Stand-Up Comedy

[astfgyl]

Shit doesn't have to be highbrow to be funny at all. It also doesn't have to be littered with expletives or be politically correct. Like I can laugh at jokes at the expense of the Irish without agreeing with it but I have a fear that comedy is about to be sterilised due to current events. Surely there will be at least one comedian who manages to be actually funny while neatly sidestepping offending anyone at all. Or maybe I'll be entirely wrong and people in general will be able to have a good laugh at themselves without feeling offended by things.

Actually speaking of highbrow, what do we all think of Frankie Boyle? Is his policy of trying to offend everybody at once the future of things? He seems to get a bye in the age of political correctness. I personally find him boring tbh, but I like the idea of what he does in being an affront to everything.

Also, I have to admit I'm terribly out of touch with stand up comedy in general so forgive me if I'm missing the point entirely

I do see a lot of lads here giving Bill Hicks a bit of stick. I think it was sort of vital at the time but now it doesn't seem that big of a deal, given what has come after. He was probably more influential than funny in terms of using comedy to deliver scathing social commentary or something like that

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Sean Lock and Lee Mack have some side-splitting material, probably my favourites out of that batch of household name British stand-ups.

[astfgyl]

Both of those are pretty funny at times. I find Sean Lock easier to put up with though.

Sometimes I find that the schtick gets in the way of the actual jokes. I wonder if they just gave it in the style of their normal personality would it be better. Or is the schtick an essential part of stand up? It's why I've alway liked Billy Connolly. I reckon if I just read a transcript of one of his gigs it would be about as funny as getting caught wanking, but there is something in the way he is half in stitches just telling it that is a bit catching, as in there is a certain honesty to it that is endearing well beyond the strength of the material.

Any other naturals like that ye know of

[Carnage]

Jason Byrne and that Charlie Haughey looking cunt Maxwell are spectacularly unfunny IMO. I liked him on Black Books but Dylan Moran's live act is painful.

An odd one is that some stand ups are great on panel shows like Have I Got News For You or 8 Out Of 10 Cats, but when you see them onstage, they're crap. Greg Davies was a prime example of this until his last special (You Magnificent Beast), which was actually decent. Katherine Ryan, shit onstage but can crack wise in a group setting.

[Caomhaoin]

Dermot Morgan's stand up show had its moments. His impressions of Mike Murphy, Albert Reynolds and Michael D were class. I think most of it is on YouTube.

Someone mentioned those political comedians like John Oliver etc, but that Samantha Bee takes the biscuit. What an absolute goon she is. And as for that Amy Schumer. So unfunny. Going on about her fanny and how much she likes mickey for an hour solid.

Someone took out the laughter track from Oliver's show, and it sounded so awkward, almost pathetic. The same might apply to all kinds of Sit-Coms etc, but Christ it was woeful.

What about Kevin Bridges? The skinnier he gets, the less laughs I seem to be getting out of him. His first few years doing the rounds though, he was dynamite. That Jimmy Saville gag about 'if you asked me to draw a paedo...' was fuckin' A1.

The Two Johnnies are pretty enjoyable too, they are so over the top Tipp without even trying:)

[mickO)))]

Peter Kay is great. His TV shows are terrible but his standup is brilliant.

[mickO)))]

Ricky Gervais not bad either.

I think Ricky is the best comedian around right now and has been for a while. I saw him live back in 2017 I couldn't stop laughing the whole way through the show. He's one of the only comedians who's DVDs I could watch one after another and not get fed up.

[Pedrito]

Kevin Bridges was brilliant. I think some of these comedians just only have a certain shelf life. Frankie Boyle wears on me but some of his stuff has made me laugh out loud aswell. Billy Connolly the master.

Kyle Dunnigan is a gas lad. Quirky little character, his twitter stuff with Caitlyn Jenner is gas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-3GaCHDRZw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQSF0gKF8po

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqPUmE2ugho

[StoutAndAle]

And as for that Amy Schumer. So unfunny. Going on about her fanny and how much she likes mickey for an hour solid.

Brutal. Absolutely 100%. I mentioned how she was in a pub discussion one night. One of the lad's girlfriends started giving me a lecture on how she had heard a podcast with Amy Schumer and how sexism made it very difficult for her to break into comedy. I pondered was it possibly the fact that she just wasn't funny. But no, it was the patriarchy.

Iliza Shlesinger and Nikki Glaser fall into the same category - trying to shock by being filthy. To be filthy and funny takes skill though. See Ali Wong, Eddie Murphy, Doug Stanhope and Richard Pryor for examples.

To quote Eddie Murphy from "Raw";

After Bill Cosby rang him to lambast his risque act - "Because he thought that was my whole act. Like I just walked out on-stage and cursed and left. I manage to stick in some jokes between the curses. You couldn't give no curse show. Walk out, say, "Hey, Felt Forum, "motherfucker, dick, pussy, snot and shit. Good night. "Good night. Suck my dick. Bye-bye."

[mugz]

Shit doesn't have to be highbrow to be funny at all. It also doesn't have to be littered with expletives or be politically correct. Like I can laugh at jokes at the expense of the Irish without agreeing with it but I have a fear that comedy is about to be sterilised due to current events. Surely there will be at least one comedian who manages to be actually funny while neatly sidestepping offending anyone at all. Or maybe I'll be entirely wrong and people in general will be able to have a good laugh at themselves without feeling offended by things.

Actually speaking of highbrow, what do we all think of Frankie Boyle? Is his policy of trying to offend everybody at once the future of things? He seems to get a bye in the age of political correctness. I personally find him boring tbh, but I like the idea of what he does in being an affront to everything.

Also, I have to admit I'm terribly out of touch with stand up comedy in general so forgive me if I'm missing the point entirely

I do see a lot of lads here giving Bill Hicks a bit of stick. I think it was sort of vital at the time but now it doesn't seem that big of a deal, given what has come after. He was probably more influential than funny in terms of using comedy to deliver scathing social commentary or something like that

Can anyone recommend any gentle comedians? I don't want anything too edgy anymore.

[StoutAndAle]

Can anyone recommend any gentle comedians? I don't want anything too edgy anymore.

Is this a wind up?

If you want comedians on the more family-friendly end of the scale Brian Regan, Tom Papa and Jim Gaffigan are incredibly funny without being too profane. I think all of them are allowed play Salt Lake City - the Mormons have very strict rules about performing arts and comedy.

That's the Mormons by the way whose religion is partially based on the teachings of a man, Joseph Smith, who found magic eyeglasses and underpants that told him the way of god. A man who dictated his holy book of Mormon by looking at a stone placed inside a hat.

Christ, if the Mormons don't know comedy, who does?

[mugz]

Peter Kay is great. His TV shows are terrible but his standup is brilliant.

phil kay was better

[Carnage]

If you want comedians on the more family-friendly end of the scale Brian Regan, Tom Papa and Jim Gaffigan are incredibly funny without being too profane. I think all of them are allowed play Salt Lake City - the Mormons have very strict rules about performing arts and comedy.

Gaffigan's really good, actually. I can see what Mugz is saying, it can be a bit tiresome when every comedian is doing their damndest to outdo each other and be 'edgy' as fuck. Sometimes something more... wholesome is nice for a break.

Adam Hills is another one who's fairly tame.

[mugz]

Shit doesn't have to be highbrow to be funny at all. It also doesn't have to be littered with expletives or be politically correct. Like I can laugh at jokes at the expense of the Irish without agreeing with it but I have a fear that comedy is about to be sterilised due to current events. Surely there will be at least one comedian who manages to be actually funny while neatly sidestepping offending anyone at all. Or maybe I'll be entirely wrong and people in general will be able to have a good laugh at themselves without feeling offended by things.

Actually speaking of highbrow, what do we all think of Frankie Boyle? Is his policy of trying to offend everybody at once the future of things? He seems to get a bye in the age of political correctness. I personally find him boring tbh, but I like the idea of what he does in being an affront to everything.

Also, I have to admit I'm terribly out of touch with stand up comedy in general so forgive me if I'm missing the point entirely

I do see a lot of lads here giving Bill Hicks a bit of stick. I think it was sort of vital at the time but now it doesn't seem that big of a deal, given what has come after. He was probably more influential than funny in terms of using comedy to deliver scathing social commentary or something like that

You can't really use Boyle's style of comedy as an example of the way comedy is going for the future when he himself is vintage 2010. it's almost like I enquired about gentle comedy for the reason that it's kind of how things will have to go for the next while, if you're interested in something different from clever/cruel comedy which we became accustomed to over recent decades.

For me the skill level for that kind of thoughtful, compassionate comedy is so high precisely because it's really hard to do, the world being the way it is.

For me Limmy's Show was a real blessing as it was kind of half way between soulful and cynical.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

I can't hack Boyle anymore at all. In any show he presents or routine he does, as soon as he gets to his first "X looks like what you'd get if [*insert puerile mash-up of incongruous elements*]" joke, I momentarily lose all faith in the human creative spirit and have to switch him off as quickly as possible, preferably before he even finishes the sentence. In other words, I haven't seen much more than a minute of any of his work from the last decade or so.