What makes something funny or humorous? Apart from the initial laugh out loud moment, good comedy should also have a certain resonance, a certain relationship, for the audience. Take, for example, Tommy Tiernan. a lot of his comedy delves into the psyche of the Irish consciousness. The uniquely Irish experience of the Catholic Church, the British Empire, emigration, poverty, cultural desolation and all the other negative connotations of being Irish. But the great thing about being Irish is that we can laugh at ourselves just as hard as anyone else. but we do take note of who is laughing at us, just for future reference. While we may initially laugh out loud at Tiernans stories, we do realise that they are based on reality, however tenuous the link may be. It makes us think, it makes us wonder what might have been and how we came to be where we are now.

So back to poor old Steve Martin. his comedy comprises of one-liners and situational comedy. Regrettably, the one liners are throw away lines and the situations are not funny to begin with. His seems to be trying to inject comedy into an essentially “dead” scenario. The comedy doesn’t connect with us as an audience, it may raise a giggle or two, but once that moment has passed there is no more required from us. Without the requirement for further thought or discourse, there is nothing for us to hold on to. Nothing for us to commit to memory, the original giggle fades and we’re left with the our original impression of how difficult the scene was to begin with.

Of course, this is just a thought, and Steve Martin may still be funny, just not for me anymore.