Sort of comedians that don’t crack you up

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  • I’ve never laughed at stand up, from anyone. I think it’s something about someone standing on a stage with the sole intention of showing off how funny they are. Just fucks it for me.

    Have you been to a comedy/cabaret club to watch it, or just seen it on TV?. On TV it can look like that, but live it's different. Some comedians will always come across like that, in any setting, but in live performance it's much more interactive, even if the performer isn't one of the more coversational ones, because a good comic is sensing how the audience reacts and building on it. And they have twenty minutes or more to do this. So a good stand-up performance is one where the performer keeps some control, but isn't just lecturing the audience.

    If the stage is in an actual theatre, this adds some distance but it can still be like that. TV, on the other hand, puts you outside that shared experience. TV doesn't make stand-up look good. There's a whole class of comedians who are great live and just don't do at all well on TV (e.g. Tim Vine) and others who had to fundamentally change their performance for TV; Harry Hill in a club is a much more intelligent and subtle performer than he is on TV.

    Hecklers, now, they're mostly the insufferable assholes who see the comedian the way you describe, and get so upset that somebody else is the centre of attention that they eventually have to interfere.

    You don't often hear people saying "Bloody musicians, thinking they can stand on stage with the sole intention of showing off how musical they are." I suppose most people realise they're not as talented as the peformer, when it comes to music. Seems not to be the case for a significant number of people when it comes to comedy.

  • Agreed. Controversial for the sake of controversy, and he knows it'll make the gammons laugh.
    Shit comedian.

  • A couple of mates and I were chucked out of a Roy Chubby Brown gig for loud heckling and swearing. It's up there with seeing The Police canned off stage supporting the Buzzcocks as moments that still make me happy.

  • his TV shows aren't funny.

    As someone who spent their youth in working men's clubs, Phoenix Nights was excellent.

  • The Services was great too.

  • Actually you have a point.

    I always forget that I have actually been to a couple of stand up shows. Mrs m_v is into drag (and lets face it, so am I) and she wanted to go and see Bianca Del Rio’s stand up show a couple years ago. I was dead against it but went ‘for her’ and it’s the most I’ve ever laughed. We’ve seen her twice now and I think the mrs has maybe bought us tickets to go again later this year. She’s an insult comedian so it’s very audience interactive so I see what you mean about the connection.

  • Aye, when it's live then it's a participatory thing; the performer needs the consent and participation of the audience. I don't think the audience see themselves as passive, since they know the performer depends on them. And the good comics aren't just reciting, they're reacting to how the audience responds, choosing material (or a way to present the material) that matches that. And insult comedy is a whole style that really doesn't work on TV, so that's a good example of what I'm trying to say.

    There's been a good few comments here saying "I hate X's stand-up, but I find them funny in panel shows". Assuming they've seen X doing stand-up on TV, where the best parts of that just don't work, maybe the difference is that on the panel shows they get to see performer X being interactive and spontaneous. If they went to watch X live, maybe they'd see that there too.

    Stand-up exploded onto British TV when late night TV (and later 24 hour TV) became a thing - suddenly there were lots of hours to fill and it's cheap to televise - but the comedians have always been a bit leery of doing their set on it. It doesn't show them at their best and material they've been building and shaping for months or years suddenly becomes old, so that people who've seen them on screen and come to see them live may feel ripped off. Panel shows, on the other hand, don't consume their material, can make them look good, and are a route to a career that pays more than a supply teacher. But live performance is so much better, both for the audience and the comic.

  • I saw Jonathan Creek in a Edinburgh warmup and was really surprised what a good standup he was.

    Although tbh I think I'm one of those people who generally finds live sets funny - something about the overall vibe I think. Tbh the only time I've been to a bigger venue was a gig at Snowbombing (in a conference hall) and Glastonbury (seriously fuck standing for a whole set).

    The two big exceptions were Rufus Hound and whatshischops with the shit haircut that kicked this thread off. The Rufus Hound one was when he was at his peak 'fame' and he came across as a pure cunt, with a load of sexist shit that he pretended was pro-women (this was also at a time when I would have been a lot less sensitive to that sort of stuff too).

  • This. So much of this.

  • Is there a thread of comedians we do like?

  • The Starmer thread >>>>>>

  • Bill Bailey

    Yes, on the panel shows. Watched his pub and walks programme, unfunny.

  • Yes.

    https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/162460/?offset=375#comment17270143

    But this one already has more comments in 4 days than that ones had in 14yrs.

  • Bill Cosby?

  • Everyone on the last leg.
    Doesn't need saying really, but Mrs Brown's Boys.
    Russells Howard, Kane and Brand.
    Lenny Henry.
    Jim Davidson (obviously).

  • But this one already has more comments in 4 days than that ones had in 14yrs.

    It's why there are twice as many posts on Epic Fail as Epic Win - we're a bunch of miserable cunts who're only happy when we're moaning, like Harry Enfield's Old Gits. (who weren't funny either)

  • Everyone on the last leg

    100%. A total smug chum fest as funny as taking a library book back on a Wednesday

  • Not quite a comedian, but Steve Wright former Radio DJ.
    Never liked any of his stuff or his 'posse'.
    James Corden. Not for me.

  • Richard Gadd

  • Richard Gadd

    Yup

  • Boyle.. nominative determinism confirmed.

  • Doesn't need saying really, but Mrs Brown's Boys.

    Forgot that the thread title was “ not cracking you up” and was going to check that you hadn’t had a knock to the head recently.

  • Look no further than the post difference between I Love… and I Hate… threads. And I hate that I probably post in hate more.

  • I laughed pretty hard at Joe Pasquale once... when Stewart Lee took him to task for ripping off Micheal Redmond

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Sort of comedians that don’t crack you up

Posted by Avatar for dancing james @dancing james

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