National Clean Comedy Day

 National Clean Comedy Day

You must remember the good, old fashioned days of comedy which were clean and unblemished by rude words. Then there were the offensive stand up comedians who would shock and appal their audiences with a barrage of blue language and foul mouthed, four letter word expletives that needed neither translation nor explanation. But nobody was ever physically hurt so we didn't bat an eyelid and just laughed. You knew where these chuckle and laugh out loud masters of their trade were going with their crude, satirical, irreverent, demeaning and racially controversial material. They were pushing buttons, unnecessary boundaries, fighting against the Establishment because they were beacons of purity, well mannered and respectable.

Some of us can still hear the dulcet tones of Mary Whitehouse, the clean it up campaigner who tried so desperately to get rid of filth on the TV, radio and any other media outlet who so much as murmured an obscenity. There she was reeling with paroxysms of anger if somebody mentioned something that was even faintly suggestive, crass or insulting. Whitehouse was the one who once stood up at a Women's Institute conference during the 1960s and believed her family had never heard so many vile vulgarities as was the case on the previous evening's TV viewing. What she'd heard, or so we were led to believe, were the groanings and grievances of Scottish soap opera characters. How unforgivable.

And yet still the moral parameters must exist in some corners of British society. For instance the 1960s sitcom Till Death Us Do Part almost wallowed in racist references, the mutterings of a disgruntled man by the name of Alf Garnett(aka Warren Mitchell) who did nothing but complain and whinge. Then there were the political rantings which were hardly worthy of a life sentence in prison but they did antagonise and divide. This of course is where clean comedy finds itself in the public domain today if only as a corrective and antidote to all those sceptics, cynics and trouble makers who keep stirring the pot. But do they? It's an interesting topic for discussion.

Back in the days of seaside innuendo and dark humour the 1960s gave us TV's That Was The Week Was, a weekly reflection on the week's latest news in predominantly politics and then the leading Cabinet figures who almost seemed to invite saucy derision with their every word. That Was The Week Was poked fun at the Establishment almost savagely, making sure that every joke was seasoned with an extra spice jar of bitter, biting and acerbic humour that was deliberately humiliating. 

Now TW3, as it was known at the time, was never considered to be dirty and appallingly nasty on the ear or eye but in its way was almost measured and cruel to be kind. The scripts were beautifully written, the attacks on Harold Wilson, the British Prime Minister at the time, almost relentless and the Labour party in government were cast into the world of fun and caricature that some felt they so richly deserved at the time. Then it was the Profumo scandal which must have felt like all the scriptwriters birthdays had come at once.

So where do we go for a subjective interpretation of clean comedy? We could be biased and bring before us for consideration, firstly Morecambe and Wise and at the same time, the Two Ronnies. Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, two natural comedians who had honed their craft in the music halls of Post War British theatre.  Everybody adored Eric and Ernie because not only they were clean they were also just hilarious, memorably compatible, not gag tellers by any stretch of the imagination but a team who just worked brilliantly on head to head conversations, smiling at each other's appearance, laughing at each other and giggling uncontrollably at the ridiculous absurdities that the world kept stumbling on.

There were the masterful comedy skits, TV celebrities and that unforgettable sketch where Eric and Ern dance around the breakfast table to the music of the Stripper. There was the late Glenda Jackson, a distinguished film actress, Angela Rippon, stylish BBC newsreader and those lovable figures in showbusiness who willingly volunteered their services because they knew what they'd get with Morecambe and Wise. Eric and Ern were so consistently funny and original that it seemed at the time that clean comedy would be here to stay for ever. 

Then there were those other clean as a whistle comedians who were almost pillars of originality and the most straightforward delivery. The Four Candles - Fork Handles sketch set in a haberdashers will now go down into history as an increasingly exasperated Ronnie Corbett threatens to blow up in the face of Ronnie Barker. To this day the Two Ronnies remains etched indelibly in the hearts of the British public and only they can tell us how they managed to keep a straight face. Then there were the plays on words written by Ronnie Barker, who choreographed all of those marvellously grammatical works of art as if it were something that came naturally.

Who will ever forget the famous Mastermind sketch where Ronnie Corbett answers a whole series of questions where the previous answer would be completely out of synch with Ronnie Barker's questions? Or the lesser known funny moment set in an ice cream parlour. Ronnie Corbett would wander into the said ice cream parlour asking for a simple ice cream cone with vanilla and flake - known as a 99- at which point Ronnie Barker would reel off a bizarre list of improbably flavours such as fish and chip crisps, steak and kidney pie crisps or, quite possibly, spaghetti crisps.

Today's bill of clean comedy still has a relevant edge to them. There was the excellent the Good Life with Richard Briers and Felicity Kendall, a clean comedy about a husband and wife who became totally pre-occupied with self sufficiency and home grown vegetables so there is a redemptive feel to clean comedy.  The superbly polished Peter Kay just leaves most of us crying with laughter while some of us just delight in the kind of observational comedy that can never be matched. Your favourite remains Jasper Carrott, a comedian from Birmingham, whose whole act consists of exquisite stories and ingenious observations about life, friends, families and the world around him.

So whatever you do on National Clean Comedy day this is the day for just remembering those side splittingly amusing TV comedies from yesteryear without resorting to a strongly lettered e-mail or letter to the Times or Daily Telegraph. Comedy of any description, remains a fashionable excuse for debate but whatever you do try not to follow in the footsteps of one Mary Whitehouse who got all hot and bothered over nothing in particular. Mind you one look at the current Government at the moment and keeping it clean would be the last thing on anybody's agenda. Still folks, keep laughing, smiling and giggling. It's good for the soul.