Tastes in comedy change almost as often as they do in fashion.  You only have to look at those cheap ‘talking heads’ TV shows with titles like “Most Shocking TV Moments That Aren’t Really Shocking At All” that feature celebrities you’ve never heard of watching clips of 1970s TV comedies while shaking their heads,  pursing their lips and saying in a disapproving manner “How DID they get away with this?”  I shout at the screen “How did YOU get away with trousering a nice little fee for pretending to be ‘shocked’ by a clip you’ve seen several dozen times before?”

You try it. You’ll feel better.

Maybe in 50 years, viewers will see clips from one of those “Most Shocking” shows in a series called “How Did These Deadbeats Get Away With Making Cheap Jibes At Performers 10 Times More Talented Than Them?”

From the music hall days right up to the 1960s, it was quite common for a comedian to end their act with a sentimental song. Usually, one with which they’d become associated. Their theme tune if you like.

Bob Hope used to sing “Thanks For The Memory”. Max Miller sang “I Fell In Love With Mary From The Dairy”. The great Jimmy Wheeler and the equally funny Ted Ray both used to finish their acts by playing a sweet little tune on the violin!

Even Bud Flanagan, doyen of the outrageous, near-the-knuckle Crazy Gang that took up permanent residence at the Victoria Palace for so many years, used to bring lumps to audience throats with songs like “Underneath The Arches” and “Maybe It’s Because I’m A Londoner” with his pal Chesney Allen.
Can you imagine any of today’s comedians finishing their act by saying “Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. You’ve been wonderful. Now I’d like to finish with a bad salad…err…a sad ballad entitled ‘Get down off the gas stove, Granny! You’re too old to ride the range!” before the orchestra strikes up and the comic starts to sing a beautiful love song?

Imagine Frankie Boyle singing “If You Were The Only Girl In The ******* World And I Was The Only *******Boy!”?   No…it wouldn’t work would it!

Our hospitals are under pressure, but are we creating some of these problems ourselves?  Are we simply going to A&E because it’s late and the GP is closed?

On the very rare occasions that I have had to visit the Accident and Emergency department of a hospital, there are often people sitting there for a very long time looking relatively “well”.  Surely, the clue is in the title? Accident and Emergency.

We really shouldn’t be popping in with simple aches and pains.
It’s been well publicised in the press and social media recently that we need to make the right choices as an alternative to heading straight to A&E.

Next time you have toothache or an upset tummy, ask yourself is A&E really the right choice?

I recently looked up my local health board website. There are a huge range of alternatives to blocking up your local emergency department with an illness that could easily and quickly be dealt with somewhere else . . .

Let’s help the hospitals to help us!

Confession time, folks! There are occasions when the thought of standing on stage, trying and make an audience laugh has no appeal to me.
This usually happens when I’m actually standing on stage trying to make an audience laugh.

As the TV ad used to say about “The agony of trapped wind”… it soon passes.

Fortunately, I recently felt a powerful comedic resurgence (which isn’t the opposite of trapped wind) and a renewed confidence in my ability to tickle people’s funny bones when I saw the list of ‘The Ten Best Jokes’ at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  Because, to describe them as ‘Christmas Cracker’ quality would be a disservice to the poor devils who have to create the corny jokes we all groan at when we read them out loud at lunch on December 25th.

Incidentally, if you know anyone who writes Christmas cracker jokes for a living, do give him/her my sympathy.

Anyway, I digress.

I’m not going to name the tellers of the Top Ten jokes at the Edinburgh Festival because that would be mean-spirited, which I’m not.
But in case you didn’t hear it, this is the winner –

“I was going to steal some spaghetti from a supermarket but the female security guard stood in the doorway so I couldn’t get pasta”.

I did hear some people say it wasn’t even original and that one of the two Bobs (Hope and Monkhouse) told it years ago. But, in all honesty, I don’t think the joke would have appealed to them.

“Too punny to be funny” would certainly have been Mr. Monkhouse’s reaction.

I’ve been to the Edinburgh Fringe many times and have seen some fine comedians delivering brilliant, cleverly-constructed material – like my friend Tudur Owen.  He never fails to make audiences laugh and his act is a pun-free zone.

Most of the other Top Ten Jokes also relied on puns, so forgive me if I’ve mentioned this several dozen times before, but it does amuse me.
John Cleese used to say “The first rule of comedy is…No puns! No puns! No puns!”  What did he call his classic 1970s sitcom? Fawlty Towers!

Now, those of you that read my column regularly will realise that I spend a lot of my time frequenting local coffee shops, where I meet some fantastic people and also do a lot of my creative writing.  But I’ve recently come to realise that I don’t think you go to a single town in Wales now and not see one of the major coffee house franchises somewhere along the high street. Even in some of the small quaint towns and villages, you won’t have to look far to find one.
But this made me think, there are also some of the most beautiful small, independent local coffee shops in each and every town that are usually family-run and which seem to be struggling to keep up with the coffee giants.

Years ago, this was where everyone from the community got together to catch up on the local news. On a far too regular basis, I’m seeing local cafes close as they are unable to compete. This makes me sad.

I’ve decided to make a concerted effort from now on to search for the little local coffee shops. And if they happen to be serving homemade cake, too, it would be very rude of me not to indulge!

Have you ever heard someone say something unintentionally funny during a radio or TV interview and thought you might have misheard?

The late and much-missed Denis Norden collected TV and radio mishaps long before he hosted “It’ll Be Alright On The Night”.   Incidentally, am I alone in thinking a show that featured out-takes of actors forgetting their lines or dealing with temperamental props, should really be called “It probably won’t be alright on the night”?  Just me, then!

Denis possessed an appreciation of the English language’s many subtle booby traps that we all find ourselves stepping into from time to time.
Being a brilliant humourist, he often crafted those subtleties into the comedy scripts that he wrote with the equally witty Frank Muir.

Occasionally, as with anyone whose living relies on being funny on a daily basis, some of his bon mots ‘fell on stony ground’ as comedy writers tend to describe jokes that don’t get the intended reaction.

When Denis shared an office with Frank, one lunch time he popped out to buy their sandwiches and, on the way back, the heavens opened and a mighty downpour ensued. Pause for dramatic effect!
Coatless, he dived into a narrow alleyway to dodge the rain only to find a middle-aged couple had the same idea.
As all three waited for the rain to stop, Denis noticed a brass plaque bearing an accountant’s name on the wall behind the couple.
He pointed to it, pointed to the rain, laughed and said, “I suppose this is what they call a tax shelter!”, which he thought was spontaneously amusing.
However, the couple just stared blankly at him, looked distinctly uncomfortable and hurriedly walked away into the rain, speaking loudly….in German!

Anyway, I definitely heard someone on a recent hourly news bulletin who suffered from what Denis would have described as “A bad case of foot in mouth” because an hour later the same interview was played and for the second time I heard someone say… “Losing weight merely requires a reduction in your daily food intake. It really works because the proof of the pudding is in the eating!”  Denis would have savoured that one!

Heat waves, thunderstorms, a hose pipe ban, exam results and the cost of living increases. All this over the past 14 days. We certainly have much to talk about, don’t you think?

The change is constant and much uncertainty is being promoted in the news, social media and newspapers.  One of the biggest threats to good mental health is over exposure to negative news, and people. This will certainly have a detrimental effect on our health.  What’s the immediate solution? Well, for a start we can watch less TV and give social media a wide berth.

The keyboard warriors are gaining momentum at this time and as usual little content has any positive or uplifting messages. But why do we tune in to such negativity?

Evidence suggests that we are now addicted to bad news and controlled by the media and our mobile phones. Does this sound familiar?

Recently I spent just over a week in London at an event held in the Excel arena. Early starts and late finishes. For eight days, I missed the news, weather, gossip and my phone was on silent throughout. For the record, I feel much better for it.  Lesson learned.