‘I don’t feel forced or bullied by woke politics – I feel educated by it’
Frank Skinner has revealed he “wouldn’t do” some of the old jokes from his career because he finds them offensive.
The legendary comic was famous in the 1990s for his risqué routines and jokes, and said it was the “norm” to make “brutal” jokes in this period.
However, he admitted that he has been educated by “woke politics” to not make such jokes anymore.
Speaking to the Today podcast, he said: “Sometimes even on videos of me from the ’90s, I see myself do a joke and I think, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that now’, because it might be a joke I now find a bit offensive.
“It’s interesting this because the most asked question is, ‘Can you do stand-up comedy in the age of woke politics?’, and all that stuff. But my comedy is very autobiographical, I don’t make anything up, it’s just things that have happened in my life which I process through my comedy head.”
Skinner has a 12-year-old son, Buzz, with his partner Cath Mason, and explained that becoming a parent had changed his comedy routines.
“All this recent woke politics of the last 10 years has had an effect on me, I’ve become a parent during that period,” he added.
He went on to say that racist, sexist and homophobic language was the “norm” when grew up, so there was “no alternate voice” to challenge offensive jokes early in his career.
The 67-year-old said: “When I was growing up in the West Midlands, I got to be brutal: racist language, sexist language, homophobia – it was absolutely the norm. It wasn’t that I wasn’t listening to the alternate voice, there was no alternate voice. I didn’t even question it.
“But I do question it now, and I have questioned it a lot. I think most of us have in recent years, I don’t feel forced or bullied by woke politics – I feel educated by it.”
He added: “So, I see stuff now and I think I wouldn’t do that now. But at the same time, it’s healthy to think that, because I don’t want to think of my life in stasis.
“I think the idea that we can improve, the idea that you can re-think your attitudes, there’s no point in woke politics if that doesn’t work.”
Whilst some comics have hit out at so-called wokeness, which is simply about being more aware of injustices and discrimination in society, Skinner has previously said he’s “very happy” about this.
During an appearance on This Morning earlier this year, the comedian said he doesn’t think “there’s anything wrong with dirty” but that it’s about who they’re targeted at.
“I’m personally very happy about the woke movement because I don’t have any desire to go up and be cruel or unkind to anybody,” he said.
