Laughing your socks off through comedy

Can you really laugh your socks off through comedy. One short answer is you probably, no, definitely can. With comedy classics, you can't really get any funnier, but I must be living in a time capsule. "Only Fools and Horses", the British comedy hit sitcom, is certainly timeless because of its endless hours of hilarious, unmitigated laughter.

"Only Fools and Horses" certainly hooked you on British comedy as avenues of relief making you think that life is only about 'having a good laugh. "Yes Prime Minister" was another uproarious parody on the trials and tribulations of the match-making merry-go-around British Prime Ministerial politics and the underlying tug-of-war with the country's civil service, those elitist conservatives who hated change.

So very funny, and so very real, it was mirth, hilarity and glee. I admit I admire the writers, the script, how do they do it, I keep asking myself to write on a serious subject in a funny way. How do they do it. Making people laugh is certainly a skill you have to master.

In the comedy I was clinging to a culture through its funny mannerisms, gestures and gesticulations. The voice, tone, narrative, the quality of the script uttered and spoken with solemnness increased the hilarity and gaiety. The 1980s was a great period for British comedy, and it was not one sit-com but a whole series, that I would watch and drool over each evening as the night and winter gripped British society.

Another great funny show was Alo Alo, an outstanding British comedy about life in a French café under the German occupation during World War II. Played by British actors, in different accents, the series just induced fits and fits of giggles that made your chest ache after a while, with the expression of laughing on the floor never becoming more serious and meant.

I was a great time studying during the day, or trying to and watching television in the evening. The truth of the matter I was becoming a "couch potato"—eyes and ears glued to the television set with the comedy just rolling off the television. You literally could not keep your eyes and ears off the television set.

Another favorite at that time was Cheers about a bar in Boston, an American sitcom and the same was true. That was extremely funny as well, the script was magic, though I must admit though the earlier series were much, much better. Later on Cheers became stale.

In those days it was the comedy that acted as cultural influence rather than the books, documentaries, soaps or film. Although these were just as good. They were nice and perpetuated the "couch potato phenomenon" but it was the comedy that somehow triggered the culturally-dominated the sphere of my thinking.

I am told comedy is the hardest thing to write, but with the Brits, they have very definitely the knack!