I suppose the age of the great folk comedians is over.

Acts like Jasper Carrot , Billy Connolly, Mike Harding, Brownsville Banned, Bob Williamson, Joe Stead....they were edgy in an age when folk music to most people was The Corries and The Spinners.

Alongside them were raconteur/musicians Alex Campbell, Derek Brimstone, Cosmotheka, Bernard Wrigley, Jake Thackeray. Artists presenting quite serious music in a light hearted way - entertaining....but not primarilly high powered comics. You can still see elements of this approach in Ralph MacTell's presentation

It was an age of professional entertainers. Men who honed their 'schtick' and performed for fees, several times a week, in small venues up and down England.

They were abused as 'piss artists'. by the serious curators of the tradition, but once they had gone - the folk clubs were gone.

When you are sitting in some dire singers club listening to someone who expects you to find Bread and Cheese or The Mole Catcher, read from an exercise book, amusing. Shed a tear for the skills that have been lost and an age gone forever.