Jokes on a Coach

The success of Snakes on a Plane suggests a popular craving for simple ideas well executed. A recent press trip that involved a coach journey from Munich to Salzburg suggested another. How do people pass the time without laptops, games and iPods? By telling each other jokes.
Comedy has embraced the reality genre in a number of ways - faux-documentaries (The Office, People Like Us), first person narratives (Peep Show), CCTV scams (Trigger Happy TV), but control has always been in the hands of an auteur or auteurs. The great unwashed are the source material for the comedic genius, never the source of that genius themselves. Which is, of course, nonsense. There are hilarious people in every pub, school and workplace. And most humour is viral - the same jokes spreading by word of mouth in playgrounds, canteens and on coaches all over the place. Stick a camera crew on a National Express or Greyhound bus and ask people to tell each other jokes and there would be enough material for a six-part series within days. 'Did you hear the one about the TV executive and the no-brainer? ...'