Editing Bernard Manning (section)

==Comedic style==
[[Race (classification of human beings)|Race]], [[human sexual behaviour|sex]], and [[religion]] were the core material for many of Manning's jokes. Manning's family and friends said that his controversial ways were all an act. He lived next door to an Indian physician's family, who have appeared in many newspaper articles over the years to defend Manning. Satya Rudravajhala, the widow of Visveswara Rao Rudravajhala, wrote a eulogy that was published in the local paper, the ''Middleton Guardian'', conveying the family's sentiments.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://menmedia.co.uk/middletonguardian/news/s/529637_manning_was_no_racist_says_asian_neighbour |title=Manning was no racist, says Asian neighbour |publisher=M.E.N. Media |date=28 June 2007 |access-date=13 December 2010 |work=Middleton Guardian |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016211209/http://menmedia.co.uk/middletonguardian/news/s/529637_manning_was_no_racist_says_asian_neighbour |archive-date=16 October 2011 }}</ref>

In interviews with journalists, Manning would remind them of his appearance with [[Dean Martin]] in [[Las Vegas]] and meeting [[Elizabeth II|the Queen]]. He said he was a great believer in [[family values]] who never swore in front of his mother, stating: "I dragged myself up by my bootlaces. I don't drink or smoke, I don't take drugs. I have never been a womaniser. I was brought up right with good parents and I have never been in trouble or harmed no-one. And I love my family."<ref name="BBCobit" />

By the early 1980s Manning's style of comedy was being seen as increasingly out-dated and [[Political correctness|politically incorrect]].<ref>Wilmut, R and Rosengard, P ''Didn't You Kill My Mother-In-Law: The Story Of Alternative Comedy In Britain.'' {{ISBN|978-0-413-17390-4}}</ref> Later detractors criticised his style of humour, with journalist and television presenter [[Esther Rantzen]] commenting in 1992 that, "for me, he's always been the villain of comedy".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ7GbuAIEfU |title=Bernard Manning: Heroes of comedy |date=17 June 2014 |publisher= youtube.com |access-date=29 July 2023 }}</ref>