Have I lost my sense of humour?

(Sub-Title: Did I ever have a sense of humour – 25 August 2019)

Many of us would struggle to find an agreed definition of a sense of humour, after all we laugh at different things stretching from unalloyed joy at seeing someone slip on a banana skin to a lengthy witty tale by a gifted raconteur; of course, the latter is less in demand in today’s high octane environment and maybe soon such tales will be peppered with abbreviations and/or mojos so the we can all quickly move on to the next stall of life’s County Fair. In my gut I do feel that the ability to laugh at one’s self is an essential component of a true sense of humour but, being a serious-minded person, I have always found that to be something of a challenge.

Such meanderings came to mind as I listened at ‘Omnibus of Essays’ on Radio 4 which, unfortunately but predictably, was repeated on Radio 4 Extra lest the listener missed the alleged wit the first time round. The BBC promoted this programme of Essays with these words: “Clear sighted and witty…….by Rachel Cusk”.  I found little evidence of humour or clarity. The so called Coventry Essay dwelt at considerable length on Brexit and how rude Brexiteers are while Remainers are offering balanced sober arguments in favour of remaining in the EU (cabal?). In particular Ms Cusk focused on how rude the Immigration Service has become of late without any collateral or verifiable evidence, even finding time to criticise one weight challenged official for looking blotchy and unhealthy.  In the round, wit went AWOL and, in line with BBC editorial policy, the essayist was merely given licence to ride her own particular hobby-horse.

So, by the end of her ‘witty’ rant this question arose in my mind:  “Have I lost my sense of humour?” That poser led me on to seek some reassurance that the answer might be ‘No’; so I then listened to alleged comedians at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The first ditty masquerading as a joke was a show stopper! The actor (I can’t bring myself to call him a comedian) offered this: “I went to Paris in my Yaris”. On hearing this rib tickler, the audience collapsed into a paroxysm of laughter.  Mmmm…….stony-faced and with gritted teeth I decided to listen to the next act.

I accept that through perseverance we conquer but it proved to be a serious error of judgment to carry on listening. The next joker offered a running story about his family gathering around the Grandmother’s bed and collectively smothering her before discarding her bones in the garden (the joke being that they forgot to cremate her – Ho Ho). Again, this smorgasbord of dry rot drew convulsions of laughter from the audience.

Thinking on all this brought to mind two other recent fun offerings from the BBC. First, doubtless with a well intentioned desire to achieve equality of the sexes in the field of humour, we were treated to a programme called: Where’s the F in News which was erroneously billed as ‘a lively new show with a female panel taking current events and lifestyle trends as a starting point for a series of fresh and funny challenges. Hosted by Jo Bunti’. For my part the temptation is to describe the show as gruesome or horrendous but I will settle for ‘plain silly’. Sad to say the current successor to the once popular early evening Radio 4 comedy slot is Lobby Land which, the BBC claims, has ‘a unique topical edge’. Lobby Land is as amusing as cramp.

As that serious minded person I am now really worried that my sense of humour has evaporated.