Observation comedy. It is a part of everyone’s life. But we don’t always realise it. Perhaps it is because our lives are simply such great sources of irony. Think about it. Possibly the "classic" piece of observation comedy (a style which is currently prolific) is that concerning buses. Why is it that you wait half an hour, and then two come along at once? Almost everyone will have experienced this. Yet it takes (perhaps not in this case) someone considerably funnier than me to point this out in a humorous way.
Clearly the idea behind this style of writing or delivery is that people can relate to the humour; it mirrors segments of our own lives. The greatest fear of your average would-be comedian must surely be that stuff-of-nightmares moment when absolute silence takes hold, and the laughter of many people does not echo. For the observational comic this scenario has an kick: Their lives, i.e. the source of the fallen-on-its-face piece of observation must be somewhat abnormal.
Of course the incident could be simply something that many people experience, yet do not wish to admit - most readily spring to mind incidents of a somewhat sexual nature (I remember on Frank Skinner’s short lived talk show, Skinner baffling his guest with comments about post-coitus urination). However, the lack of laughter could also mean simply that the deliver is on a different wave length than the rest of the populace.
Which brings me to my problem. Not that I want to launch into a comedy career, but I do feel that Life’s History would benefit from anecdotes from my (at times) interesting life. However, I fear that I am perhaps not on the same "wave length" as many other people (although the only feedback gleamed of late from friends and well-wishers was from the long pause after my asking whether they thought I was a tad egotistical.) , and consequently will fall flat on my face.
However, in the interests of entertainment I will venture into hither-unknown territory and tantalise you all with tales of interesting things from my life. However I shall use the universal disclaimer: "real or imagined".
