I noticed this thread has surfaced again.

I must admit that unlike many of the other singers who've posted, the number of times when I've actually had 'cold' requests (ie not "Can you sing that song which you did last time about . . . . . ") for bawdy songs in pubs is quite rare compared to those for "Wild Rover", "Fields of Athenry", "Streets of London" and a whole host of pop songs. As I said previously, bawdy songs are often a useful 'bridge' to a primarily non-folk audience. I'd hate to do a gig which had no humour in it at all, and it's a fact that people seem to find jokes of a sexual nature funnier than most others.