Tracing the origins of modern ‘lad’ culture isn’t easy. Some cite James Brown’s launch of Loaded – the magazine for men who ‘should know better’ – while others point to the arrival of competitor FHM as its more definitive arrival in society.
However, I think you have to cast your mind back a little earlier to the late 80s and early 90s to first radio and then to TV with a comedy show called The Mary Whitehouse Experience. Originally airing on Radio 1 before moving over to BBC2, the show was the first real sign that the politically correct 1980s stand-up and alternative comedy scene was about to be taken over by ‘lad’ humour.