It wasn't very funny, but it was very interesting. It must have got a laugh at the time or they wouldn't put it in. The thing is, not only do all tag-lines and catch-phrases go out of date, they also only work when they're done by the man who's right for them. We don't know who the man was who did the rhubarb joke, so we don't laugh, because we can't hear his tone of voice. So, when comedians come to you for training, do you suggest material that's right for their voice? Or vice versa.
I thought of one this morning. Man gives a prostitute a twenty pound note. She gives him a fiver back. Sex change But if you had Ben Elton doing a joke about prostitutes, he'd never do anything like that in a million years. In fact, he wouldn't do jokes about prostitutes, because he's on the side of the victim.
So he'd go a bit like this It's men! It's men's base demands that make girls provide the services. Get rid of men and I think you'll find the prostitution problem has gone.
Same with going out at night. A woman isn't safe out at night, they say. Can't let a woman go out in the city for fear of being attacked.
Attacked by another woman? Pestered by a kerb-crawling woman driver? I think not, ladies 'n' gentlemen. Attacked by a man. Solution - keep men in at night and let women roam free That's a Ben Elton kind of approach. Same subject matter. Completely different approach. All you have to do is think yourself into someone's identity, and you can do the right material. He thinks for a moment. They used to in the old days. There was even a shoe named after the sport: a brothel-creeper.
