On Comedy

Introduction

I can’t write comedy. My friend Bill O’Neill is starting a Comedy Section in the Vocal Social Society but I probably won’t be able to contribute any fiction for two reasons. I find fiction difficult to write and if I do write comedy people will not laugh because it may be too convoluted.

I had to include the song "Comedy" by Liverpool band Shack just because it is such a beautiful song.

A Joke

I have heard some great jokes, and that must be a problem for some comedians, especially stand-up, in this digital age as once a joke has been told that’s it, the cat is out of the bag.

The real talent are the ones who can keep your attention without the punchline, Billy Connoly is an absolute master of this. He will wander off the core subject and return forty five minutes later having thoroughly engaged his audience with his digressions.

My Facebook Friend Dan Freeman has a play called “A Joke” which he did with Sylvester McCoy (second choice for Bilbo in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of The Rings”, “Radagast” in “The Hobbit” and ex Doctor Who) which you can read about here.

He is a very clever and funny guy, when I first saw him in “Mundo Jazz” and they did a take on Lionel Richie’s “Hello” as Halal and that is just one instance. Dan is the one on bongos in the video.

To Be Funny

I do think that comedy is generally the result of intelligent thought. Sometimes accidental occurrences are funny but can they be classed as comedy? When you see something filmed or live you know it has been planned.

Even improvisational comedy needs an intelligent mind; if this is done in a live environment, the comedian must prepare beforehand.

I remember seeing Ross Noble at a pre-tour gig at The Stand in Newcastle and he was on for a couple of hours and I feel that most of it was improvised. But again that is a sign of intelligence and ability but when your audience has never heard of Isembard Kingdom Brunel you have a hill to climb.

A Short Joke

I loved Stephen Wright’s “Voodoo Acupuncture” and Bill Hicks's punchline about Weapons of Mass Destruction. “How Do You Know They Have Them?” *We Got The Receipts”.

This is the thing I can repeat and share others' jokes but I can’t write one myself.

I have written about some friends who do stand up here and they come up with some amazingly funny scenarios, in particular, Gavin Webster’s “Pandas” but I love all of them, you can read about them here and hopeful watch the videos to see how funny these lasses and lads are.

Comedy Music

Of course, we had music hall full of double entendre but there is a lot of modern music that shows genuine comic genius, obviously thinking Dan Freeman and Half Man Half Biscuit with the darkly comic pen of Nigel Blackwell. I mean lines like:

“Help Me Mrs Medlicott

What Am I To Do?

I Only Have Three Bullets

And There’s Four In Motley Crue”

Here are some comic songs with some Dan Freeman and Half Man Half Biscuit in there.

A Comic Conclusion

I do not think I will ever be able to write comedy unless some real-life event presents itself to me on a plate. As I am writing this I am listening to “McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt” by Half Man Half Biscuit and almost every line makes me at least smile.

I once wrote some funny incidents from my teens for a Vocal "Inside Joke" Challenge but that’s as close as I have come.