As you will all know, it's very common in the folk scene for the banjo to be joked about. I watched a group just the other week in which one of the members occasionally played it; and of course, the group leader had to apologise when the banjo player picked up the instrument, and promise that they'd try to stop him picking it up again.

All harmless fun of course, and I'm not knocking it, it's great to have humour included in an act ... but I do find it interesting that the banjo in particular is chosen for this ribbing. It's a great instrument in the right hands, and it certainly doesn't grate as much, when badly played, as can some instruments - the fiddle, for example.

Any theories?