ABSTRACT
Television — and radio to a lesser extent — have replaced books as the main source of verbal entertainment. This means that a lot of contemporary humour is spoken and that you are more likely to watch and listen to humour than read it. Even though there are recordings, such humour is generally less permanent than written humour. The programmes that are popular in a given year may well disappear from popular culture within a matter of years. There are exceptions: some may be preserved on audio and video cassette, or be repeated. At the time of writing, Monty Python, for example, has become a comedy classic, but it is difficult to predict the current shows that will have a lasting popularity. This unit first surveys the different types of humour that are broadcast on radio and television, in order to guide your selection of suitable texts for analysis. There are two texts that indicate some of the different approaches needed. The activity hands over the choice of text to you. The framework of analysis established in Units 2–5 can be applied to any example of humour in language.
