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The british comic Lee Mack has (IMO) the definitive quote on this
Lee Mack: “I know comedians who go on weird day trips in order to have random experiences they can talk about,” he snorts. “They’ll go on their own to Thorpe Park waiting for something hilarious to happen. That’s really sad.”
The trouble with comedians, I tell Lee Mack sternly, is that they might reduce the O2 stadium to tears of laughter, but in person they aren’t very funny. I am hoping he might be the exception to the rule.
“No pressure then, thanks for that,” responds Mack, face contorting into an expression that would have Would I Lie To You? viewers rolling if not in the aisles, then definitely off the sofa, but doesn’t translate so well into print.
If that sounds a bit harsh, I don’t mean it to be; Mack is one of the most amusing chaps on telly. He’s got a genuine Everyman affability and as keen a wit as you’ll find on the panel game circuit. I would place him somewhere between Frankie “potty mouth” Boyle at one end of the spectrum and Michael “Hello birds! Hello sky! Fotherington-Thomas” McIntyre at the other. Where does Mack see himself on the pH scale of comic acidity?
“I don’t look at comedy as a sliding scale of offensiveness,” he says. “For a start, I don’t watch other comedians, and also I think there are very few things you can’t make a joke about. The only benchmark is whether or not it’s funny. We’re all basically decent human beings so if 3,000 people are laughing at a joke then it’s worth telling. If a subject is a bit near-the-knuckle then you better make sure the punchline is hilarious enough to outweigh the shock value. I’m sure there must be an equation that encapsulates the perfect shock-to-humour ratio.”