What a lovely day.....

For wrapping yourself in clingfilm, sitting on a supermarket shelf and saying to the missus, "this is another great special offer..." But there we are.... The words of the great Ken Dodd, one of the funniest men in the world ever.... he only had to come on stage and even people who had never heard of him laughed.... my mum went to see him for a one hour show... it quickly turned into three hours, because everyone was laughing so much... my mum says she was crying, and amost stopped breathing, he was that funny.... unfortunately, I can't think of any of the new breed of stand ups that have this ability.... and I blame Ben Elton.... but then I have done since he started co-writing Black Adder, and got Baldrick totally wrong.... anyone who saw the original series will know that Baldrick, son of the dung gatherer, was the clever one... he always did have a cunning plan... a proper one... it was Percy and Edmund (known affectionately to his father as The other one...) who were the half wits.... then Ben Elton arrives on the scene.... one of those rich young fake socialists that our universities unfortunately used to churn out to annoy the working classes.... although I always got the impression that it was all a Thatcherite plot to put Bernard Manning on the dole queue... but again, I digress..... What brought all this on I hear you ask.... despite the absence of speakers on my pc.... well, mainly because I was at the Battlefield of Bosworth this morning with a very nice young lady who will remain nameless for the time being.... we had a nice stroll along the canal to Richard's field where the poor old chap was killed, then over throughAmbion wood to King Dicks Well, and then on to the Dog and Hedgehog in Dadlington, where we had a very nice lunch (and were amazed to find a place serving liver and bacon!!) ... I'm sure they won't mind the plug.... although when we went in it seemed that business was booming.... and that got me to thinking about the relationship between conflict and comedy.... can you have one without the other?? Take the Good Life.... a great comedy, and all about conflict.... suburban values against self sufficiency.... monetarism against traditionalism.... snobbiness against sensibility.... and hand in hand with this conflict, respect for others... for all Margo's snottiness, she respects Tom and Barbara... they are friends in a way nowadays unusual between next door neighbours... and I bet any decent comedy you could name has conflict... Alan partridge vs the BBC, Mainwaring vs Hodges, even the Vicar of Dibley vs initial prejudice against women priests.... and the same goes for conflict... every war has a humour of its own, despite the horrors.... for instance, the naked Australian who interrupted a British, a Turkish and a German General involved in ceasefire talks at Gallipoli with the words "any of you jokers nicked my kettle??" Or who could doubt the humour of the first world war captain taken back into the army in 1939.... sent on an officer training course, his cadre were given the task of planning an attack on a heavily defended bridge... while the new young subs talked amongst themselves, drew plans and generally discussed things, the old officer leaned against a tree, and smoked a cigarette.... when the other officers offered up their plan of splitting the section into two, and executing a feint followed by a pincer attack, this ex-captain scoffed and tutted..... asked by a training sergeant what he himself would do, the older man said..."I would line the men up on this ridge, fix bayonets, and then walk toward sthe bridge.... at this point here we would charge the enemy positions head on..."

"My god, sir," exclaimed the training sergeant... "What do you think would happen if you actually tried a lunatic plan like that!!"

"Well," said the ex-captain..." In 1916 we captured the bridge, and I got the Military Cross...."

But there you go... until next time, to all those embroiled in combat or comedy, Wisebeard salutes you......