Comedy is very much a matter of individual taste. But for the most part, it also needs to move with the times. It thrives on a collective shared cultural experience which any good stand-up comedian will employ unashamedly to connect with their audience.
When it comes to TV or Radio sit-coms however the writer has a more difficult job. In reaching out to the unseen masses beyond, the same criterion applies of course. But unless filming or recording in front of a live audience how can you gauge whether you are hitting the mark?
On TV recently, the spectacularly successful Ted Lasso captivated both sides of the Atlantic despite the absurd (at least here anyway) elevation of Nate from kit-man to manager of the Hammers in the blink of an eye, and correct me if I’m wrong, a trio of dedicated Richmond fans who watched all their home games not at the ground itself, but at 3pm live at the Pub! Oh, and then there is the dressing room, the always pristine dressing room – even at half-time, with not a speck of grass or a discarded sock on the floor to be seen - no, just the shiny well swept (by Nate?) tiling, unsullied by anything remotely connected to football.
For all its faults, and for the football pedant there were many, Lasso was a triumph and a Roy Kent spin-off would be greeted with open arms I suspect. A killing could be made also by publishing Trent Grimm’s fictional season in residence at AFC Richmond – maybe someone is already on to that?
Anyway, the point of the above, where the writers took us willingly along on the unlikely journey of Lasso and the Diamond Dogs (howl at this point) we must now turn to the truly lamentable Unite – a sit-com put out by BBC Radio 4 on Thursdays at 6.30pm – not that I recommend that you listen to it.
Instead of fresh innovative ideas, the writers have descended to the bottom of the barrel into lazy stereotyping. The most recent airing saw the Eton and Oxbridge-educated Gideon (of course) going for the first time to a London football match with his stepbrother. The rugby-loving Gideon, once having downed a beer or two at the match, somehow finds himself in the company of the leader of a ‘firm’ of football hooligans called Spud. Free from the trammels of home life and now eager to embrace all that football has to offer, Gideon inveigles himself into Spud’s good books by offering to join the firm for its next ‘tear up’ at the away game on Wednesday. Spud has a good chuckle when he announces that the last time he was there he threw a firework into the family area - HA HA HA! How we all laughed at that line.
Yes, all very droll. Didn’t Katrien Meire once trawl the streets of leafy SW London’s Barnes (and firm Harlequins territory) in search of Rugby converts just like Gideon who might be persuaded to take a trip around the South Circular?
Given the above, you may be thinking to yourself why did I carry on listening to this drivel? Well, first of all, I found it by accident and secondly, and before I changed station I heard a very familiar word - CHARLTON.
The match which Gideon was attending was Charlton Athletic v Bolton
The name of the ‘firm’ was Addicks Fanatics.
Spud (real name unknown) was a mortgage advisor by day – hooligan by night (and or day depending on kick-off time I suppose)
The ‘tear up’ had been arranged with the Wycombe Wanderers ‘scum’ (yes I know!).
So, clearly, the writers were having a laugh – but me and possibly most other listeners, not so much!
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