Policing humour is the road to hell and I’d die on a hill for edgy young comics, says Dawn French
DAWN French made her name in the right-on world of Eighties alternative comedy but has revealed she deplores modern-day cancel culture. The Vicar Of Dibley favourite says she does not approve of every gag made by current stand-ups — but would defend their freedom to do them. Dawn, famous for being one half of French […]
DAWN French made her name in the right-on world of Eighties alternative comedy but has revealed she deplores modern-day cancel culture.
The Vicar Of Dibley favourite says she does not approve of every gag made by current stand-ups — but would defend their freedom to do them.
Dawn, famous for being one half of French & Saunders, says comedy risks losing its edge if comedians are afraid to take risks.
She said: “I am really, really frightened for young people who are starting to do comedy because comedy is on the edge. That’s the point of it.
“If you start policing people’s humour, I don’t know where that leads us.
“Well, I do know. It leads us to hell.
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“The fun is where it’s a little bit dangerous and a little bit naughty. It’s mischief.
“There are people in the comedy world who are a bit cruel and I don’t enjoy those jokes as much.
“I go, ‘Ooh, that hurts’. But I would die on the hill for them to have the freedom to do that.
“If we start cancelling all the edges, we are going to come to a big cotton ball of mush in the middle.”
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Dawn also admitted she sometimes struggles to find the right language to talk about issues in the modern world.
She said: “There’s no hatred in me, I hope.
“But there are things that I get wrong just because I’m this age and this is how I’m used to speaking.
“This is the language I’ve learnt. However liberal I think it is, it’s out of date. I have an awful lot to learn about the trans community.
“I don’t know the language properly, I’m saying clumsy stuff, I need to learn from younger people.
“I’ve got to be open. But as long as there’s debate and conversation and no hate in the room, then I think we’ve got to have the teething problems that brings.”
Wise words, Dawn.
Wee woe for Jack
JACK Dee has revealed how a manager once caught him peeing all over the bathroom floor of his hotel room, amid smashed porcelain.
He told TV show Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable: “It was about 1am and the loo was making quite a noise. The stopcock was jammed. I took the porcelain lid off and it flipped and smashed everywhere.
“I’d had a few beers, and thought, ‘Now I need the loo. I can’t go in there because it’s covered in bits of porcelain’.
“So I thought if I pee from the door of the bathroom and I can reach the hole in the middle of the wet room, it should be OK.
“So I was standing in the doorway pissing all over the bathroom floor and the manager came in. I said, ‘Oh! Er, hello – I can explain it’.”
Mel’s show airs Tuesdays at 10pm on Dave.
Corrie’s set tour let down
ITV was chuffed to finally reopen its popular Coronation Street set tour – but fans have been left disappointed.
The attraction in Salford, Greater Manchester, was back in business last weekend after the pandemic.
But visitors had hoped to find internal sets just like those at the old Granada site.
The £35 tour does not take in interiors such as the famous Rovers Return pub.
One visitor, called Sarah, wrote on TripAdvisor: “My mum and sister did the Corrie tour in 2015. They loved it. They went inside the studio to see the Rovers, got photos behind the bar, walked around the sets of characters’ houses.
“Unfortunately, the tours have obviously changed and I was really disappointed when we didn’t even get to see the inside sets at all.”
ITV said there were plans for a new gift shop and cafe, set in a replica of the Rovers.
Jokers
CLIVE Myrie is to front the April 1 episode of Have I Got News For You.
The newsreader and Mastermind host will take the reins of BBC1’s satirical news show for the second time.
He will be joined by guests Helen Lewis, the journalist, and comedian and writer Andy Hamilton.
Ross: I’m game for anything
FORMER EastEnders toughie Ross Kemp admits he is surprised to have ended up hosting a daytime gameshow.
The Grant Mitchell actor and hard-hitting documentary maker returned to BBC1 this week to front Bridge Of Lies – and claims he’s at an age where he can’t be picky.
Ross said: “It’s not necessarily where I thought I’d be but you know what? I loved it. It was very different from the rest of the year.
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At my age, rule everything in, rule nothing out.” But he did avoid copying other gameshow hosts and added: “You can’t be like somebody else.
“If you play a character like Grant Mitchell you can hide behind the leather jacket, the neanderthal-type walk, but as a host you have to be yourself.”