Subtlety not slapstick the key to Yorkshire's brilliant sense of humour

Note the S in the middle...this was the town in northern Queensland with a distinctly wild west feel, and not the suburb of Castleford with a, well, way-out west feel of its own.

Sitting opposite me was David Oates, the late and much-missed BBC Radio 5 Live sports reporter, and as fiercely proud a Lancastrian as it is possible to be.

Despite having lived down in that there London for many years, ‘Oatsie’ had lost none of his Blackpool charm, or the innate love-hate relationship that the people from the rainy side of the Pennines have with the good folk of God’s own country.

Oatsie delighted in reminding anyone who would listen how superior Lancashire’s football clubs were to their counterparts in Yorkshire, and given the comparative lack of success enjoyed by Leeds United, Sheffields Wednesday and United, Hull City and Middlesbrough to the teams from the North West in recent decades, this was always territory best avoided.

He would grudgingly acknowledge - if not agree with - Yorkshire claims to be England’s top cricketing county, and knew he was on a sticky wicket when it came to rugby league in the Super League era: the records of Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls speak for themselves.

It was on the eve of the 2008 rugby league World Cup, and four hours into an unsuccessful attempt to find an Australian beer which actually tasted of anything, that the faux-lugubrious broadcaster delivered his coup de grâce.

Drawing his chair back and sticking his chest out ever so slightly, Oatsie declared in a matter-of-fact manner which suggested the subject needed no debate: “The thing about Yorkshire people is, they’re just not funny.”

Despite his intent, a long, protracted and at times caustic debate inevitably ensued as the White Rose contingent rose in uproar to rubbish such an outrageous slur.

I have no recollection how the debate concluded, largely because of the effects of too much cold, flavour-free tonsil tonic, but until his untimely death three years ago at the tragically young age of 50, Oatsie would often enliven social occasions by challenging anyone to name five famous Yorkshire comedians.

I have tried on many occasions, and, quite frankly, it’s bloomin’ difficult. The best five I can come up with are Vic Reeves (Leeds), Bob Mortimer (Acklam), Ernie Wise (Bramley), Graham Fellows, aka John Shuttleworth (Sheffield) and Norman Collier (Hull).

There’s also Charlie Williams from Barnsley; Barry Cryer (Leeds); and Hull’s own Lucy Beaumont, although it’s perhaps a stretch to describe her as famous. Marti Caine, from Sheffield, was funny but more of an all-round entertainer; and the Chuckle Brothers (Rotherham) and Michael Palin (Sheffield) are also adept at making people laugh but would never insert ‘Comedian’ alongside ‘Occupation’ on their passports.

Head west from Halifax and you begin to mine a rich seam of funny men and women who have gained national and international reputations in the happy world of humour: Al Read, Frank Randle, Hylda Baker, Eric Morecambe, Jimmy Clitheroe, Les Dawson, Victoria Wood, Steve Coogan, Caroline Aherne, Johnny Vegas, Peter Kay, Stan Boardman, Jimmy Tarbuck, Ken Dodd, Lee Mack, John Bishop and Jason Manford were all born and raised in the Red Rose county.

According to writer Tony Hannan, Lancashire humour has succeeded where Yorkshire’s hasn’t largely because of the subtle differences in how it is delivered in the two counties.

Mr Hannan, whose authoritative and hugely entertaining book On Behalf of the Committee: A History of Northern Comedy has become a definitive reference point, also believes the industrial heritage of Yorkshire and Lancashire has been an important factor.

“It’s a widely held view that a region’s humour is largely determined by its industries and that’s the case for Yorkshire and Lancashire,” he said.

“Many Lancashire comedians have come from mill towns where people have worked side-by-side in noisy mills: because of the noise they communicate in a more extrovert way and humour is delivered differently.

“In Yorkshire, mining and farming tended to be more solitary occupations and the humour was very specific to those industries.

“People like Les Dawson were adept at mouthing rude words to raise a laugh: Lancashire humour has always been more whimsical and performance-based.

“Yorkshire humour tends to be drier and, if taken at face value, can be misinterpreted as dour. It’s a more difficult style of humour to translate to a new audience.

“Alan Bennett is a good example of Yorkshire humour at its best: a lot of his humour is borne from keen observation of the minutiae of everyday life. It is presented in such a way that if you weren’t paying attention you might see it as downbeat and miss the comedy in it.”

Nowhere is the contrast between Yorkshire and Lancashire better revealed than in the chemistry that produced one of the most successful double-acts in the history of modern entertainment: Morecambe and Wise.

“Yorkshire comedians have often made the best straight men in double acts and Ernie Wise is a fine example,” added Mr Hannan. “A lot of Morecambe and Wise’s humour stemmed from Eric making quips about Ernie being a stereotypical Yorkshireman who was tight with his money.

“Ernie was very clever at delivering subtle lines and without him the partnership wouldn’t have been anywhere near as impactful.”

So there you have it: Yorkshire people really are funny. It’s just that many Lancastrians aren’t clever enough to realise it. Or are relying on we Tykes to make them sound funny.

Even David Oates would find it hard to disagree. Or perhaps not.

On Behalf of the Committee: A History of Northern Comedy by Tony Hannan is available in hardback from Scratching Shed Publications (£25), or as an eBook from Amazon priced (£7.32).