"Toilet humour"

[23 Daves]

Now, I'm going to attempt to start a thread on this topic and hope that it does get some interesting replies and doesn't go all fucky... wish me luck...

The thing is, I have a confession to make.  I find toilet humour hysterically funny.  Not just any old childish jokes, you understand, just the higher quality, well thought out stuff that very seldom ends up on television.  The problem is, however, we're told that it's puerile, the lowest form of wit, and it's generally frowned upon by both comedy fans and critics.

Vic Reeves:  "We were told to drop the farting Frenchmen.  People fear the fart."

Ben Elton:  "One review of Filthy Rich and Catflap said that it was just base toilet humour.  Now, I got out a script of FR&C and counted how many toilet gags there were in the first episode.  I counted eight.  Maybe that was eight too many..."

The interesting thing is that despite how much we're told to see toilet humour as being juvenile, there are some quality moments throughout British comedy.  Aside from what I've just mentioned, there's also Frank Hovis on the Toilet from "Absolutely" (which a friend of mine dismissed as being an excuse for one of the cast members to endlessly talk and write about shit (literally)), Billy Connelly's numerous dips into the toilet bowl over his career, not least his 'wee floating beige jobby' routine, and endless references throughout "The Young Ones".

It seems to be a staple part of both the British and Japanese psyche to find the private moments behind the locked bathroom door being bought over into the public realm funny, but unlike the Japanese we tend to pretend we're too sophisticated to enjoy it, despite the fact there's a comedic history going on that would suggest the reverse.

So what are everyone's feelings on this?  Is it peurile?  Were "The Young Ones" and "Absolutely" all the worse for its inclusion?  Or should we, as Vic Reeves suggested, celebrate such things as being amusing and stop being so uptight about it?  I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts.

[Ronster]

I find toilet humour always worth a giggle.

Sometimes in the sense of being childish - guess it takes me back to those more innocent days when someone saying 'poo' or 'wee' was the height of comedy, or in more sophisticated (for want of a better word) circumstances.

I have definitely noticed the difference since being in Australia.  I hadn't realised how much toilet humour and the like was a British thing.  I went home to Blighty last year after being away for a year and it was really noticeable - made me feel very much at home :)

Hey ho Im just a Carry On boy at heart I guess

[Lumiere]

I find some toilet humour - funny. Early Royle Family toilet humour was not in your face, but you could pick it up. Crappy shows like two pints of lager and a packet of crisps base their whole show on toilet humour, with typically shit results.