The Gift Of Laughter shared by Irish Comedian Frank Carson
During his time on this earth Frank Carson was the man who made them laugh , In his own words , it was the way he told them .
He was born and reared in a wee house in Great Patrick Street in Sailorstown in Belfast .
My Grandfather Frank McCann (nicknamed Yank ) and his wife Sarah lived upstairs with all their children and downstairs in the same house lived Frank Carson and his family.
The wee house occupied both the McCann and Carson families .
They all had to leave the house during the troubles in the 1920’s , when under threat of being burnt out of their home the two catholic families fled to find somewhere else to live . Frank Carson and his family found shelter in a wee place known as Little Italy in North Belfast which had once occupied a sizeable number of the Italian community that then became one of Belfast’s lost communities.
Frank Carson grew up fast and he learned to laugh at life that threw him jammy dodgers for bread and black puddings for dessert .
In a world where he had to adapt fast, he frequently changed course along the way and for many reasons was able to survive through the troubles of the twenties in Belfast and through the world war in the forties .
Frank had always found a way to have the last laugh at the trouble’s life presented him .
As a catholic lad in North Belfast, he joined up with the British army in the forties serving as a paratrooper in Palestine . In a bomb blast that killed several of this comrades Frank was the only one who had survived .
After surviving the bullets and bombs he returned home to Belfast in Northern Ireland and began another career as a standup comedian .
In the early days as a comedian,
Frank would do several shows in one night at different places around Belfast to make a living .
In a city that has a long history of conflict between Catholic and Protestant , Frank Carson told the same jokes to both sides of the religious divide and he was the man who could make both Catholic and Protestant people have a laugh together.
His catch phrase , “It’s the way I tell them “ made a big impact not only in Ireland but also across the water in England where he was appearing on a TV show called the Comedians and now he was making both The Irish and the English laugh together .
Out of diversity humour can be found and Frank knew how to do that best .
He carved out a career in being a comedian and it was the way he told them that kept them laughing in the aisles and in their armchairs .
It’s a gift as he would often say or “It’s a wee Cracker “
He was a true artist in many ways with his gift of humour and he showed that as a pathos of the life he lived .
He could make them laugh and cry at the same time . Sure he made the world a happier place for many .
He looked vaguely familiar. I may have seen something of him in the 50s on television. Sounds like a very resourceful and a guy who could survive almost anything.
One of my students in Atlanta was older than me and one of his sons went to Notre Dame to learn in theater arts. He is now on the circuit and support his family as "The cleanest comedian on the circuit." He made his name complaining about being a bachelor. But he had to change his tune after getting married and settling down.
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During his time on this earth Frank Carson was the man who made them laugh , In his own words , it was the way he told them .
