HUMOUR: THE GREAT PROTECTOR
by Roy Buchanan
Humour is like a suit of armour worn to protect vulnerable emotions. It bubbles where tension, stress and anxiety are frighteningly close to the surface. When we relax, away from the front-line of work, we have a natural propensity towards humour, a joke becomes a relief valve allowing the flow of solace.
There is humour on every page of Dr Adam Kay’s latest book, Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas. He is now an award-winning comedian and best-selling author, talents that flow from his pen. Although he is quick to highlight “patient idiocy”, he is repeatedly self-deprecating suggesting he sees himself as part of a broader canvas no matter how silly he thinks it is. He progresses this mindset further comparing job titles in hospitals to those in a 19th century stately home as described in Mrs Beaton’s Book of Household Management. He accepted his rank is equivalent to that of a scullery maid. A joke perhaps but more likely reality’s anchor.
During one Christmas he gets the unenviable task of telling a distressed family their relative has died but the moment becomes pythonesque. He inadvertently leans on his Christmas tie causing it to play Jingle Bells. Unable to switch it off, he blushes “to ketchup red” and leaves the room. In a temper he rips off the tie, throws it into a non-clinical waste bin, and regains his composure before returning to the room to find the daughter in stitches of laughter and the rest of the family smiling benignly. He admits, “Maybe there is an easier way to deliver bad news.”
Unfortunately, Kay’s compositional style can be criticised. As he is an educated person in a highly-respected profession it is distasteful that he occasionally includes foul language and vulgarity. It was the late Ken Dodd who said if you have to rely on swearing to be amusing your material is weak. Barrack-room terminology is rarely good quality and is certainly unbecoming when used by a more refined individual with professional status. It dilutes the potency of his work and Adam would be well advised to address this in future. What cannot be denied is that he is a gifted observer of behaviour, human interaction, and it is his talent to reflect that behaviour that makes his book appealing and certainly very popular with many readers.
Adam Kay seeks to entertain by words, written and spoken. Perhaps unwittingly, he is inspired by philosophy hinted at by his comment that whilst “Santa puts his feet up after a long night the Grim Reaper never gets the day off.” That’s rather stoical.
If you like observational humour this book is published by Picador at £9.99.