CONTEXT is everything when it comes to telling a joke.

A seemingly grossly offensive one liner, a barb so apparently awful that it would shock even the most broad-minded, can in fact be a satirical politically correct observation if only the would-be insulted took a deep breath, counted to ten and examined where it came from.

A perfect example is Blazing Saddles, officially the funniest film of all time, with its liberal usage of the N word. No-one in their right mind would view Mel Brooks’s classic as in any way racist or a tip of the hat to white supremacy.

Similarly when Jerry Sadowitz, who in his own words is a sociopath albeit it a seriously funny one, gets laughs from the darkest corners of life, he is not joking about these subjects per ser, but rather people’s uncomfortable reaction to them. Not everyone gets that but then not everyone is particularly bright.

It is actually fine to make light of the serious. Be it cancer, murder, death or how dreadful the world is today. Comedy can be the only way any of us are able look at such matters without bursting into tears.

By the way, it is also fine to be offended. But offence is always taken rather than given. If you don’t like something then switch it off or put it down. If anyone accidentally walks into a Frank Boyle gig only to reappear a few hours later complaining about the bad language, well they deserve all they get.

And while I am PC, sometimes distressingly so, I do love a joke that makes your mouth go pffft, which as I'm sure you are aware is the noise caused by sucking a lemon. It's only language after all. Nobody died from a crossing a line in the sand gag about Princess Diana.

However, if there is a subject which only but a few would consider straying into to get any even the smallest chuckle, it’s child abuse.

There have been comedies about the Holocaust and Jewish stand-ups in particular regularly go there to see how the audience reacts.

“The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into overs,” remarked the late Joan Rivers about supermodel Heidi Klum. You can almost hear the toes curling of the middle classes who can’t decide whether it’s okay to laugh at that or not.

There is apparently an Irish playwright currently working on a “comedy” about the potato famine. It might not be any good, even for someone such as myself who loves a good old sick gag I am not sure where the humour is going to come from, but one thing it won’t be is anti-Irish.

So we can joke about everything except for kids being sexually abused by paedophiles. Can we agree with that?

Since former footballer Andy Woodward two weeks ago spoke publicly about his abuse at the hands of a coach, sickeningly but perhaps predictably 18 police forces in England are now investigating leads of at least 350 alleged victims.

Anyone who thinks this did not happen in Scotland is, in the words of players’ union chief Fraser Wishart in this newspaper, “naïve.” It is my understanding that our various football authorities are counting the days until they have to publicly deal with such a case.

We’ve all heard the stories. About the time Club A went to play a tournament abroad and the boys were forced to carry out certain acts. Such historical cases are difficult to write about because for the story to stand up you would need an affected individual to go on the record.

I know of one man who was around Celtic at the time Jim Torbett, a serial abuser jailed for three counts of indecency in 1998, was at the boys club and is waiting until reaching retirement age before telling his own story. Whether he does or not come the time remains to be seen.

That scandal was not dealt with properly by Celtic and it remains a stain on the club. Rival supporters have pounced on this. They use it as a way to attack Celtic as a club and by extension their supporters. There are, of course, jokes.

They have also named individuals as part of some cover up, which is utterly false. Any lawyer specialising in defamation could make a fortune just by looking at some tweets on my own timeline when I wrote about this at the start of the week.

As we in this country brace ourselves for the first victim to bravely come forward – I would be stunned if it didn't happen – the very notion this subject is fair game for point-scoring and humour will surely turn the stomach of every decent human being.

There is no context which would ever allow the rape of a child, and let’s be clear that’s what has been reported, to be seen as way of getting one over another set of football supporters.

Most, of course, know this but many can’t get it through their thick skulls this is one area wherein which what colour your scarf is doesn’t matter.

It is already clear that widespread abuse took place at perhaps dozens of football clubs over the years. As more somehow find the strength to come forward, the very least we can do is not to find their trauma in any way funny.