Posh education a joke to Midland comics

As well as comedy, many have since starred in TV shows, hosted programmes and even have film roles under their belts – but what do they have in common?

Not one of them was educated at Oxford or Cambridge, yet it has not been a barrier to their success.

Comedian Bob Mortimer has sparked a heated debate by asking if people who went to Oxbridge are the funniest people in the world and if not, why do they get so much work?

The comedian, comedy partner of Vic Reeves, claims Oxbridge alumni have a disproportionate influence in the world of comedy and get more spin-off work because of it.

He says: "I sometimes wonder, with the Oxbridge comics, the broadcasters seem to say, at some point, now I trust you to do a documentary, you can be the voice for a maths show, or whatever. And I don't think we're ever considered in that way.

"There's something about the Oxbridgers that plays a part in that process. There's a lot more options available to them in broadcasting, and I don't know why that is. You meet them and some of them are funny, some of them not so funny.

"I find it hard to believe that the people who go to Oxbridge are by such a huge percentage, the funniest people on earth. It just doesn't seem right. There's something going on."

While many of the country's most famous comedians went to Oxbridge, such as Rowan Atkinson, Al Murray, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Jimmy Carr, and Telford's own funnyman Stewart Lee, the same cannot be said for other Midlands counterparts.

Take Shropshire favourite Greg Davies, for example.

He's built his entire routine around the kind of ordinary, everyday observations he made during his far from privileged upbringing in Wem.

He was educated at the town's Thomas Adams School, going on to Brunel University, where he studied English and drama. Long before earning a living as a comedian, he was a teacher.

"There were a rich collection of characters in Wem that made growing up all that funnier, and that built the spine of my last show," says Davies, who left the town at the age of 19.

"I met a few more characters to draw on a 13-year teaching career for starters, but countless holiday fiascos and disasters helped."

It's a similar story for Lenny Henry, one of the region's best known funnymen – an alumni of the Blue Coat School in Dudley.

The talents of Frank Skinner are seemingly endless. He was educated not far away from Lenny's land, at Oldbury Technical School Sixth Form and Warley College of Technology and graduated from Birmingham Polytechnic in 1981 with a degree in English. He then went on to the University of Warwick where he gained a Masters degree in English Literature.

Skinner has spoken in the past about the value of education when in 2009 he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Wolverhampton, in recognition of his contribution to comedy, particularly stand-up.

He says school was the perfect place to debut his material – both as a child and an adult. "I loved school – too much probably. At school I was already working as a stand-up comedian.Growing up in Oldbury and Smethwick, I thought my destiny was to leave school and work in a factory until I died, but education opened up another life a lot more than being on telly did.

"It was the biggest change in my life – even more than the fame thing. I really felt my head expand."

Like Greg Davies, he has used the classroom as a platform.

"As a teacher I was a pretty good stand-up comedian – at the end of the day, it was an audience."

He believes his degree gave him an 'analytical mind'. "I don't think I would have found comedy as easy if I had not done that degree. The actual skills I had gained applied to all sorts of other things in my life."

Despite Skinner's educational history, West Midlands pantomime veteran Malcolm Stent agrees with Bob Mortimer – particularly about the differences in humour.

He says: "There's probably a north-south divide and an education divide in comedy. The Oxbridge educated ones seem to think they're a cut above. Their humour is based on a knowledge of the English language where they can be glib and cutting.

"But the people who run television and make the decisions tend to come from the same background. Your working class comics tend to send themselves and their families up and it's much funnier. It tends to travel well from a working class comic."

A lack of Oxbridge heritage certainly hasn't done Julie Walters any harm. She shot to fame in the film Educating Rita, and has graced our screens in hit films such as the Harry Potter series and on television in programmes like Dinnerladies – and all from a girl who was asked to leave school prematurely.

Born in Smethwick, she attended Holly Lodge Grammar School for Girls, but was asked to leave the lower sixth. She later trained as a nurse before going to Manchester Polytechnic.

Wolverhampton's Meera Syal, attended Queen Mary's High School in Walsall and then Manchester University, but that has not stopped her from becoming a successful entertainer, famous for her part in creating the hit Goodness Gracious Me.

Then there's Birmingham comedian Jasper Carrott OBE, arguably one of the country's most recognisable comedy stars. He attended Acocks Green Primary School and Moseley Grammar School.

Black Country comedian Aynuck says it is pure coincidence so many of today's top comic's studied at Oxbridge.

The 75-year-old, who left school at 15, and marks his 50th year in comedy this April, said: "I don't think comedy is something you learn, it is something that is inbred in you."

Best lines from the Midlands' funniest:

Greg Davies - Thomas Adams School, Wem: "What do you call cheese that doesn't belong to you? Nacho cheese."

Lenny Henry - The Blue Coat School, Dudley: "I'd stay away from Ecstasy. This is a drug so strong it makes white people think they can dance."

Jasper Carrott - Moseley Grammar School: "Laughter is the best medicine – unless you're diabetic, then insulin comes pretty high on the list."

Frank Skinner - Oldbury Technical Secondary School: "The Premiership feels like a big party that's going on up the road but we're not invited, and I really feel that Albion should be invited."

Meera Syal - Queen Mary's High School, Walsall: "Irony is the best thing that England has given me. You don't get irony in India, you get parody."

Neil Morrissey - Thistley Hough High School, Stoke: "Bed? Beds are for sleepy people! Let's get a kebab and go to a disco!"

Tony Hancock - Bradfield College, Reading (born Birmingham): "A pint? That's very nearly an armful."

Mark Williams - North Bromsgrove High School: "Oooh! Suits you sir . . . do you like a bit of smut sir?"

Sid Field - Golden Hillock School, Birmingham: "I used to work on the trains, you know!"