A hundred moments in autism - Autistic Comedy Night

As a comedy fan, I spent the first 54 years of my life assuming that observational comedy was deliberately unfunny. I have watched hundreds of comedians on stage and on TV (though I try to avoid Live at the Apollo because I’M NOT A FUCKING NT).   

But although I like comedy, and find much of the material as funny as any other audience member, I’ve always struggled with the ‘you know what it’s like when’ material, because I’ve never encountered any situation described by any comic that I remotely related to. ‘You know what it’s like when you’re in a group of thirty mates and …’ no, obviously I don’t know that situation. My social circles never reach double figures, occasionally five or six reliable friends, but usually two or three, or none. None is often ideal. 

Or, a comedian might begin with ‘You know when you’re in a bar and you go up to a total stranger …’, no, absolutely fucking not, you might as well start you joke with ‘you know when you’re on Mars in your protective space suit and you suddenly get an itch’. Actually, I get that one, I’ve never been to Mars but I’ve had an itch I either can’t reach. But going up to strangers in bars and starting conversations!!! 

I’ve always assumed that these ‘jokes’ were universally regarded as unfunny and that the NT audiences were simply laughing at the right places (not a social skill I possess I’m afraid). However, my views were changed when I went to an all-autistic comedy night. The first comedian began ‘you know what it’s like when’ but then went on: ‘you meet someone, get on really well, but when they leave you realise you have no idea what they look like because you’ve been avoiding eye-contact the whole time’. My god, yes, I thought that was just me. 

The autistic comedy night was a delight, I’ve never laughed so much (and not just because Mrs Oblong was one of the comedians).  Joke after joke related to my actual experiences as an autist growing up in an NT world.  

I realise now that the observational ‘you know what it’s like when’ jokes are experiences that NT audiences actually relate to. They’re only alien to me.  Of course, this doesn’t mean I’ll find these jokes any funnier, it certainly doesn’t mean I’ll start watching Live at the Apollo, but it does mean that the next time I see a joke of this type at least I’ll know that there is actual humour going on.