Off the Leash

There's nothing like a Friday to bring out the school kid in all of us, and today is no exception. Apparently, though, it isn't just me. There are others out there being visited by their former childish selves today, as shown in this blog entry on a serious Melbourne paper - http://blogs.theage.com.au/allmenareliars/archives/2006/08/may_i_fart_now.html#trackback (Sorry, I seem to have lost the art of linking once more...what can I say? I'm still dealing with a fog of flu, or whatever I've had, and throw in the fact that I'm blond and it's Friday and I'm a lost cause)

It's reassuring to know that I'm not the only person out there who feels that one of the funniest things around is a good fart joke - the only thing funnier is, sometimes, a bad one. I know it's very bloke-ish of me to say so and that, if there are any girls out there reading this who don't know me personally, there are probably some shaking their heads in disgust right now at the idea that I could agree with all the guys who find farts hilairious. But at the same time, part of the attraction is knowing that it is completely inappropriate in so many situations.

There have been plenty of great comedians base thier early careers on a well-timed fart joke, and they live long in the memory...Benny Hill (OK, he was as much a sleaze joke as a fart joke, but it was there!) Ronnie Barker (and Ronnie Corbett as well, I guess). In fact, they seem to be mostly British, the ones who spring to mind quickest (unless you count the D-Generation, and their Bargearse creation. Giggles will threaten to overwhelm me if I linger on thoughts of the detective sergeant, however, so I'd better move on).

Social testing has confirmed that the fart is the most universally accepted joke. Almost every culture tested would laugh at a bit of trouser trumpet action - and the ones that didn't find it funny wouldn't laugh at anything. Even that great stuffed-shirt of all time, Queen Victoria, who gave her name toan era of prudishness and holding back, was known to giggle at gas from time to time. In fact, rumous has it that she was one of the first users of the "whoopee cushion" (OK, maybe not, but she did like a fart or two). Mind you, her grand daughter doesn't look any more likely to crack a smile (or let fluffy off the royal chain), and neither do any of the princes - although for some reason i suspect that Fergie would encourage it.

So why has this come up now (and how do I carry such arcane pieces of trivia in my head)? Well, it's Friday, isn't it. And if you can't have a giggle on Friday, well, there's no hope for any civilisation where youc an finish that statement in a way that doesn't include the words "when can you?" So, until then, God Save the Queen.