Australian eyes; however, the Kiwis were just upset about a potential love boat being sent in the wrong direction, and were letting their emotions be known.with nations such as America aren't quite as strong and perhaps it is no co-incidence that such countries are less inclined to either take or give the piss. For example, simple attempts at hilarity involving George Bush's inability to eat a pretzel, let alone lead his country, invariably raise the ire of Americans who rush to their president's defence. Unfortunately, a situation of mirth may then descend into fisticuffs. br/>
Breaking the rules
the colonial era, the ability to make a policeman laugh may have been the difference between the gallows and freedom. A notable exponent of such comedy was a convict of African extraction by the name of Billy Blue. Billy wore a discarded military uniform, a top hat and and possessed a repertoire of jokes that flowed like fine wine. So well did he endear himself to the authorities, they 'believed' his claims that rather they be an alcohol smuggler, he kept finding liquor floating in Sydney harbour and had been stopped before he had a chance to report it to the authorities.Gordon, another convict of African extraction, faced court expecting to receive a death sentence. When he appeared in the dock, Daniel was wild and incoherent in a performance that smacked of a praise-the-lord pastor crossed with a black and white minstrel. Everyone from other convicts to the court clerk thought he was acting. Fortunately, the usually skeptical judge deemed him mentally unfit for trial. When his condition failed to improve, the case was called off. Daniel eventually died 32 years later, aged 81.full-figured cricket player Shane Warne was found guilty of using a banned diuretic, he pleaded that he was just trying to lose weight to look good for the cameras. He even threw in a few fat jokes, for example that he was tired of being teased about having "more chins than a Chinese phonebook." Instead of being given the standard two year suspension, Shane was only banned for one year. Perhaps this indicates that his jokes were given a bare pass mark.Hogan - Australian OlympicsAustralians are a cynical bunch. Unfortunately, they are faced with a dilemma as if they express there criticism they may be called a whingeing pom, an elitist wanker or even worse, a wowser.clever Australians resolve this quandary by disguising their criticisms as jokes. Tony Martin expressed his distaste for the commentators of a commercial television station by saying:
"Channel nine's pissing me off at the moment, is it just me or does anyone else hate the cricket as much as I do? Because I'm sorry, but when I turn on the TV and it's just like 12 blokes in white clothes, standing in a field .. like all day and Tony Greg says "Well it just doesn't get much more exciting tha...
