Breakfast with a Red Nose

[Panjandrum]

You know, I have a veritable arsenal of moderately witty rejoinders I could deploy at this point, but as I'm imagining a stone-faced French Frank glaring at me from across the room--arms crossed, eyebrow raised-- I'd better leave that one alone.

Oh go on. I think FF has more of a SOH than you give her credit for.

For what it's worth, I found the trailers every bit as excruciating as you must have, so perhaps we should both agree to be happy it's over and leave it at that.

[amateur51]

Having a stick thrust up one's backside might be your idea of a good time, and some others on this board (no names, no packdrill) but it is assuredly not mine!

Panjandrum, judging by your recent posts on this thread, I doubt that you'd spot a good time even if it sat and your face & offered you a chocolate hobknob.

I'm all the way with Euda on this one! The Kids done well & let's hope they come back for more. £74m raised 'on the night' according to BBC News

[Panjandrum]

Panjandrum, judging by your recent posts on this thread, I doubt that you'd spot a good time even if it sat and your face & offered you a chocolate hobknob.

Doesn't sound like much fun to me but each to his own. BTW good to see you still considering the "reputational issues" of the forum!

I'm all the way with Euda on this one! The Kids done well & let's hope they come back for more. £74m raised 'on the night' according to BBC News

Gave much yourself did you Am51?

[french frank]

I'm imagining a stone-faced French Frank glaring at me from across the room--arms crossed, eyebrow raised-- I'd better leave that one alone. .

Oh go on. I think FF has more of a SOH than you give her credit for.

I dunno, Panjanders - You know when they ask people to give three adjectives that sum them up? I'd say for me:

Most inappropriate: bubbly, fun-loving, extrovert
Most appropriate: dogged, cold and, hmmmm, hapless, maybe?



I've contrived to miss Red Nose Day completely. Euda may have me not entirely wrong - I do find 'comedy' almost 100% unfunny and having to sit through it a miserable experience. The idea that 'everyone loves comedy' is horribly, horribly mistaken. Humour - that's different. Being able to see the funny side of things which didn't seem at all funny at the time is a particularly useful characteristic

[amateur51]

I've always felt that matters of personal charitable giving should be private, not for impertinent public display Panjandrum. In addition I worked for Comic Relief for a number of years and 'gave' far more than you could imagine

[amateur51]

I do find 'comedy' almost 100% unfunny and having to sit through it a miserable experience. The idea that 'everyone loves comedy' is horribly, horribly mistaken. Humour - that's different. Being able to see the funny side of things which didn't seem at all funny at the time is a particularly useful characteristic

I agree, french frank.

Alfred Brendel used to cite 'unintentional humour' as one of his enthusiasms - I like that

[salymap]

Humour is a very personal thing and I largely agree with FF and Am51. My late partner took me to see Victor Borge, [of whom I had previously never heard!]. It was a birthday surprise, but I found him very unfunny and it led to a rather fraught weekend away.Oh dear, I did try to like him.

[french frank]

Thinking about it, I wonder if there's a difference between 'artificial humour' - invented for the purpose of making people laugh, to amuse, to entertain and 'incidental humour' - including Brendel's unintentional humour.

I'm not a 'laugh out loud' person but there are certain aspects about life and people that make me smile, and when writers capture that, they amuse. But it comes under 'incidental humour', true to reality. Comedy can do that too but for me it makes too much of it, blows it up too big, has no other purpose than to make people laugh - and laugh loudly.

That's where Euda was right: before a stand-up comic, I (as it were) glare, arms folded, saying, 'Go on then - make me laugh', and scowling all the way through. Whereas a little spark of incidental humour ... I noted a few lines from The Chalk Garden (I've forgotten them now) which amused me, but might very well leave a comedy enthusiast cold. Yes, humour is personal and diverse. I feel R3 is battering people with someone else's sense of humour.

[Nick Armstrong]

I think amateur51 and I (and countless others) agree that the extremely intentional humour of P.G. Wodehouse can raise smiles, chortles and out-loud laughter. It all depends how well it's done, and of course what tickles each individual funny bone.

[mercia]

I'm ashamed to say some of Tim Vine's corny one-liners did make me chortle last night:

"all the proceeds from tonight's show go towards a free car ...... sorry that should be A-fri-ca"

of a brass player "when he plays that note his leg trembles slightly, it's called Deep Vein Trombonist"

"my favourite composer is Handel, who later teamed up with Hinge & Bracket to form The Doors"

"my father is a soldier, not a real soldier, just a thin strip of buttered toast"

"I'm helping a one-armed typist whenever she needs to do capital letters .... it's shift work"

(I guess you had to be there)

[Nick Armstrong]

I'm ashamed to say some of Tim Vine's corny one-liners did make me chortle last night:

"all the proceeds from tonight's show go towards a free car ...... sorry that should be A-fri-ca"

of a brass player "when he plays that note his leg trembles slightly, it's called Deep Vein Trombonist"

"my favourite composer is Handel, who later teamed up with Hinge & Bracket to form The Doors"

"my father is a soldier, not a real soldier, just a thin strip of buttered toast"

"I'm helping a one-armed typist whenever she needs to do capital letters .... it's shift work"

(I guess you had to be there)

No, hercule - those are all good (almost all - the 'buttered toast' line is a bit weak). What programme were they on?

[mercia]

What programme were they on?

the 7pm Big Red Nose Show, Tim Vine was approx 20 minutes in from the start (Radio 3 that is)

[Eudaimonia]

Sorry--I wasn't trying to knock FF's sense of humour; I was merely pointing out that I was censoring myself so she didn't have to. As far as I'm concerned, any line of conversation involving sticks, backsides, face-sitting, hobnobs, and my idea of a good time is a disaster waiting to happen. Trust me, you really don't want to go there. Anyway, all the naughty children around here should remember Salymap is a fine lady and shouldn't be expected to put up with any of our vulgar nonsense. Straighten up now, the grown-ups are listening!!

Besides, it's a little hard to muster up the will to blast Panjandrum about his take on Red Nose Day when I have to admit he has a point.

I'm not a 'laugh out loud' person but there are certain aspects about life and people that make me smile, and when writers capture that, they amuse. But it comes under 'incidental humour', true to reality. Comedy can do that too but for me it makes too much of it, blows it up too big, has no other purpose than to make people laugh - and laugh loudly.

Well, there are many different kinds of humour: satire, farce, black comedy, put-downs, surreal humour, etc. Who can blame you for liking intellectual humour while bawdy comedy and slapstick leaves you flat? By way of contrast, I loved "My Music" and "My Word"...too bad that kind of subtlety is hard to find these days.

It sounds to me like you'd fully agree with Schopenhauer...he was quite adamant that true humour is worlds apart from cheap and frivolous vulgarity. Here's an essay about how he conceptualized "the ludicrous", wit, folly, parody, and irony:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb1364/is_1_88/ai_n29236034/pg_8/

That's where Euda was right: before a stand-up comic, I (as it were) glare, arms folded, saying, 'Go on then - make me laugh', and scowling all the way through. Whereas a little spark of incidental humour ... I noted a few lines from The Chalk Garden (I've forgotten them now) which amused me, but might very well leave a comedy enthusiast cold.

There were lots of funny moments--I laughed out loud at "she's so overloaded with sex she positively sparkles".

Being able to see the funny side of things which didn't seem at all funny at the time is a particularly useful characteristic.

Agreed. It's even better if you can learn to laugh about your plight while things are painful, since seeing through to the kernel of ridiculousness at the heart of things helps you keep a healthier sense of perspective. "Tutto nel mondo e burla, l`uomo e nato burlone".

[Frances_iom]

...too bad that kind of subtlety is hard to find these days. ..

the intro by Martin Handley after recounting how Beecham referred to a bit of Beethoven as Yaks dancing then sequed into the advert by KD for another series of Beethoven symphonies - couldn't help smiling

[salymap]

Sorry--I wasn't trying to knock FF's sense of humour; I was merely pointing out that I was censoring myself so she didn't have to. As far as I'm concerned, any line of conversation involving sticks, backsides, face-sitting, hobnobs, and my idea of a good time is a disaster waiting to happen. Trust me, you really don't want to go there. Anyway, all the naughty children around here should remember Salymap is a fine lady and shouldn't be expected to put up with any of our vulgar nonsense. Straighten up now, the grown-ups are listening!!

Besides, it's a little hard to muster up the will to blast Panjandrum about his take on Red Nose Day when I have to admit he has a point.

Well, there are many different kinds of humour: satire, farce, black comedy, put-downs, surreal humour, etc. Who can blame you for liking intellectual humour while bawdy comedy and slapstick leaves you flat? By way of contrast, I loved "My Music" and "My Word"...too bad that kind of subtlety is hard to find these days.

It sounds to me like you'd fully agree with Schopenhauer...he was quite adamant that true humour is worlds apart from cheap and frivolous vulgarity. Here's an essay about how he conceptualized "the ludicrous", wit, folly, parody, and irony:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb1364/is_1_88/ai_n29236034/pg_8/

There were lots of funny moments--I laughed out loud at "she's so overloaded with sex she positively sparkles".

Agreed. It's even better if you can learn to laugh about your plight while things are painful, since seeing through to the kernel of ridiculousness at the heart of things helps you keep a healthier sense of perspective. "Tutto nel mondo e burla, l`uomo e nato burlone".

Hey Euda, I thought we were friends. Far from being a fine lady Icould probably shock you rigid, but might get modded. Do they still do that? Just because I didn't like Consequences, was it? saly