Titter ye not: The Krankies are back and they’re funny

The Krankies continue to exist and, unexpectedly, I’m happy about it. Like much of my news, I saw it on The Courier’s Facebook page. Among the familiar road crashes and court reports, some readers helpfully pointed out that various articles aren’t news even though they’re reading them and reacting to them. Then, up popped Jimmy Krankie.

I smiled because it was a story about lying. I have two main rules that have carried me through a career in journalism and, lately, communications: tell the truth, and read the paper. The second one has morphed over the years as newspapers have suffered, so I now sometimes express it as “be informed” but the first is immutable.

The Krankies are based on a flimsy lie. In the ’80s, when Jimmy manifested like a demonic leprechaun every time you turned on the TV, I had to be told he wasn’t a real boy. He was – shockingly – a grownup lady in disguise, and I was hugely embarrassed I didn’t spot the gag. I was nine.

Ironically, The Krankies have returned with a confidence trick, and a fake one at that. The story in question was a stunt in which Jimmy sneaked on to the Heathrow Express train without paying. The point being made, to promote the train company, was that children don’t have to pay.

The surprise came when I laughed, realising Jimmy is funnier than he used to be because now he’s a weird, old lady acting crazy. People obviously knew who it was and played along.

We lie every day, to our kids, ourselves and others. We buy into the gag because it’s easier. But the truth will always matter, however difficult it is. If something is funny, or isn’t, or a news report is weak, I hope people keeping saying so, because the ordinary consumer is the ultimate overseer. Sometimes, it’s good to be a little bit cheeky.