Political correctness is killing comedy in Australia, some of the country’s best-loved comedians have warned.
Performers such as Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson and Rodney Rude say they have been forced off stage and out of venues by aggressive PC activists.
Television comedy is the biggest casualty of the PC brigade’s relentless campaign to ban jokes that offend, with the major networks shunning sketch shows altogether.
With comedians mourning the death of their art form, Daily Mail Australia looks back at classic old sketches that would cause outrage if they were performed today.
Political correctness is killing comedy in Australia, some of the country’s best-loved comedians have warned (pictured is Eric Bana in a Full Frontal sketch)
Performers such as Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson and Rodney Rude say they have been forced off stage and out of venues by aggressive PC activists (pictured are Steve Vizard and Michael Veitch in a Fast Forward sketch)
Television comedy is the biggest casualty of the PC brigade’s relentless campaign to ban jokes that offend, with the major networks shunning sketch shows altogether (pictured is Marg Downey in a Fast Forward sketch)
‘I can’t go on TV anymore as it’s so bloody PC… or do the Sydney Comedy festival. The audience is too mainstream and gets offended,’ Wilson told The Daily Telegraph.
Billy Birmingham, creator of The Twelfth Man, said he would be crucified for his skits today.
‘The soft new generation of PC-wary comedians need to grow some balls and not worry about pleasing the audience,’ he said.
‘I get physically and verbally abused all the time and banned from pubs and bars around the country … I just find new venues.’
One long-running sketch involved Steve Vizard and Michael Veitch acting as gay flight attendants
Gay Qantas Stewards (Fast Forward)
Fast Forward aired between 1989 and 1992 generating huge rating and featuring comedians such as Jane Turner, Gina Riley and Magda Szubanski.
One long-running sketch involved Steve Vizard and Michael Veitch acting as gay flight attendants.
Dressed as camp Qantas stewards, the pair played on gay stereotypes and double entendres, but would undoubtedly attract the ire of PC activists today.
This 1995 Gay Olympics sketch would be slammed as homophobic in 2018 for its jokes about the ‘100metre mince’ and a lesbian couple trying to book a hotel room
The 1995 Gay Olympics (Big Girl’s Blouse)
Big Girl’s Blouse followed Fast Forward in the mid-90s, and starred the same three actresses destined for Kath & Kim fame.
The name itself – a term for a person who lacks masculine qualities – would be unlikely to make it past the PC gatekeepers of popular culture today.
Their 1995 Gay Olympics sketch would be slammed as homophobic in 2018 for its jokes about the ‘100metre mince’ and a lesbian couple trying to book a hotel room.
Billy Birmingham (pictured) produced sporting commentary parodies from 1984 to 2006, with some of his most popular material poking fun at foreign names
Pakistani Names (The Twelfth Man)
Billy Birmingham produced sporting commentary parodies from 1984 to 2006, with some of his most popular material poking fun at foreign names.
The comedian took aim at Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan names, as well as players from England and New Zealand.
In a sketch from 1993 album Still the 12th Man, Birmingham plays Richie Benaud forcing the other commentators to practice the names of the Pakistan team.
Wasim Akram became ‘Was he a crim?” and Javed Miandad was pronounced as ‘Jar of vegemite for me and Dad’.
An iconic Fast Forward routine featured Marg Downey parodying ‘What’s on SBS’ (pictured)
SBS Newsreader (Fast Foward)
Another iconic Fast Forward routine featured Marg Downey parodying ‘What’s on SBS’.
Putting on an Eastern European ethnic accent, the comedian would read fictional SBS program titles.
The first sketch in the long-running series made jokes about Bulgaria, Latvia, Sweden and Russian food.
A 1987 sketch about a Dubbo Olympic bid featured comedians in blackface and stereotypical ethnic clothing
Dubbo Olympic bid (D-Generation)
The D-Generation ran between 1986 and 1989 on the ABC, and starred comedians who would go on to star in Fast Forward, Full Frontal, Frontline and The Panel.
A 1987 sketch about a Dubbo Olympic bid featured comedians in blackface and stereotypical ethnic clothing.
After mocking a delegate from Ecuador, the fictional Dubbo delegate joked about Koreans eating dogs in a speech littered with racial slurs.
In a Fast Forward sketch, comedians Steve Vizard and Peter Moon painted themselves to look like Indian Rug salesmen
Fukurri Rugs (Fast Foward)
In another Fast Forward sketch, comedians Steve Vizard and Peter Moon painted themselves to look like Indian Rug salesmen.
Featuring characters Roger Ramshett and his cousin Abdul, the segment was a profane play on the name of a Melbourne rug store.
The pair spoke in Indian accents and used racial stereotypes to an extent that would sent today’s PC brigade into a frenzy.
Con the Fruiterer was a character played by Mark Mitchell based on a Greek Australian market stall holder
Con the Fruiterer (The Comedy Company)
Also running in the late 1980s was The Comedy Company, featuring character Kylie Mole who popularised the word ‘bogan’.
Con the Fruiterer was another much-loved creation, a character played by Mark Mitchell based on a Greek Australian market stall holder.
Hugely popular at the time, Con would never be shown on TV today, as the portrayal would be seen as a racist stereotype.
Pictured is a scene from The Bicycle Song on The Paul Hogan Show about men ogling women
The Bicycle Song (The Paul Hogan Show)
With the MeToo movement in full swing the slightest suggestion of sexism is enough to kill a comedy act.
Not so in the 70s and 80s, when The Paul Hogan Show regularly featured models in skimpy clothing being ogled by the famous actor.
One such skit, The Bicycle Song, showed an attractive woman wearing hotpants on a bicycle distracting men as they went about their day-to-day lives.
Another Fast Forward favourite was Kelvin Cunnington (pictured), a giggling idiot who constantly made lewd jokes
Kelvin the Giggling Idiot (Fast Forward)
Another Fast Forward favourite was Kelvin Cunnington, a giggling idiot who constantly made lewd jokes.
Specialising in double entendres, the character played by Michael Veitch would collapse into laughter whenever a sexual reference was made.
In one sketch a goodbye speech was interrupted until Kelvin was hit with a painting, but the whole skit would get the boot in 2018.
After Fast Forward came Full Frontal, which launched the career of Hollywood star-to-be Eric Bana (pictured as Poida)
Storytime with Poida (Full Frontal)
After Fast Forward came Full Frontal, which launched the career of Hollywood star-to-be Eric Bana.
Bana’s bogan character Poida was a mullet-sporting VB-drinking community television host who carried an esky everywhere.
One iconic sketch involved Bana reading the story of Snow White and the Seven Little Bogans – Lazy, Dribbly, Dopehead, Prof, Basher and Kev.
The storytime sketch made fun of dole bludgers, and involved Snow White and the Queen insulting each other over their weight and appearance.
Even Agro from Agro’s Cartoon Connection would be unacceptable in 2018, and suggestions of a Crocodile Dundee were met with outrage in some quarters
Even Agro from Agro’s Cartoon Connection would be unacceptable in 2018, and suggestions of a Crocodile Dundee were met with outrage in some quarters.
After an ad posing as a new Crocodile Dundee movie was released earlier this year, critics said a new film should never be made.
‘What would Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home need to do to capture the spirit of the original three Crocodile Dundee movies, released in 1986, 1988 and 2001?’ asked The Guardian.
‘For starters, in addition to being vulgar and witless, the new film would need to be sexist, racist, homophobic and transphobic.’
‘I can’t go on TV anymore as it’s so bloody PC… or do the Sydney Comedy festival. The audience is too mainstream and gets offended,’ said Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson (pictured)
The accusations followed a number of campaigns in the US which have targeted The Simpsons for the character Apu, and even the sitcom Friends.
Not all comedians are opposed to the effect of political correctness on their industry, with some saying avoiding offence is just ‘common decency’.
Melbourne comedian Nazeem Hussain said old school comedians should stop doing ‘lazy comedy’ and find new material instead of relying on offensiveness for laughs.
After an ad posing as a new Crocodile Dundee movie was released earlier this year, critics said a new film should never be made