The Comedy Café - 08/10/2010

How much has our sense of humour developed over the last two millennia? In the 21st century are we tickled by the same things the ancient Greeks were? Dan Crompton, author of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" has been investigating what was considered funny in the fourth century - while comedian Jim Bowen has road tested some of the material. They join us on the Comedy Café to discuss whether there really are any new jokes. Once ventriloquists and their dummy buddies were a common sight on primetime TV with the likes of Keith Harris and his duck Orville or Ray Allan with his plumy puppet Lord Charles. But since the '80's this particular form of comedy has slipped off our screens and was regarded as distinctly naff - until now... From US comedian Jeff Dunham's close-to-the-bone puppet, Achmed the Dead Terrorist to Nina Conti's potty-mouthed monkey sidekick, Monk, it's re-emerging as an edgy taboo-breaking art form. So has it managed to shake off associations with cheesy variety shows and re-invent itself as a provocative and subversive comedy genre? We consider why ventriloquism is back in vogue. And humourist Craig Brown parodies the private lives of very public figures in BBC Radio 4's new series "Craig Brown's Lost Diaries".