Not Funny

I found myself distinctly puzzled today on reading an article about some chap called Arron Banks who has got lots of money and seems to be quite famous back in what used to be my homeland. (I'm finding myself increasingly in denial with regard to the idea that I have any homeland at all, but let's not go there.) It seems he's generated a bit of rather silly controversy by tweeting something not terribly pleasant about that young lass who's become the face of the Extinction Rebellion (as I think it's termed. Sorry about all the vagueness - I'm sort of out of touch with the world in any number of ways.)

Now according to Mr Banks, regarding what he had tweeted that so upset folk: It was a joke .. you lefties have no sense of humour. I can vaguely see a point here. It's awful to say this, but there are possibilities of seeing darkly macabre humour in all sorts of situations where you don't really want to admit the possibility of anything funny there at all. King Lear is, of course, a disturbing master class in doing so. I can further see why someone's comments might be fuelled by a desire to cause outrage and that this might itself be seen as humorous, again in a disturbing but genuine way.

The thing is, though, that I didn't find anything particularly outrageous in what the guy tweeted. It just seems too petty for that, but, more importantly, and to me more obviously, the comment just wasn't funny, a crucial point that all the commentators appear to have missed. I mean, I know what's funny. I know how to make an audience laugh. I find most aspects of life funny. I love wit. I love bad jokes. I love stupidity. But Mr Banks's line, Freak yachting accidents do happen in August... fails every test of being funny I can apply to it. Imagine nattering about the girl's voyage with someone and dropping in the Freak yachting accidents bit as a sort of bon mot. It just doesn't fly.

I've come to the sad conclusion that the poor chap just doesn't have an actual sense of humour. I wonder if any of his chums have ever thought to let him know the bad news?