AustLit

Towards the end of last century between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on a Saturday night, Channel Nine broadcast a television show called Hey Hey, It's Saturday. It was a peculiar show, featuring a genial host, an ostrich puppet, an unseen voice-over man, a hat on a stick, a band, singers and entertainers and a range of fun games and segments. One of the segments was the Great Aussie Joke. Shane Bourne and Maurie Fields would tell jokes sent in by viewers: Little Johnny is sitting in the gutter. He's playing with a bottle. The local priest walks by and says, 'Little Johnny, what's in the bottle?' Little Johnny replies, 'Sulphuric acid!' The priest looks alarmed and says, 'Give that to me! Take this bottle of holy water instead. It's wonderful. Last week I rubbed some of this on the belly of a lady and she passed a beautiful little baby.' 'That's nothing,' says Little Johnny. 'I rubbed some of this on my dog's backside and he passed a Mercedes!' (Introduction)