I would have thought that one of the glaringly obvious things about performing comedy (or music or anything) is that most of the long term successful surviving people have some underlying belief or cultural system that underlies and provides the basis of their material - whether it be feminism; racism; socialist; communist; jewish; satirical; etc etc

Let's say Jenny Eclair is a technically good performer (not to open a discussion as to whether she is or isn't). Would she have made a living doing Bernard Manning or Frank Carson's material however technically good she might be? Would she have survived as long? I tend to doubt it.

I reckon that most of the comedians (like musicians) who have survived have found the niche that THEY were comfortable in and performed material that THEY were comfortable with, and I can't believe that it does not in some way reflect the views that they hold.

Ben Elton doesn't have the old "bash thatch" act any nore because she isn't there and it probably doesn't fit him like a glove anymore.

As an aside -

I have a lovely view of scot's parents - black and jewish - desperately searching through the names book for a suitable name for their child. "Let's call him scot" they both say as one.