Things that make me laugh
I seem always to
have had a sense of humour that others may regard as odd. Some
things just strike me as funny. I have tried to describe some
of these below.
The 'Elephant Joke', inherited from my long late father-in-law in about 1973 has
been told to hundreds of students over the years, and only one
has ever laughed. Well, I think it's funny! My much loved
daugher Beth has agreed to tell this at my funeral.
Some of the things that have reduced me to helpless giggles:
- at the side of the road in
- in the lovely canal town of Stone, I used to cycle
past this sign on the way
to work and all I can think of were racks and racks of very
chilled stones
- going in to a pet shop to buy a cat flap, the sales
assistant said 'what's it for?' - 'a cat' I said
- the packet of food in the freezer labelled 'Frozen Cod
Pieces'. I wonder what William Shakespeare would have made of
those?
- and these guys!
I also seem to read some words not as they are intended to be:
- legend I can only see as leg end
- simile is simile (but the mile bit is the unit of length)
- hyperbole is hyperbowl
- Hermione is Hermi-own (thanks Beth)
- sanitation has the name Anita writ large in it (thanks Neat)
I suppose a lot of this comes from being so old that Monty
Python was first broadcast in my most formative years. If
anyone else can remember the sketch 'Buying a
Bed' you'd have to agree. It's in the same mould as the
much better known Dead
Parrot sketch, Biggus
Dickus and, of course, the Ministry
of Silly Walks.
Another sketch that came to me late in life is the 'French
Taunting' sketch from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
And, of course, nobody would expect this
sketch. And even if you did, you might be able to enjoy
it with
light refreshments or have to argue your
case for the full half hour. And, when I eventually do
go, wouldn't it be great to have a funeral in this
spirit
This I
heard when flying on holiday - took me ages to understand it,
but it is worth the effort!
This
has to be the funniest advert ever made - but does require an
appreciation of all the other adverts for the same product
that were
produced in the nineteen eighties.
Even before Monty Python, I remember the surreal start to the
Harry Worth show that is still a hit with small people. You
can see it by clicking on this Harry Worth title video clip
link. I suppose my mother has something to
answer for as I remember the Hippopotamus Poem
being a feature at many family bashes.
Donald Rumsfeld has said many things in his
time, but the speech on 'known
knowns,
known unknowns and unknown unknowns' I think is truly
brilliant.
And something that I find surreal on many levels is 'Dinner for
One' that, following the same procedure as every year,
is broadcast every New Year's Eve in
This page was created in or about August
2006 and was last updated in May 2018