In past ages of tragedy, worry and despair, newspapers
have always tried to include some light relief in cartoons and also in humorous
writing. As a Belfast kid, through some of the darkest troubled days, I found
solace, entertainment and laughs in the columns of John Pepper and Billy
Simpson, both more often than not illustrated by the great Rowel Friers.
Billy Simpson was (maybe still is) an exceptional
writer. His column appeared on Mondays in the Belfast Telegraph and
it was impossible not to crack a smile as he developed a story, launched a
flight of fancy, stretched an observation and did what he was hired to do – be
funny, and funny was guaranteed. You never knew what to
expect. On one occasion he retold Custer’s last stand (“The Scalps
My Father Wore”) with an Irish influence in the shape of Native Americans
talking in Oirish accents and passing round the war shillelagh. In “The Barley
That Shook The Wind” he described the Poteen Taster of the Year contest; in
“Zer Boink Tapes” he exposed a scam of someone trying to sell tape recordings
of conversations between William of Orange and Pope Alexander; in “Brief
Encounter at the Customs” he imagined the scenario of a man trying to smuggle
pythons in his underpants; “The French Concoction” had this introduction:
“There are several things in life that a man should approach with caution.
Matrimony. Unattended parcels. And home-made liquor.” Classic humour
that hit the spot back in the 1970s and, after a re-read, just as funny today.
But who are the humour columnists today? Point me in
their direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment