Evidence that Fran does get the occasional invitation despite the risks
I don't get many invitations these days. That's what happens when, at people's dinners and parties, you tell the same jokes again and again, like this one. A customer goes into a fish and chip shop and says, 'Can I have a steak and kiddly pie, please?' 'A steak and kiddly pie?' says the shop assistant. 'Surely you mean steak and kidney?' 'But I said that, diddle I?' says the customer. One of the reasons I love that joke is that I can use it to start off lessons about phonology (speech sounds). It doesn't always work. Often I say, 'Let me start the lesson by telling you this joke ..' and the students say, 'Is it the one about the steak and kiddly pie?' and I say, 'Oh, damn. Have I already done that?' and they yawn and say, 'Yes, about fifty times. Could you just teach us the lesson and then we can go?' Anyway, having said I don't get many invitations, I did have one this week, and tha...