C/D: Comedians who play acoustic guitars as part of their act?

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― PB, Friday, 9 September 2005 04:30 (twenty years ago)

I recently saw the Stephen Lynch Comedy Central Presents again. So hard to watch.

― internet comedy novice (Matt Chesnut), Friday, 9 September 2005 04:34 (twenty years ago)

almost invariably dud. tenacious d excepted.

― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Friday, 9 September 2005 04:34 (twenty years ago)

I always hated it when Bill Hicks did this.

― CMB, Friday, 9 September 2005 04:41 (twenty years ago)

Huge, huge dud. Not even Hicks or Steven Wright could get away with it. Tenacious D barely squeak by for their acoustic "Flash" cover, though.

― Telephonething (Telephonething), Friday, 9 September 2005 04:45 (twenty years ago)

Not even Hicks or Steven Wright could get away with it.

OTM!

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 9 September 2005 05:02 (twenty years ago)

tripod, doug anthony all stars

― jimmy glass (electricsound), Friday, 9 September 2005 05:04 (twenty years ago)

yeah, not funny

― gjkl, Friday, 9 September 2005 05:05 (twenty years ago)

Billy Connolly

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Friday, 9 September 2005 05:53 (twenty years ago)

Conan O'Brien manages this without going to the dud zone, because it is necessary for the nursery rhyme bit he does, and he never acts like it's any special skill. He only does it for that one bit, I think. Dud for most everyone else (Jimmy Fallon I'm lookin' at you!). They mostly seem to be showing off that they can play.

― nickn (nickn), Friday, 9 September 2005 05:57 (twenty years ago)

But Steve Martin with the banjo = classic.

― nickn (nickn), Friday, 9 September 2005 05:58 (twenty years ago)

classic: Boothby Graffoe (and, by association, Corky & the Juice Pigs)
also classic: Mitch Benn, when he's on form - http://www.maximmag.co.uk/?truth/relief/relief.php?id=17945

dud: most other people, ever.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Friday, 9 September 2005 05:59 (twenty years ago)

Henry Phillips?

― kingfish superman ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:01 (twenty years ago)

Classic = Mike Harding, who writes great funny and serious songs. In the UK the comedian + guitar combo is as often as not because the comic started out on the folk club circuit like Billy Connolly or Jasper Carrott.

― I Ain't No Addict, Whoever Heard of a Junkie as Old as Me? (noodle vague), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:06 (twenty years ago)

George Smilovici?

― Sasha (sgh), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:18 (twenty years ago)

The D.

― Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:20 (twenty years ago)

the last time i listened to rant in e-minor before trading it in i actually liked the musical interludes more than a lot of the jokes (which are pretty smug, really), they're not particularly good on their own but they're used to good effect.

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:24 (twenty years ago)

Conor Oberst OH SANP LOL>

― Cunga (Cunga), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:31 (twenty years ago)

(xpost)

Explain why the jokes are smug.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:32 (twenty years ago)

actually it's not the jokes (which are often good) that i find smug so much as hicks' delivery. he has this sort of "DO YOU SEE THE POINT I'M MAKING HERE PPL? HELLO?" tone that really annoys me. maybe that was necessary to get his point across to indifferent audiences but it hasn't aged well for me. i should say that this is prob part of why i used to love him; his routines are fun to repeat in part because you get to take on that superior tone.

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:39 (twenty years ago)

the hicks moments i find most poignant are when he sucks in his breath and sighs "i don't know..." and for a second he sounds like he'd rather be anywhere else than on a stage trying to "wake people up."

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:41 (twenty years ago)

Well he was about two or three months away from dying so I can understand his need to emphasise the points he's making. The most poignant parts of Rant in E Minor in particular come when he actually drops the comedy and stares into his/our own void ("THERE IS NO FUTURE!" - far scarier than John Lydon's "There is no future").

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:49 (twenty years ago)

oh god, i've jest remembered the biggest dud of them all - dennis leary's "asshole" song. talk about bludgeoning an idea to death.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Friday, 9 September 2005 06:49 (twenty years ago)

you've got a point, marcello, he does seem to wobble between hopeful post-hippie idealism and complete, nihilistic despair; sometimes you can't tell where one begins and the other leaves off. now i wish i hadn't traded the damn cd!

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 9 September 2005 07:55 (twenty years ago)

(omg five hours and no-one has posted the dubya picture here yet!?)

― OleM (OleM), Friday, 9 September 2005 09:37 (twenty years ago)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1855000/images/_1855939_tony_pa.jpg

― Raymond Douglas Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 9 September 2005 09:39 (twenty years ago)

http://www.themodernword.com/joyce/JJ_1915_weiss.jpg

― Raymond Douglas Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 9 September 2005 09:42 (twenty years ago)

ha! he thinks he's people!

― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Friday, 9 September 2005 10:02 (twenty years ago)

Jim OTM abt Tripod and DAAS, but I presume no one outside of Aus knows about either group.

Also, what about 3 dead trolls? Do they do guitar stuff?

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 9 September 2005 10:09 (twenty years ago)

I have enjoyed Flight of the Conchords though their whole act is musical. Except the parts introducing the songs. A website about them suggests that they were on Conan O'Brien last night.

― gspm (gspm), Friday, 9 September 2005 11:02 (twenty years ago)

Many thanks to Dadaismus for that portrait of the young Derek Bailey!

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Friday, 9 September 2005 11:04 (twenty years ago)

Derek Bailey AND James Joyce - where's Ben Watson when you need him?!?!?!

― Raymond Douglas Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 9 September 2005 11:05 (twenty years ago)

SLOPPY JOE, SLOP, SLOPPY JOE!

There's some guitar playing commodians in the new Spin, but i didn't bother to learn their names.

Also, Dane Cook looks like he would play a guitar and is not funny.

― Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Friday, 9 September 2005 11:29 (twenty years ago)

Comedians that play piano as part of their act, however...

http://actortracker.com/images/actors/Dana_Carvey_m.jpg

― Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Friday, 9 September 2005 11:32 (twenty years ago)

http://www.themodernword.com/joyce/jj_piano.jpg

― Raymond Douglas Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 9 September 2005 11:35 (twenty years ago)

http://homepage.mac.com/elliottday/theoffice/images/guitar/brentholdguitar.jpg

"Spaceman came down to answer some things,
The world gathered round from paupers to kings,
I’ll answer your questions, I’ll answer them true,
I’ll show the way you know what to do,
Who is wrong and who is right?
Yellow, brown or black or white?
The spaceman he answered “You’ll no longer mind...
I’ve opened your eyes, you’re now colour blind”."

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Friday, 9 September 2005 13:22 (twenty years ago)

Adam Sandler.

http://hoopy50.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/guitar.jpg

Dud mostly, but "Paul Newman's half Jewish, Goldie Hawn's half, too;
put them both together, what a fine-looking Jew!" is okay.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Friday, 9 September 2005 13:24 (twenty years ago)

Reason enough to condemn both comedy AND acoustic guitars, that rhyme aside.

Anyways, the banjo (or "bango", Marissa fans) is SO much funnier.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 9 September 2005 14:07 (twenty years ago)

But also more tragic!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 9 September 2005 14:10 (twenty years ago)

Why aren't there more comedians who play the trombone? They could tell a joke, then make that "BWAAH BWAAH BWAAH BWAAAAAAAAAH!" sound, imagine how hard that would rule!

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 9 September 2005 14:16 (twenty years ago)

I don't suppose you'll have heard of George Chisholm

― Raymond Douglas Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 9 September 2005 14:22 (twenty years ago)

http://georgechisholm.tripod.com/Kidsonslide12.jpg

― Raymond Douglas Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 9 September 2005 14:23 (twenty years ago)

That guy from Corky & the Juice Pigs. Though I think someone else plays guitar for him. DUD TO THE MAX!!!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 9 September 2005 14:27 (twenty years ago)

Martin Mull, classic for his self-awareness of just how much of a hack he is on the guitar eg Licks off a Record.

― avery schreiber, Friday, 9 September 2005 14:36 (twenty years ago)

I have enjoyed Flight of the Conchords though their whole act is musical. Except the parts introducing the songs. A website about them suggests that they were on Conan O'Brien last night.

That's what prompted this thread. I saw them on Conan and they were hilarious, but by and large I loathe people who do this (besides Dana Carvey...)

― PB, Friday, 9 September 2005 15:08 (twenty years ago)

"....so, racial."

Classic.

― PB, Friday, 9 September 2005 15:09 (twenty years ago)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/images/640/brent_guitar.jpg

Free love on the free love freeway,
where the love is free and the freeway is long...
I got some hot love on the hot-love freeway
I ain’t going home cos’ my baby’s gone

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Friday, 9 September 2005 17:37 (twenty years ago)

http://www.idea-bot.com/images/guitar1_small.jpg

― richard wood johnson, Friday, 9 September 2005 18:18 (twenty years ago)

damn, richard wood johnson! you beat me to it!

― ken taylrr has gone off the internet because of you (ken taylrr), Friday, 9 September 2005 18:24 (twenty years ago)

i forgot to mention that I think Pres. Bush is a monumental DUD for playing the guitar at such an inappropriate time. I mean, come on, have some decorum.

― richard wood johnson, Friday, 9 September 2005 18:34 (twenty years ago)

you know that's a fake pic, right?

― ken taylrr has gone off the internet because of you (ken taylrr), Friday, 9 September 2005 22:25 (twenty years ago)

oh ken, you poor thing, you are so innocent and trusting. bless you.

― richard wood johnson, Friday, 9 September 2005 22:26 (twenty years ago)

haha.. well, it's hard to tell on this interwebby thing.

― ken taylrr has gone off the internet because of you (ken taylrr), Friday, 9 September 2005 22:26 (twenty years ago)

no ken, i mean, you're naive to think it's a fake photo

― richard wood johnson, Friday, 9 September 2005 22:29 (twenty years ago)

demetri martin is classic... he plays it and it doesn't really have anything to do with what he's saying, just sometimes serves as an indicator of whether or not he's nervous or as a way to bridge together jokes on each side of a long silence.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Saturday, 10 September 2005 00:06 (twenty years ago)

I don't know who the guy is, but that "comedian" who plays a stand-up bass sideways like a guitar is a fucking loser.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Saturday, 10 September 2005 00:17 (twenty years ago)

Australia's own Rodney Rude is an absolute genius at it...http://www.rude.com.au/default.asp

― Pete James, Saturday, 10 September 2005 08:50 (twenty years ago)

Jim OTM abt Tripod and DAAS, but I presume no one outside of Aus knows about either group.

Don't know about Tripod but the Doug Anthony Allstars used to be mainstays of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for years - one of my college friends was a huge fans and dragged me along to see them every year for about six years.

How can Jim be OTM by the way, all he did was name them?

I don't know who the guy is, but that "comedian" who plays a stand-up bass sideways like a guitar is a fucking loser.

Jim Tavare?

Does Bill Bailey ever use an acoustic guitar? He's funny, and his musical comedy actually works.

― ailsa (ailsa), Saturday, 10 September 2005 09:21 (twenty years ago)

adam sandler is a loser with or without guitar. especially with a guitar, but especially without as well.

― richard wood johnson, Monday, 12 September 2005 17:30 (twenty years ago)

And how could we forget the Smothers Brothers? Classic, although largely cornball.

― nickn (nickn), Monday, 12 September 2005 18:58 (twenty years ago)

Huge, huge dud. Not even Hicks or Steven Wright could get away with it.

I actually like the song "Rachel" that Wright does in his act sometimes.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 12 September 2005 21:04 (twenty years ago)

Sarah Silverman does it well.

― President Busch (dr g), Monday, 12 September 2005 21:16 (twenty years ago)

did Emo Philips ever play guitar? I remember he did a song about Downer's Grove, IL.. but I forget if it had piano accompaniment or not.

I hope there was no guitar.

― donut Get Behind Me Carbon Dioxide (donut), Monday, 12 September 2005 21:19 (twenty years ago)

five years pass...

Missing the era when Robyn Hitchcock would have been the best answer on this thread.

― Stockhausen's Ekranoplan Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Thursday, 16 June 2011 03:05 (fourteen years ago)

I got to say I never thought much of Jimmy Fallon as a comedian but his musicial impersonations are pretty killer.

And saying that, the better the musician, the better it seems to work in the act. Steve Martin is pretty damn good bluegrass banjo player.

― earlnash, Thursday, 16 June 2011 03:11 (fourteen years ago)

Jonathan Richman too. this 'you're crazy for taking the bus' is so so good

― Spikey, Thursday, 16 June 2011 04:09 (fourteen years ago)

How about a guitar player who's got great comedy pieces?

Arlo Guthrie

― suspecterrain, Thursday, 16 June 2011 09:59 (fourteen years ago)

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