'Womanface': Outrage over Ant and Dec's drag act risks the end of comedy as we know it – Aidan Smith

The first joke I ever heard in a theatre was told by a man in a giant wig and fake boobs.
Ant and Dec in the drag routine which offended some viewers who called it 'womanface' (Picture: Kieron McCarron/ITV/Shutterstock)Ant and Dec in the drag routine which offended some viewers who called it 'womanface' (Picture: Kieron McCarron/ITV/Shutterstock)
Ant and Dec in the drag routine which offended some viewers who called it 'womanface' (Picture: Kieron McCarron/ITV/Shutterstock)

Ronnie Corbett related it to Stanley Baxter who was adorned with even bigger hair and an even bigger embonpoint because he’s always believed that in showbusiness no expense should be spared.

The great Scottish comedians were being winched onto the stage in the basket of a hot-air balloon. The balloon was missing – the only inflatables on display were strapped to their chests – but I imagine Baxter had argued long and hard for it to be part of the spectacle and only lost out after objections from air traffic controllers.

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I laughed at Corbett’s gag and all the others in that pantomime at Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre. This was also the first time I’d seen men dressed as women so did I laugh at that?

I’m sure I did but although the show was a long time ago and I was very young, I didn’t come away with a freshly formulated opinion of the fairer sex that they should suddenly be viewed as figures of fun.

Not my Auntie Jean, who treated me to the outing, not my strap-brandishing schoolteacher, not Madame Doubtfire, the movie-inspiring second-hand clothes seller who was my neighbour – and certainly not my mum.

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So the other day, did I think Ant and Dec dressed as women was “misogynistic”, like the TV viewers who complained to Ofcom? Not really. In fact, not at all.

This is getting serious, isn’t it? Maybe all comedy needs to completely shut down so that no one can be “offended” by anything ever again.

Or at the very least suspended for a full and thorough investigation. We need to know, for instance, who watched The Dick Emery Show between 1963 and 1981 and which of the 166 episodes made them giggle.

While the probe is ongoing, those poor deluded fools still trying to make a living from humour and who’ve been challenged on content can answer: “We’re waiting on the findings of the official report.” I’m sure we could depend on Sue Gray to do a good job here.

On their Saturday Night Takeaway, Ant and Dec became Lady Antoinette and Donna Lee for a musical skit. This was in aid of charity which of course can cover up a multitude of sins and render any criticism as, well, uncharitable.

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Now, I could criticise the choice of stage-names as unfunny. I could criticise the song as unfunny. But I fail to see how the sheer act of them being in drag was “womanface”.

One angry viewer complained to Ant and Dec via Twitter: “Absolutely DISGUSTED in you doing womanface on TV. It’s not fun to appropriate the identities of others and parody them. Women are fed up being the only oppressed group it’s okay to abuse.”

Another ranted: “I love panto but this is not that. Who’d have thought in 2022 we’d have a reincarnation of The Black and White Minstrel Show but with womanface?”

If the duo had been done up as sad old slappers, or non-practicing sex maniacs like Emery’s most famous, and some would now say notorious, character, that would be more questionable (though still short of misogyny, I reckon). But as drag queens go, Ant and Dec were quite fanciable. Fake boob technology has obviously come on a bundle since Baxter and Corbett’s pomp.

And if it’s “not fun to appropriate the identity of others and parody them”, then surely that outlaws all mimicry including, for instance, Steve Coogan’s mirthful mash-up of every berkish, deluded, excruciating TV host there’s ever been – and when Richard Madeley still acts like he’s never heard of Alan Partridge, that’s absolutely bloody hilarious.

Then we come to the actual song. Did no one bother to listen to the words? Here’s just a sample: “We stand together… Every beautiful soul here… Don’t be bitter, just be better… Everyone has their own story… Live your life… Proud forever… Be free.”

I don’t think it could possibly have exuded more positivity. The cynical might even try and argue that the ditty was so slogan-tastic that it must have been a sly send-up of womankind, wellness and wokery. But it wasn’t.

Plenty of viewers approved and applauded. “Joyous and amazing… Drag queens celebrate and big up women… Real feminists love drag… Being able to watch this on ‘normal’ Saturday night TV as a kid would’ve made a world of difference to me… Can’t believe anyone complained – re younger viewers, they’re growing up in a society that’s more open to people being different, so a good thing.”

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Phew, and you lot got all of that from daubs of lippy, a sprinkle of sequins and some wobbly high-heeled dancing? Well, both, er, camps here want their message understood.

So much so that they may have got a bit over-excited. Maybe there is no sub-text, or even text. Perhaps it’s just been two popular entertainers trying to have a laugh in an era when everything is scrutinised, everything can be construed as being “-ist” in some way, and probably wishing they were working alongside Emery and The Two Ronnies and Les Dawson, et al.

Oh they were awful, that lot, but I liked them. A man in a dress is funny, always has been. But you’re laughing at the man, not at loads of women who aren’t present.

So now you probably want to know about Ronnie Corbett’s joke. Well, you had to be there, and you had to be a young football fan to appreciate him holding a set of antlers and quipping: “These are for Hearts – they could do with a few points.” But, hang on, would that be “Jamboface” now?

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