How DO you draw a blank? - I think we should be told.
Thursday, 31. January 2008, 10:37:42
Think about it. You pick up the pencil....
Then what?
Richard Digance is a folk singer with a bit of a sense of humour, if you saw him in the street you'd probably think he was a bank manager. OK, a slightly older than average bank clerk. He's also inclined to ask questions like the one that invited you in here.
Yesterday I was watching him guesting on a quiz show ('Countdown' for those of you who are completists) and the thought occured to me that I'd heard this sense of humour before. Twice in fact. In the 50s and 60s there was a Scots comedian called Chic Murray who I've almost certainly mentioned before. His set consisted of strange rambles which came mostly off the top of his head, although like all good comics he had some stand-by gags in case he lost the track completely. Think of him as an early Billy Connolly without the foul mouth. One of these desperation gags was "It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it."
Which brings us to Steven Wright who said exactly the same thing, along with other comments such as "I saw a subliminal advertising executive. But only for a second." Wright and Murray had very similar senses of humour, yet their delivery was completely different, now it's struck me that Richard Digence also has this same sense of humour ("Why don't sheep shrink?"), and again his delivery is totally different.
'Where's this going?' I hear you scream. Well I have a strangely similar sense of humour. I've been heard to enquire "Why is 'dyslexia' so damn hard to spell?" or "What idiot thought it would be a good idea to put an 's' in 'lisp'?", but no one finds me in the least little bit funny. Obviously there is more to comedy than just telling jokes, and whatever it is I don't have it. There must be something wrong with my ti
ming.
Then what?
Richard Digance is a folk singer with a bit of a sense of humour, if you saw him in the street you'd probably think he was a bank manager. OK, a slightly older than average bank clerk. He's also inclined to ask questions like the one that invited you in here.
Yesterday I was watching him guesting on a quiz show ('Countdown' for those of you who are completists) and the thought occured to me that I'd heard this sense of humour before. Twice in fact. In the 50s and 60s there was a Scots comedian called Chic Murray who I've almost certainly mentioned before. His set consisted of strange rambles which came mostly off the top of his head, although like all good comics he had some stand-by gags in case he lost the track completely. Think of him as an early Billy Connolly without the foul mouth. One of these desperation gags was "It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it."
Which brings us to Steven Wright who said exactly the same thing, along with other comments such as "I saw a subliminal advertising executive. But only for a second." Wright and Murray had very similar senses of humour, yet their delivery was completely different, now it's struck me that Richard Digence also has this same sense of humour ("Why don't sheep shrink?"), and again his delivery is totally different.
'Where's this going?' I hear you scream. Well I have a strangely similar sense of humour. I've been heard to enquire "Why is 'dyslexia' so damn hard to spell?" or "What idiot thought it would be a good idea to put an 's' in 'lisp'?", but no one finds me in the least little bit funny. Obviously there is more to comedy than just telling jokes, and whatever it is I don't have it. There must be something wrong with my ti
ming.
WIDGETIZE