Igenlode Wordsmith

I've been watching classic "Hancock's Half Hour" TV episodes as part of my quest to reduce the video library (e.g. watch them and then throw them away unless I'm likely to want to rewatch them). I remember the radio episodes as being quite funny, but either my sense of humour has changed or the format didn't transfer well to television -- this is the humour of humiliation again, where the viewer is invited to laugh at the protagonist's increasing discomfort and self-exposure.

Judging by the video sleeve, the final episode on this tape, "The Radio Ham", was expected to be the big draw, and indeed it actually got a laugh or two out of me at the beginning, pleasantly to my surprise. But as soon as we go into the "Mayday" sequence the script turns from wrongfooting the listener to putting the protagonist through a series of cringemaking experiences again, and watching Hancock demonstrate his incompetence at the expense of a desperate man just makes me wince. It's not quite the same as the sort of comedy that relies on Laurel & Hardy smashing things up by mistake or Charlie Chaplin taking a pratfall, but it's not far off -- people getting hurt doesn't amuse me.