ITT: the fuck-awful state of British stand-up comedy in 2008

The Penny Dreadfuls can eat a dick as well.

I have no idea who to blame for the former. Ross Noble?

99 percent of stand-up is shit. lol are any of those shitty comedy magazines still going that got started 10 years back when it was the new rock and roll?

I dunno man, when I was 14 I could kinda kick back and watch one of those "here's six stand-up comedians in half an hour" late night TV shows and lol at at least two of them. Pretty sure the only British stand-up I've lolled at in the past three years is S.Lee.

It's like America has Katt Williams, we have Noel Fielding.... one of these things is better than the other, y'know?

Maybe it's just oversaturation to the point where I don't give somebody a chance because the act of saying "Hi I'm a stand-up" sets the hackles rising, the same way some dude wandering on stage with an acoustic guitar does.

Where does the ILE comedy hivemind stand on Jason Byrne? I went to see him in Canterbury a couple of weeks ago and thought he was pretty lolsome. Routine was kind of 90% humiliating audience members though.

It's very rare that I go and see any stand-up because 'comedy people' are kind of lame.

Sorry fuck yeah Katt Williams OTM. Okay, maybe the point is a lot of American stand-ups set out to try and be funny (whether they succeed or not) whereas the UK thing now starts from a point of trying to be "original" and if they bump into a lul on the way then that's a bonus?

I think a lot of British stand-up is more theatrical than American stand-up, which might have something to do with the fact that a lot of Brit stand-ups are jobbing actors or theatre studies graduates pulling in some overtime on the "have you ever noticed..." circuit. Possibly a hangover from when stand-up was on the points card system for Equity? In America, there seems to be a greater tradition of stand-up comedians actually wanting to be stand-up comedians, and not panel show guests/sitcom writers/etc.

And really, anyone talking about comedy today needs to watch Williams' Iraq War/weed/kids' cereal routine.

the UK thing now starts from a point of trying to be "original"

I thought they started from the point of trying to get on an unfunny gameshow that no-one will watch on BBC3? But, seriously, do they really start from a point of trying to be original?

a lot of Brit stand-ups are jobbing actors or theatre studies graduates pulling in some overtime on the "have you ever noticed..." circuit

So true.

xpost to Dom

Yeah I was thinking along those lines, also America has an honourable history of great stand-up comics, most of the pre-1980 British stand-ups are anathema to today's yoot, and if The Comedians was anything to go by it's because a lot of them were pretty shit, and their acts consisted of the same gags - albeit told better, generally - that you'd know from the playground by the time you were 13.

I said they start from a point of being "original", like "what is my schtick gonna be, how do I create a persona?" instead of "what is some funny shit I can say?"

To an extent, maybe. It's safe to say that the "old comedy guys" who are canonical faves to modern British comics (Milligan, Python, Peter Cook) weren't stand-ups, compared to Pryor/Bruce/Hicks/Cosby in America.

xp

Connolly

Connolly exists seemingly in isolation though. And really, are there any guys coming through doing the rambling monologue routine in British comedy? It's either character comedy or one-liners.

Billy Connolly, Jasper Carrott and Mike Harding, whose influence I suspect is close to zero with the probable exception of Connolly, all came up on the folk circuit which is obv different to the Working Mens' clubs. Mike Harding used to make me laff my nuts off when I was 12.

Lenny Henry's speech to the Royal Television Society about diversity and comedy:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/11/television.race

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcXj_ZdKmcQ

Sometimes I really wonder where the next Ted Chippington's gonna come from

Carrot was funnier than Harding

Chris Addison, from the Thick Of It, is very good. i saw him before xmas, and he was very funny, very political, very sharp.

Oh I liked Jasper too, but he wasn't well served by some of the later BBC shows he did. It's an old truism about TV eating up material but that's because it's true.

Taking a bit of a risk here but I quite enjoyed Dylan Moran's show from 2004 that I watched recently. As far as rambling monologues go it's pretty decent. To a degree I guess it's character comedy (the character being a stereotypical irish drunk) but it's certainly doesn't seem to try to be anything other than that.

I hate Dylan Moran

No Irish comedians are funny. No Australian comedians are funny.

I assumed people would. I just don't happen to.

I heart Dylan Moran, sorry.

Because of "Black Books" tho?

No Australian comedians are funny.

-- Tom D., Thursday, April 3, 2008 10:00 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

^^^real talk

Partly, although I like his stand-up shows as well.

(xpost)

Of course, Edinburgh Festival = wall-to-wall Irish and/or Australian comedians

"You've got to get off your arse and find people. What's the big deal? Kids are interested in sound, in cameras, they love movies, they spend all day on YouTube. The easy thing to do is to take these guys from Radio 4 or those guys from Edinburgh. The hard thing is to go into the ends, into the community and check out what is going on in some dodgy club over a pub. But that's what people have to do."

I'm just happy mong guy linked that Ted Chippington vid.

Lenny Henry is semi-cash sitting, but a) tl;dr and b) what the BBC gives a shit about /= what's funny

I don't understand Moran hatred either, notwithstanding the fact he's supposed to be an arsehole. His stand-up's gone off the boil a bit, but four or five years ago he was superb.

i saw simon munnery a while ago and he was quite funny

Lenny Henry appearing Jools Holland the other night in a Public Enemy T-shirt and suit jacket was pretty funny, for the wrong reasons.

Dylan Moran once asked a friend of mine for 20p so he could afford to by an overpriced Twix on a train, and then didn't offer him any of the Twix. What a cunt.

(That's up there with my most banal celebrity stories ever)

Moran hatred = bafflement at popularity of not particularly funny dude in not particularly funny sitcom, attributed to liking the "character" rather than actually getting belly laffs out of his work

No Australian comedians are funny.

-- Tom D., Thursday, April 3, 2008 7:30 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

I strongly agree with that statement.

At least not in the past 15 years anyway.

Moran hatred also part of the "I don't find this guy funny, but I want to fuck him" school of propelling certain bad stand-ups to fame amongst women who should really know better.

See also: Izzard, Eddie; Boosh, Mighty

you should get into stand up comedy

xpost

Didn't work for Ricky Grover.

Moran is at least better than the cunting mighty boosh.

Plus, personally, instinctive dislike of garrulous charming Oirish broth-of-a-boy schtick, re: Moran

i saw eddie izzard a couple of months ago too, and he was quite funny also.

I went to a few stand up gigs during the Adelaide Fringe and all - be it Australian, Irish, English, whatever - were fucking awful. Fucking dreadful. It's a worldwide issue.

Speaking of "jobbing actors"! (Is there another kind? Gentleman actors, maybe?)

Lee Evans is fucking atrocious.

Can never forgive him for ruining Beckett's "Happy Days" last time it was on in London (though Michael Gambon was almost as culpable)

Sorry, not "Happy Days", I meant "Endgame"!

Haha I was about to say just that

Just reading the Rolling Stone feature on Chris Rock and wondering, without deigning to express an opinion myself, what others Britishers think of him as a stand-up. any thoughts?

Incredibly charismatic and occasionally very insightful, ie - he's good.

It's very rare that I go and see any stand-up because 'comedy people' are kind of lame.

-- Matt DC, Thursday, April 3, 2008 10:38 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

yup

limmy and harry hill ftw

Saw several comedians at a charity event at Edinburgh last August. Rich Hall and Mark Watson were genius. Jimmy Carr (yes that one), Bob Downe and Jason Wood were surprisingly good though whether Downe and Wood's spiel would work for more than the 6 or so minutes they were given, I don't know. Unmitigated cack; Phil Jupitus and Simon Amstell, who was as slender as a twig and about as funny. Maybe it was his turn to die on stage that night, as I think he's fine on Buzzcocks.

Amstell's humour is fairly reliant on having people around to poke fun at, which he's extremely good at. Don't know how well he'd fare alone on stage deprived of unwitting foils (not very well, apparently).

Call me old-fashioned, but I don't care if a comedian is charismatic or insightful, I just like them to be funny. Which Chris Rock is, 90 percent of the time.

Fair enough. He's funny in large part BECAUSE he's charismatic and insightful, though.

are 'comedy people' lamer than music people, art people, theatre people, film people etc.

Amstell was on after Stewart Lee at the last Leeds festival I went to, which just exposed how much weaker he was at being a smug pedant than Lee

Music people yes, art people sometimes, theatre people no, film people actors no others yes usually.

I bought a friend tickets to Simon Amstell's show in Brighton in June. I fear he may be less than good without a member of Blue to take the piss out of.

I've an aquaintance who comperes a comedy night which sometimes gets biggish names (Adam Bloom, for example), and he never makes jokes in real life. Weird.

Amstell is kind of kind of Lee with less rigorous pedantry but with mildly edgy mean spiritedness + tenuous surrealism/weak running jokes

uh as far as I remember.

Something about kicking a homeless woman in the balls. Didn't really scan.

Chris Rock's act got called out in more than one UK review for its backwards attitudes towards women which I thought was interesting -- he very rarely catches shit for that in the US

Well yeah, he's no Jonathan Ross.

Here's that Chris Rock article btw. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/19551925/chris_rock_isnt_laughing

Not particularly well-written but there are some great quotes in it.

I occasionally find his delivery quite grating and distracting but his observations are often really sharp and far superior to those of almost any British comic.

Writing an article/column based around some of the ideas thrown up here. Would like to open it up for further discussion, especially the "drama student" thing.

find an article about the fuck-awful state of British indie music in 2008 and just change a few words

That's my steez. Indie music makes for bad comedy.

I think The Wall and Scallywagga are the comedy that current Britain deserves.

Joe Pasquale's high-pitched voice is caused by a rare disease called aphallia.

dont like chris rock's delivery and sometimes i just find myself agreeing with him rather than laughing but he does have some funny observations.

On every Edinburgh Fringe stand-up poster for the last five years: "Hilariously non-PC"

. . actually, make that ten.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre/features/edinburgh-fringe-the-rise-of-britcom-882362.html

Jesus Wept

Britcom zings: "commonplace nothingness A is like strained unfunny metaphor B with/by/of a token non-sequitur C."

Comedy moment: "So I went down my local ice-cream shop and said, 'I want to buy an ice cream.' He said, 'Hundreds and thousands?' I said, 'We'll start with one.' He said, 'Knickerbocker glory?' I said, 'I do get a certain amount of freedom in these trousers, yes.'"

i made up better jokes in my head when i was five.

When I was in the army I was posted to Africa.
"What was it like?"
I don't know, I couldn't get out of the envelope.

Can I have my guest spot on Mock The Week now please?

Meanwhile, the world is burning and kids are rioting in the riding school-lined streets...

Isy Suttie truly is the Jessica Stevenson of the new generation, ie quirky zany indie pin-up with no comic talent whatsoever

This guy emailed me earlier asking for work: http://www.the-mag.me.uk/Writers/Julian-Hall/

-- DJ Mencap, Thursday, 31 July 2008 14:41 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Pretty sure it's not the same guy but...

Not the "Primark underpants" man!!!

tell us about the golden age of british stand-up comedy, winner

It was the bit in the esure ad where Twiggy told him she wasn't his sister.

That Independent article kinda works better if read in the style of the Pathe Newsreel man.

http://files.list.co.uk/images/2007/08/23/MichaelMcIntyre.jpg

OK I discovered the existence of Michael McIntyre last night, and upon going to bed promptly had a dream where I murdered a younger version of him to stop someone I know from becoming friends with him

He does that Charlie Brooker thing of snorting and guffawing at his own joke while still attempting to deliver it, only he is much more punchable looking and has a more ridiculous voice

From that article:

Every movement has a talisman, its Holy Grail. For Fringe comedians, it's the "Oscar of comedy" – the if.comedy award (the Perrier as was), which has boosted the careers of winners and nominees such as The League of Gentlemen, Steve Coogan, Al Murray, Ross Noble, The Mighty Boosh and Harry Hill.

So much to answer for.

Britain should forget comedy and stick to making great movies and pop music

^^^ lolol winner
http://www.nestle.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/4AF26A9F-3EE4-4FF5-A3EB-0A3CD8BCA325/0/ProdPerrier03.jpg

someone call the police, kevin bishop just been robbed

Frankie Boyle in hating Thatcher sensation: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hvMLXBMf3Mc

Writing an article/column based around some of the ideas thrown up here. Would like to open it up for further discussion, especially the "drama student" thing.

-- Dom Passantino, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 13:59 (2 months ago) Bookmark Link

Have you finished/published this?