3 October 2022

Comedian

The ability to make other people laugh is a precious gift. Laughter is indeed the best medicine and a day without laughter is a sorry one.

Lord knows why but my ability to retain jokes is on a par with that of a dead tree stump. In my life, I have known several people whose brains seem to be filled with remembered jokes. My late brother Paul was an excellent joker and so are my friends Tony and Mike. I guess that as time passes by, jokers gradually hone their skills and learn where and how to insert jokes or funny stories.

But last night at "The Hanmmer and Pincers" quiz, it was my turn to bask fleetingly  in the limelight like Ken Dodd or Les Dawson (deceased British comedians).

As James the quizmaster went through the questions the pub was hushed as quiz teams checked their answers. He reached question four and repeated: "What is said to be the lowest form of wit?....The answer is sarcasm. Sarcasm."

Immediately I chuntered, "You must be kidding!" igniting peals of laughter around the room. I guess you would have had to have been there to get it.

I was quite surprised  by the mirthful reaction and said to my quizmates, "It could be the start of my stand-up career!"

Overhearing me from an adjacent table, a woman piped up with "More like a sit-down career!" which made me chuckle too.

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In other "Yorkshire Pudding" news, I found out this morning that my photo of a beached jellyfish was chosen as the picture of the week over at the Geograph website. Selected from 3376 contenders I am of course delighted. It is the first overall winner I have had in twelve months...

44 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:01 pm

    That critter looks yucky, but yes, well photographed. Are people laughing at what you say or just you?

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    Replies
    1. That's like a knife plunged into my chest!

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    2. Yucky? What is wrong with you? The completeness and the delicate colouring, the way it is lying as if asleep, make it pretty.

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    3. He's from Melbourne River. Forgive him.

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  2. One of my favorite things is when someone laughs at something I said, though I do employ that low form of wit every so often.

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    Replies
    1. Personally, I think sarcasm is the highest form of wit.

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  3. You could take lessons from Mr northsider. He always has an excellent stock of jokes at the ready.

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    Replies
    1. He could launch The Dave Northsider Comedy Summer School and make a bunch of money. I will see you there next year JayCee!

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  4. You make me laugh all year round YP. My favourite Comedian is Billy Pearce from Bradford. If you ever get the chance to see him he's brilliant live. I have never laughed so much in my life when I saw him. He's on good old You Tube

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  5. I think I can remember exactly two jokes. Both involve farm animals and are slightly racy. I hate to think what this says about me.
    Congratulations on your picture! It's a very fine one.

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    Replies
    1. The judge described that photo as "quirky". I can live with that.

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  6. The jokes I remember best are best not remembered, but I can't forget them.

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  7. That is an incredible jellyfish photograph. You are a deserving winner.
    You've made me laugh multiple times, Mr. Pudding.

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  8. My mother had a wonderful sense of humor, as did my granny apparently. I love to laugh and tell jokes as well. I used to be able to remember so many jokes but the number of jokes has decreased over the years.

    That photo is amazing!

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    Replies
    1. Glad you like the jellyfish Nurse Lily. Nurses usually have to find ways to laugh.

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  9. That jelly fish picture is very cool. LOL at Tasker.

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  10. Had you been speaking into a microphone, you should have dropped it and walked out of the room.

    I'm not surprised about that picture. I still find it spectacular!

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    Replies
    1. I could have bowed as the crowd applauded.

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  11. Hm, sarcasm?! And the quizmaster got away with it?
    What is cynism, then?
    Congrats on your winning jellyfish.

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    Replies
    1. The questions are devised by a quiz company called Redtooth.

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  12. Jellyfish are a popular Starter in restaurants in South East Asia and the Indo-Pacific.
    Jellyfish have no brains, blood, bones or heart so they don't have regrets or bond with humans like budgies and Staffordshire Terriers.

    A dead jellyfish can sting you in the place you most fear.
    Inactive at night, jellyfish go into a trance-like state. Sleep without nightmares.

    Unlike postmodern progressive Westerners, jellyfish can still be categorised as Male and Female.
    So there are no messed-up female jellyfish who want to be male like our 12-year-old girls who want to be boys thanks to gender ideology and The Guardian.

    Jellyfish reproduce both sexually and asexually.
    An adult male jellyfish releases his jism into the ocean and some of it ends up inside the female.
    These turn into tiny larvae we call planula.
    Some jellyfish reproduce asexually by *budding* which may be the future for humans though not in Scotland. We are touchy-feely when piss-eyed drunk.

    For further details on jellyfish, contact Dr. Sylvia Earle, the first woman to walk the ocean floor, one thousand five hundred feet below the surface.
    With 60 expeditions logging more than seven thousand hours below the surface, Dr. Earle knows more about jellyfish than me.

    Unlike the author of this blog, I have never approached a jellyfish nor would I care eat one, though I make a nice seafood chowder on Saturday night, if any reader cares to drop by.
    Bring : A bottle of Chablis or Normandy cider.
    Don't bring : Neil's dead jellyfish.

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  13. An atheist should never say "Lord knows why." Tarnishes the brand. My recommendation: "I don't know why."

    You're welcome.

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    Replies
    1. Just read some of your blog posts, Mr. Brague.
      Very interested to read that your great-grandfather, Solomon Aarons, was born in London in 1847 and came to the U.S. before the Civil War, serving as a drummer boy in the Union Army. Who says Americans have no history ?

      I laughed at that Rodgers & Hammerstein song, *Sam and Janet evening, you may see a stranger, across a crowded room.*
      I think that's what Al Jolson is singing (YouTube) but can't be sure.
      I bought the autobiography of Richard Rodgers from a used bookstore and must read it soon.

      Robert Goulet does a very serviceable rendering of If I Loved You (Carousel) on YouTube.
      As good as John Raitt or Gordon MacRae.

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    2. I hope you boys will be very happy together.

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  14. Well congratulation on your new gig. I expect to see some good jokes on your blog. Congratulations on your wonderful photo.

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    Replies
    1. Many comedians have stand up guys with them. Fancy a job Red?

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    2. You bet! I've been called a clown quite a few times.

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  15. Let me know when your Comedy Routine tours Australia, I'll be sure to buy a ticket.
    I have never seen a beached jellyfish and I'm glad your excellent photo won.

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    Replies
    1. Never seen a beached jellyfish? It is well known that the seas around Australia are teeming with deadly jellyfish.

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    2. Not in South Australia. The deadlies are up in Queensland and NSW mostly.

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  16. The jellyfish against the backdrop of the shiny ripples of sand looks like a work of art, something cast in resin rather like a real dead animal. Your overall win is well deserved.

    As for jokes, sometimes I read or hear a funny remark or proper joke and then do my best to remember it so that I can tell it to O.K. when we next speak on the phone, but often enough, I simply forget about it by the time we do speak.

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    Replies
    1. In that we are very similar. It's not for want of trying.

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  17. Congratulations YP. That's an excellent photo - a well-deserved winner.

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  18. The only joke I can remember is about two dogs outside the Vatican. One dog says to the other if it wasn't Friday I'd bite your balls off for that. But I can't remember the opening line!!
    Note: If you are Catholic you only eat fish on Friday.

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    Replies
    1. I think Jo Brand and Sarah Millican are safe from you Thelma!

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  19. That IS a fantastic photo! I've never been good at telling scripted jokes, but I can crack a dry remark now and then. (Often a sarcastic one, come to think of it!)

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    1. Sarcasm is an art form in my view. It was Oscar Wilde who said, “Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence.” People mostly forget the second part. Anyway, just because Oscar Wilde said it does not make it true.

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  20. I thought I left a comment yesterday, but I don't see it. :(

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    Replies
    1. Well I don't know what happened Ellen. Blogger has been doing some annoying things with comments recently.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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