One might.
Class and comedy! Page 3
Quote: Leevil @ December 12 2011, 8:35 PM GMTTo me it appears as if either you're offended by the phrase "working-class accents" or you are just being awkward.
But I would imagine when referring to working class one would imagine a person who hasn't received as much education as someone who isn't working class. So they're not normally as well spoken as one should be.
That is, genuinely, the only thing I've read on here that has made me laugh out loud. So thank you for that.
I aim to please and I please to aim.
I got just as much education as any middle/upper class person
It's just my parents didn't have to pay thousands of pounds for it
Plus I got the added bonus of not having to indulge in endless rounds of the biscuit game after lights out with the chaps
I think you're missing the point. I certainly ain't here to slag off anyone. It was just trying to explain what the term "working class accent" could possibly mean. Because to me, it appears to be so blatantly obvious. As this is from a clever sod who dropped out of school at 15 years old. A school mind, which was so embarrassed by its poor reputation that it has since changed its name.
I know pal
Just messin!
Whyioughta!
Quote: Leevil @ December 12 2011, 8:24 PM GMTNorthern accent no doubt.
So you're implying there are no working-class people in the Southern half of England? If so, that's a bit odd. And there's me thinking shows about Southerners, like EastEnders, PhoneShop and The Café were about working-class people with strong working-class accents.
The reason I call them working-class accents is because every region in the UK has its own watered-down middle-class version of its more famous stereotypical working-class version. I'm from Merseyside, and whereas most people associate the voices of the likes of Paul O'Grady and John Bishop with the area, there are also more watered-down middle-class Merseysiders in showbusiness, like Peter Serafinowicz and the actor David Morrissey, who by the way, both do a massive amount of voice-over work.
I'm not implying anything. I was joking.
Working class people don't have much of a sense of humour...
Quote: zooo @ December 12 2011, 10:17 PM GMTWorking class people don't have much of a sense of humour...
Quite! I've never fully bought into the 'chip on their shoulder' thing before, but wow.
Quote: raul415 @ December 10 2011, 4:35 PM GMTI know that there are successful comedians in Britain who did not go to these schools but it seems that the vast majority did and do.
I wouldn't say that was the case, myself. Not at all. It may well appear that way from the states, especially if you're viewing the just top end shows, but I'd say there's a very healthy mix of both classes and if anything, covering all types of comedy in all forms, I'd say a who's who list would give a balance pretty firmly in the non university crowd, certainly non Oxbridge league, by a distance. The Oxbridge connection is very largely with the BBC, and much less so now than in the past, so with the top end of comedy shows only, has this been the case.
Quote: raul415 @ December 10 2011, 4:35 PM GMT
What I am curious about is whether there is a perception that having a public school education confers on one a sort of superior comic intelligence, or is it more of an all boys club.
I'd say both are true. Certainly there has been a wide assumption that the most high brow and intelligent comedy in Britain has come from the Oxbridge crowd. And that the low brow comedy has come from the working class lot who left school at 14 etc. But much of this comedy difference is naturally cultural, ie. you'd expect brilliant verbal wit and satire to come out of Oxford educated Peter Cook and base and saucy post card humour to come out of ex milkman Benny Hill. Both comedians are however regarded as geniuses with 'comedy experts' and certainly the masters of their respective comedy forms.
Quote: raul415 @ December 10 2011, 4:35 PM GMTIt does seem to be a bit of a comedy class elite situation in Britain (though it seems to be changing) and I'd appreciate any insight.
Much more so in the past, but yes this division has caused some famous tiffs and rivalries, from Billy Connoly accusing the Pythons of not having anything in common with most of their fans, Jim Davidson calling Stephen Fry a ponce with a bonce and Bernard Manning roasting a beleaguered Peter Cook on a chat show. All three felt they had to work harder to get their success than the more celebrated higher brow ex Oxbridge lot. It certainly has been a hot issue with some comedians.
Quote: zooo @ December 12 2011, 10:17 PM GMTWorking class people don't have much of a sense of humour...
Racist.
Homosexual!