Northern Wit...

A fellow writer forwarded me an email this morning in which somebody had commented that the most humorous writers of the moment (myself included) were all hailing from north of the border and I was interested in exploring just why that might be!

Is it because we don't take life as seriously as everyone else and have learnt to laugh at ourselves (because thats what everybody else has been doing for years!)? Is it because we've been known to take life too seriously in the past and that the legacy of 'the troubles' have convinced us that life is simply too short not to have a good belly rupturing giggle now and again? Or does it come with the territory? If you have 'Norn Iron' roots and are brought up in these parts are you instantly in the queue to receive a large dose of wit, humour and general merriment (although now that I think about it maybe some of us got more than others...some people must definitely have got re-routed and ended up in the 'sarcastic, spiteful knobhead with a bad attitude you could trip over' queue?!

In my experience us Northerners have a language all of our own. We are easily identifiable in a crowd with our 'broad as your boot' accents and way of pronouncing things (just ask Claire Allan to do her rendition of 'Beautiful' in a Derry accent and you'll see what I mean right away...ahem!) We have our own brand of wit, which I am immensely proud of and perhaps because the six counties are such a small unit its part of our unique charm that we are able to make people laugh with our observations and quirky take on life!

I'm not speaking for anyone else, nor am I dismissing the great work that is being carried out by our southern counterparts, I'm simply offering a theory but it fills me with pride when I hear that the Northerners are making an impact and that in particular we're bringing a smile to the faces of others!

Laugh...its the healthiest exercise of all! Good for body, spirit and mind!