No greater connoisseur of wit...
Woody Allen may have felt that life is 'divided up into the horrible and the miserable', but most of the rest of us make some room for humour. The late Ned Sherrin could find it anywhere, and in the words of Stephen Fry: 'There was no greater connoisseur of wit and repartee than Ned Sherrin'. Ned's new fourth edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations ranges from politics (the Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, asked about Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic: 'That's ours - lock, stock, and iceberg') to art (the architect Osbert Lancaster, when Carl André's Equivalent VIII consisting of 120 bricks was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in 1976: 'I think the fellow needs to have his hod examined').
The old jokes can be the best, and Winston Churchill's comment 'I have derived continued benefit from criticism at all periods of my life and I do not remember any time when I was ever short of it' resurfaced recently when used by Donald Rumsfeld. But a character in Alan Bennett's Untold Stories takes a less enthusiastic view of the past 'I was still a medieval historian, not a profession, I imagine, with a high sexual strike rate'.
A high humour strike rate occurs as always in Ned's home world of the media. On TV Dr Who explained his northern accent with 'Lots of planets have a north' and Father Ted pointed out 'It's nice to have a nun around. Gives the place a bit of glamour'. In the theatre, when Michael Hordern asked John Gielgud for advice before playing Lear for the first time, he may not have expected the reply 'All I can tell you is, get a light Cordelia'. Russell Brand has a tart view of pop: 'No wonder Bob Geldof is such an expert on famine. He's been feeding off "I Don't Like Mondays" for years'.
A dictionary of quotations can be a useful source of ideas. When asked for an opinion, anyone could do worse than follow Donald Rumsfeld's line, 'I believe what I said yesterday. I don't know what I said, but I know what I think...and I assume it's what I said'. And perhaps Homer Simpson has the most comprehensive comment of all: 'Donuts. Is there anything they can't do?'
To quote Stephen Fry again: 'This treasure house of repartee will delight for generations...'
Susan Ratcliffe
24/09/2008
 Printer friendly version
| 
