Paul Whitehouse has addressed the continuing discussions over what is appropriate in comedy nowadays, claiming that he thinks we had gone ‘a bit too far’.
The Welsh actor, writer, and comedian is best remembered for his role in the BBC comedy show The Fast Show, which aired from 1994 to 1997.
Now, in the wake of the Fawlty Towers revival, the veteran comic has spoken out against the status of comedy.
‘Things that you could say last year, you have to revaluate now, and you have to tread very carefully,’ he said.
‘And I think there’s a kind of zeal about it, of addressing perhaps issues that have gone unaddressed in the past.
‘And so, we go a bit too far and I’d like to think we’ll come back a bit.’
Paul, 64, made the remarks when appearing on The Andrew Marr Show last week, saying comedy had perhaps ‘gone too far’.
‘As we all know, there have been so many injustices in society that need to be addressed,’ he said.
‘And as I say, we’ve probably gone too far in our attempt to suppress those.
‘And hopefully, we can come back.’
He added that he now questioned whether doing accents were needed.
‘If I interact with my kids, and I do an accent, even these days, they might look askance at me,’ he explained.
‘And, you know, Bob and I discuss that with Gone Fishing with what accents are we allowed to do?
‘I think the kind of line that we’ve come to is not of the oppressed.’
Since 2018, Paul has co-starred in Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing with comedian Bob Mortimer, 63.
In response to the revival of Fawlty Towers, Paul suggested that star John Cleese, 83, should ‘don’t do it’ and ‘bring someone younger in’.
‘You think I’m going to give Cleese advice? Don’t do it, John! Get someone younger in,’ he joked.
Do you agree with Paul’s observations? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Now is the time to comment.
Earlier this month, John said that he and his daughter Camilla Cleese were working on a screenplay for a prospective new series of the beloved sitcom.
The reboot will follow Basil Fawlty as he discovers he has a hidden daughter and deals with the current, ever-changing world.
However, the Monty Python star said he wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be an ‘anti-woke nightmare’.
The announcement of the revival elicited varied emotions, with some suggesting it should be left in the past and others believing it would fall short of the original.
The Andrew Marr Show airs from Mondays to Thursdays at 6pm on LBC.
Source My Celebrity Life.