The King is dead  By David Dale May 26, 2005  Australians like
to say they have a "larrikin sense of humour", going back to the
convict days when satire was the only way to get back at those
who ruled us. Graham Kennedy, the long-reigning King of
Television who has died at 71, was the embodiment of the
larrikin.  He'd do anything for a laugh, no matter how
embarrassing to himself or others. And warnings from the
authorities that viewers might be offended only spurred him to
grander outrages. He'd wink at the viewers, letting them in on
the joke before springing it on those unlucky enough to be
sharing his studio.  That made him post-modern decades before
such jargon was invented. Other candidates for the title of
Australia's greatest television comedian - Paul Hogan or Norman
Gunston, for example - offered humour based on innocence, even
when they were ridiculing pretension. Kennedy's style was
knowing and cynical.  As "the court jester of Australia", he was
comfortable with cruelty. In the late 1980s, by the