Academics are accustomed to being laughed at — the proliferation of degrees in everything from golf-course management to chicken-sexing has put the phrase “joke degree” into common parlance. Now, though, it’s the students who are being asked to raise a smile. Southampton Solent University has just announced that it is to offer the world’s first BA in comedy. And the man behind the three-year course, a former stand-up comedian called Chris “Doc” Ritchie, insists it’s a serious subject.

“It’s not a doddle degree,” insists Ritchie, 41, who earned his PhD in postwar British comedy. When the course starts in September, undergraduates will spend their first year doing a practical module in stand-up, along with analysing the history and psychology of humour. The second and third years will add radio comedy and sitcoms to the curriculum.

But can you teach somebody to be funny? We asked some of the country’s leading comedians if they think a comedy BA is a seriously good idea or beyond a joke.

MARK GATISS

From The League of Gentlemen

“I think it’s a fantastic idea. It only sounds like a joke because that’s what comedy is. Personally I think The Simpsons should have won the Pulitzer Prize by now.

“Comedy is such a hard thing to do but it is looked down on as an art form. The problem is that even the best comedy, when you analyse it, starts to fall apart. I do hate the idea of comedy being taught in a dry and humourless way. Teachers should turn up in clown shoes and with squirty flowers.

“I’m a bit worried about the idea of qualified comedians. I’ve spent my life trying to keep the new generations down. So this is more grist to the mill. There would be a tremendous pressure at Christmas. People would find out you were qualified and just stare at you until you made them laugh.”

ED BYRNE

Stand-up comedian and actor

“I do hope it doesn’t mean that they will think they know more than I do because they have a degree in it and I don’t. There is going to be an interesting rivalry between school of hard knocks versus the book- learnt. Most jobs you’ve got to have a talent for, but comedy you have to be born to.

“Knowledge is always a useful thing. It would be great for everyone if every critic had to pass a comedy degree first before being allowed to review.

“I think someone like Arthur Smith would be in his element as a comedy lecturer. He always has a gaggle of young people around him in Edinburgh. It looks like he is holding a tutorial. In fact, any comedian who wears white or cream linen during the summer months, that marks them out as a university lecturer for me.”