Saturday 16 March 2013

We no longer believe in Funny Vicars

It is, some say, a most magical time. That night, every two years, when little children sit up late, wondering if they will see Lenny Henry.  A time when people believe in miracles - maybe even secretly hoping that Ricky Gervais might be funny again.

It's a time when people can show the charitable love for others that frankly they could show the rest of the year - but it does a lot of good for a lot of people, and that's the main thing.

But it's the religious aspect that I always shy away from. The sight of Rowan Atkinson dressing up as a clergyman and trying to persuade us that the comedy we all believed in, in the 1980s, is still relevant to today's world - frankly it just makes me wonder why they bother? This is a time when the other religious leaders of his movement have moved on - realised it had no future. So Pamela Stephenson has turned to the consolations of sex psychology, and St Griff has taken to messing about in boats.

Only Rowan continues to put on the old bishop's outfit and try to persuade us that it's still funny. I know that he's tried to modernise - tried to use words like "shag" to act like he's "down with the kids". But it's not worked, let's face it.

It's time to admit that 1980s comedy isn't relevant to today's world. Dressing up as vicars belongs to a time when we still believed in Dave Allen and Derek Nimmo. These days we know we can be good, and give money to Comic Relief, without believing in Rowan.

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