reject the assertion the British comedy has suffered because of political correctness. It simply doesn't hold water.

Our three biggest stand up comedians show the breadth of rich comedy we have...

Michael McIntyre - not my cup of tea, but very family-friendly.
Ricky Gervais - the comedian who kills the argument that PC controls comedy stone dead
Peter Kaye - genius in an 'old school' kind of way. He who can make jokes about biscuits is alright by mr.

AOG - the programmes I have mentioned are all pretty popular.

[jno]

as others have said, the country is awash with non-PC comedy.

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross, for instance. I expect you loved their routine.

[ludwig]

// we have lost a lot of humour because people are too frightened of getting too near touchy subjects //

This is clearly nonsense.

[237SJ]

We`re not losing our great British sense of humour but we are afraid of expressing it IMO.

[sp1814]

237SJ

You don't watch much comedy, do you?

[FredPuli43]

237SJ, you appear to be thinking of the "great British sense of humour" as that which amuses you but which is not found funny, or is rejected or deplored, by audiences today. Is that what you have in mind when you say people are afraid to express it ? Otherwise, what do you mean by your post? Is there a programme, a joke, a comedian's routine,or anything, which represents, or represented, a sample of that inexpressible humour? Which?

[237SJ]

Sorry Fred and sp. I`m not talking about TV of which I don`t watch much I admit (I`m not here a lot of the time to watch it). I was referring to the real world in my post. In the workplace can we express our humour? Absolutely not. I work in a very multi-cultural environment and for a company that is very PC. People have been sacked for making jokes that are seen as "offensive" by some. There was a court case going on recently regarding the unfair dismissal of one of my colleages due to a publication he released. The judge said "This is a culture that thrives in brutal satire". Do we thrive on brutal satire? You betcha. We can`t express it though (well we do on the quiet when we know who we can get away with it). And as far as TV is concerned sp - yes I do watch comedy but not the boring, bland stuff.

[237SJ]

Where have you gone? I was looking forward to a response to my last post

[sp1814]

237SJ

It's unfortunate that you work in an environment like that. I do too, but I make sure that the jokes me and my colleagues say remain between me and my colleagues.

We will fling gay jokes, race (including white) jokes, paedophile jokes...basically anything goes.

However it's a case of 'Know your audience'.