GSH

Its been a while since I read the personal columns, but if my recollection serves me correctly the required specification, along with tall dark, handsome and no strings attached, will also include the obligatory 'GSH'. So what is a Good sense of humour? As we know humour is many things to many people, ranging from the school boy humour of fart jokes to the more subtle and clever word play, that the English language lends itself towards so appropriately.

What is on my mind at the moment though is what is affectionately known as black humour. This is a genre that I am quite fond of and I am certainly not beyond exploiting from time to time. Have I ever told or laughed at a joke about Alzheimer's? Yes I have, and I know that it is important to pick your audience. As anyone telling a joke knows, timing is everything and it is this timing and appropriateness that has brought this to my attention.

I was at work the other day having a serious conversation with a couple of people about epilepsy, particularly serious as one of the group was telling us about his sister who suffers from the disease. In comes party number four, a woman who none of us know particularly well and who knows us in the same way, and she launches straight into an 'epileptic joke'. Firstly it wasn't particularly funny, and secondly she didn't establish the level of the conversation. This is woman who is loud, bubbly, boisterous and could generally be relied upon to have a good time and provide entertainment, and yet she missed the mark big time. In one sentence she alienated herself in our collective esteems within a matter of seconds. Does she have a good sense of humour, I am sure she does, and I am sure that in different circumstances she would have been viewed in a completely different light.

This story was reiterated in the news the other day where it was reported that Frankie Boyle had his entire routine cut out of the Comic Relief broadcast for his 'bad taste' jokes about Kate Middleton, the Queen, Oscar Pistorius and the Pope. I don't have any sympathy for him as I just don't like Frankie Boyle's humour as I find he resorts to racism and bad taste to raise a snigger, a snigger that this time has been turned against him. Because of my view on his humour I personally wouldn't go to one of his shows. In the Comic Relief situation he probably found himself in front of an audience of people who came to see a variety of performers and like me possibly wouldn't seek him out to watch, as indeed some of the other comedians performing. Therefore I am a little incredulous that a seasoned performer such as Frankie would not have the experience or ability to 'read' the audience and know when to tone it down. Instead he ploughed on riding the wave of his own ego and successfully alienated himself from his audience, his future bread and butter.

What am I trying to say? Both of these stories come down to the basic rule of establishing your audience, as you just don't know who you are talking to. You don't know their background, their story, or what they have been through in their lives. It is a requirement of society that we need to consider the feelings of the people around us, think about who we are talking to, but if you still insist on putting your foot in your mouth, please take your boots off first.