Page 101 - The Language of Humour

88 SPOKEN HUMOUR—TELEVISION AND RADIO
one step behind. This device is rather like the element of misdirection in
many jokes and riddles: ‘Push her head between her knees’ (Pause)
‘Not that way!’ (The Glums). The Talking Head monologues of Alan
Bennet, although written for stage or screen, need little visual support: a
single person is addressing an audience, rather than other characters.
The radio monologues of Joyce Grenfell create the character of a
nursery school teacher addressing children in her class—they are not
seen or heard, yet the listener fills the gaps with their implied
contributions. ‘George, don’t do that!’ is the most famous running gag,
with variations like ‘George, what do Wise Men never do?’ What he is
doing is never made explicit. Bob Newhart also used the form of
monologue where the implied contributions of the unheard participant
create much of the humour, for example a telephone conversation with
Walter Raleigh.
Within some radio programmes there are examples of ad-libbed
humour, which may follow patterns similar to joking in conversation.
Radio DJs on the music stations create a particular type of rapport with
their listeners in the talk between records. This will reflect their
personality to an extent, but it will be influenced more by the type of
audience, Radio 1 catering for the tastes of a younger audience than
Radio 2, for example. There is also spontaneous, ad-libbed humour on
quiz programmes like Just a Minute and Give Us a Clue on Radio 4.
(There are similar opportunities on television quiz shows like Have I
Got News for You, and other game shows with celebrity guests like
Whose Line is it Anyway.) The examples mentioned have survived for a
number of years, but they are likely to be replaced by new formats. The
humour in these shows often has a strong topical element, which
quickly becomes dated; it also relies on familiarity with the participants
and their relationship with each other—often adopted and exaggerated
for humorous effect. This means that there are often ‘in-jokes’ and
running gags, which also make the humour strongly context-bound and
less easy to appreciate in a different time and culture. Although these
shows are pre-recorded, there is usually a studio audience, so there is
some overlap with the types of live spoken comedy examined in Unit 8.
However, although though there is opportunity for spontaneous humour
within the format (planned, if not tightly scripted) of these shows, there
is less direct rapport with the live audience, as the programme is
primarily aimed at the wider audience for whom it will be broadcast
some time in the future.
This unit concentrates on forms of scripted humour. You should bear
in mind that, of the five national radio stations, only Radio 4 and 5