Review of "Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang"

Review of

Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang

Four out of five stars

 While this book was published in 1972, it is a collection of material that was published earlier and is a demonstration of how humor has evolved in the last quarter century. Swear words absolutely forbidden in the old days are now commonly used, even in the “cleaner” humor. Sexual innuendo had to be very light and subtle. Somewhat balancing this out is the current forbidden use of racial, ethnic and sexual orientation slurs. Furthermore, jokes about taking sexual advantage of women or engaging in forms of sexual harassment were once commonly used and are now forbidden.

 These features make this book an historically interesting look at how light humor used to be presented. Some of the jokes are a bit bawdy, although the sexual references are soft and not always obvious. A few are funny, others are just corny and some fall flat to the modern reader.

 If you are interested in the older style of humor and what passed for jokes of a sexual nature fifty years ago, this is a book that you will find entertaining.