Woke Joke

In 1987 I vividly remember Ben Elton as a young(ish) stand-up comedian. His rapid fire, almost aggressive delivery scorched acerbic comedy taking aim at Thatcher, the planet’s ozone layer, rich people, private education, Renault drivers, the British, cat owners, dog owners, the elderly, Americans, lazy students and decapitation on a train to name just a few!

I was a huge fan of stand-up from Robin Williams, Billy Connolly because nothing was off the table to be ridiculed and made into a joke!

At that time I thought Ben Elton was on his way to becoming as good as them.

I was also a TV sitcom fan. Fawlty Towers was already a classic with Basil’s weekly assault on common people, dead guests, Germans, Americans, the hard of hearing, Irish builders, confused colonels to name but a few. John Cleese came from a gang who had managed jokes on controversial topics like the crucifixion, Hitler, stuttering and much more.

My opinion of Ben Elton changed (not immediately) after an appearance on a chat show. He adopted a marked superior tone when he started to disrespect many of the comedians that had gone before him as sexist and infantile. He belittled their use of women and deemed them all as sexist who did not work hard and went for a cheap joke. He announced with a slightly superior tone that he would not do sexist jokes because they were just too easy laughs.

I now look back at recognise that was the beginning of the end for comedy. In that moment, he started an imaginative list of subjects that were off the table.

It used to be the Irish, the Aussies, or the Scots. Lancastrians joked about Yorkshire people and vice versa, northerns joked about Southerners and so forth. There were jokes about blacks, Asians, Americans, rich people, white people, dwarves, poor people, Essex girls, white van men, football teams. There were laughs to be had from fat people, cyclists, churchgoers, stupid people, caravan owners, learner drivers, military, politics…..the topics were limitless and the laughs were plentiful.

Yes, it always played on caricatures and stereotypes of whatever the subject. They were told on stages in from of royalty and presidents alike at it was a comedy act on stage not an in-depth social commentary.

Since when was comedy and seriousness tied together? Now many people just seem to have started taking themselves too seriously and lost the ability to laugh at one another.

I was stunned to hear that comedy shown from decades past on TV streaming services now come with a warning in case it offends someone. Have people really become so over-sensitive? These were shows that used to be broadcast in daytime, long before the watershed.

Woke culture began when the ‘right-on’ comedians of the 80’s bizarrely chose women to be the protected topic. Since then the list has gotten so long that there is nothing left to get a joke from!

Give me Ricky Gervais or Dave Chappelle any day.