Stand-up Comedy
Discussion
Count Arthur Strong (not technically stand-up) twice; The funniest thing I've ever seen. That was when he'd only been on Radio 4. Now, sadly, since it got turned into a TV show, has turned in to a pile of crap.
Henning Wien, 3 times now. Brilliant, especially playing on the German stereotype.A lot of his jokes about the British are not actually jokes - they are true.
Brian Blessed (not technically stand-up) twice. Gordan's Alive !!
Bill Bailey - utter, utter, utter dog s
t.
Henning Wien, 3 times now. Brilliant, especially playing on the German stereotype.A lot of his jokes about the British are not actually jokes - they are true.
Brian Blessed (not technically stand-up) twice. Gordan's Alive !!
Bill Bailey - utter, utter, utter dog s
t.I'd quite like to see Simon Brodkin live, and Clinton Baptiste.
Im going to see Alan Partridge 'Stratagem' next April, and I've just bought tickets to see Mark Gatiss in his Christmas Carol production, no idea if there will be comedy in that, but its my favourite Christmas story so will enjoy it regardless.
Im going to see Alan Partridge 'Stratagem' next April, and I've just bought tickets to see Mark Gatiss in his Christmas Carol production, no idea if there will be comedy in that, but its my favourite Christmas story so will enjoy it regardless.
Dan Nightingale's 20 minutes et on Friday night was excellent as expected. I was really pleasantly surprised with how good Eddy Brimson was too. He did a couple of excellent bits about (for want of a better description) wokeism and people taking offence on others' behalf. If that's your bag and he's on near you, go and see him.
Blatter said:
Saw Paul Chowdhry the other night. Very funny.
He was very good at dealing with hecklers and even got some good mileage over a couple who walked out in the early part of the show.
Catch his "Family Friendly Comedian" Tour if you can.
Have you seen the previous tour / Live Innit? He was very good at dealing with hecklers and even got some good mileage over a couple who walked out in the early part of the show.
Catch his "Family Friendly Comedian" Tour if you can.
Was there a lot of new material?
ade73 said:
snuffy said:
Count Arthur Strong (not technically stand-up) twice; The funniest thing I've ever seen. That was when he'd only been on Radio 4. Now, sadly, since it got turned into a TV show, has turned in to a pile of crap.
Oh, I hope not I've got tickets to see him in March 2022The thing was, the radio series was written by Steve Delaney alone. And his stage stuff was identical. In fact, the first time I went to see him live, the show was only 1 hour and 10 minutes. But afterwards, when I thought about it, it's was a fantastic achievement because it was pretty much a monologue for all that time.
The second time it was longer, but he had more supporting cast.
But the TV was co-written by Graham Linehan. Why the BBC thought it needed another writer is beyond me.
Saw Chris Ramsey in Halifax on Sunday. A very enjoyable show. I was a little concerned that he may have to tone things down a bit to avoid offending the significant number of oldies who had bought tickets on the back of his appearances on the dancing show but there was no sign of that.
Carl Hutchinson was very good in support. I probably laughed harder at one or two of his bits than any of Ramsey's set. I've been to his last two tour shows so I'll probably go to his next one too.
Carl Hutchinson was very good in support. I probably laughed harder at one or two of his bits than any of Ramsey's set. I've been to his last two tour shows so I'll probably go to his next one too.
I hear a lot about the genius of some American comics but I very rarely find them any good. I know I'm in the minority as people like Burr, Kevin Hart et al sell a lot of tickets over here but for me, stand-up needs to be relatable and I just don't get a lot of their cultural references. I'll give Bill Burr another go though; I've only tried watching one of his specials and maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it.
DRFC1879 said:
I hear a lot about the genius of some American comics but I very rarely find them any good. I know I'm in the minority as people like Burr, Kevin Hart et al sell a lot of tickets over here but for me, stand-up needs to be relatable and I just don't get a lot of their cultural references. I'll give Bill Burr another go though; I've only tried watching one of his specials and maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it.
I understand, there's always going to be cultural references that we don't get. I personally don't like Kevin Hart doing standup as he's too shouty, but find him funny on talk shows / being interviewed. There's others like Doug Stanhope who just sounds like he's trying too hard. I find Bill Burr is almost a bit Alan Partridge, in the way that he's a bit of an acquired taste. I don't always get the joke the first time I hear it. I'm sure he has a couple of shows recorded in the UK.
LeadFarmer said:
My favourite comedian is currently the American Anthony Jeselnik, I love how offensive and cutting he is, all done in a really funny way, the kind of comedy that UK comedians don't do (apart from Frankie Boyle, but has he stopped stand up now?).
Frankie Boyle tours regularly. If you want to see him then you have to go to Scotland. I go to lots of stand up and live quite close to Newbury & have memebership which gives priority, where you get a good mix of warm up gigs for bigger acts and also the regular touring acts.
i quite like the relaxed nature of the warm up and have seen Jason Manford, Russell Howard, Jimmy Carr amongst others. The first 2 I'd not pay to see in a big venue so this is ideal. Also saw Ed Byrne there a couple of weeks ago and was very enjoyable and embracing middle age into his act.
Had the misfortune of seeing Bill Bailey & Henning Wein during the brexit fallout and the former in particular was just a rancid remainer who spent the better part of the whole show spouting how anyone who voted leave was thick as st. Ben Elton was the same, despite saying at the outset 'i'm not doing brexit stuff'!
also have membership for the Reading theatres so go to a few there, Phil Jupitus was hilarious, Tom Stade is always very good. saw Jeff Northcott (right wing comic - playful right of centre, not a black shirt)
Simon Evans is always very good, but again is a tad right of centre and is never going to get the TV stuff his skill probably deserves. At the other end of the scale i've seen Jim Jeffries, Seinfeld, Billy Connolly. Missed Chappelle this year as mate let me down and didn't want to get lumbered with a spare £200 ticket after hearing mixed reviews
Ed Gamble was a recent disappointment, seemed to be a very lazily put together show and was too obvious with stuff that seemed left over from 'off menu', whereas Phil Wang was surprisingly good.
have loads of stuff coming up and the above is just a few that i've seen, including pretty much all of the TV panel gang. Russell Kane and Dara O'Briain were very good.
if you are London the Leceister Square theatre always had a great line up too, seeing Simon Brodkin, Rachel Parris, Stewart Lee and others in the next few months. Bush hall in W12 also have some good nights too.
i quite like the relaxed nature of the warm up and have seen Jason Manford, Russell Howard, Jimmy Carr amongst others. The first 2 I'd not pay to see in a big venue so this is ideal. Also saw Ed Byrne there a couple of weeks ago and was very enjoyable and embracing middle age into his act.
Had the misfortune of seeing Bill Bailey & Henning Wein during the brexit fallout and the former in particular was just a rancid remainer who spent the better part of the whole show spouting how anyone who voted leave was thick as s
t. Ben Elton was the same, despite saying at the outset 'i'm not doing brexit stuff'!also have membership for the Reading theatres so go to a few there, Phil Jupitus was hilarious, Tom Stade is always very good. saw Jeff Northcott (right wing comic - playful right of centre, not a black shirt)
Simon Evans is always very good, but again is a tad right of centre and is never going to get the TV stuff his skill probably deserves. At the other end of the scale i've seen Jim Jeffries, Seinfeld, Billy Connolly. Missed Chappelle this year as mate let me down and didn't want to get lumbered with a spare £200 ticket after hearing mixed reviews
Ed Gamble was a recent disappointment, seemed to be a very lazily put together show and was too obvious with stuff that seemed left over from 'off menu', whereas Phil Wang was surprisingly good.
have loads of stuff coming up and the above is just a few that i've seen, including pretty much all of the TV panel gang. Russell Kane and Dara O'Briain were very good.
if you are London the Leceister Square theatre always had a great line up too, seeing Simon Brodkin, Rachel Parris, Stewart Lee and others in the next few months. Bush hall in W12 also have some good nights too.
DaveE87 said:
Dave Chappelle is an amazing storyteller. He's certainly the best currently and seen as the GOAT by many. I hope to see him live at least once before he retires.
The last comedian I saw live was Jim Jefferies in December 2019. He's toned it down a bit since his early stuff, but going mainstream in the US has made him a bit too... liberal? His TV show called Legit, although filmed some years ago, just has to be seen - he acts out some of his early standup material but pulls it off well.
As well as the Fringe in Edinburgh, on the lead up to it some do warm-ups in York. I don't know if they had one in 2020 due to COVID, but a few years ago I went to see Jerry Sadowitz. If you love offensive comedy he doesn't pull any punches. At a small venue, it does make you feel part of something rather than just watching it. Comparable to the front row at bigger venues perhaps.
I've also seen Frankie Boyle three times, but years apart. I like his humour, but if you see him too often he can be repetitive.
I've been to see many others over the years, some big names and plenty that I can't even remember. Offensive comedy is my favourite "genre", but it is just that - comedy. Wherever you sit on the political spectrum we should never ban it. I'll pipe down before I go off at a tangent. Any other offensive comedians that anyone can recommend?
Worth keeping an eye on who comedy unleashed are putting on, plus they've been filming so wonder where and when that'll pop up. Very much comedy against the hyper sanitised and careful - perhaps conservative, ironically - product that is mainstream comedy.The last comedian I saw live was Jim Jefferies in December 2019. He's toned it down a bit since his early stuff, but going mainstream in the US has made him a bit too... liberal? His TV show called Legit, although filmed some years ago, just has to be seen - he acts out some of his early standup material but pulls it off well.
As well as the Fringe in Edinburgh, on the lead up to it some do warm-ups in York. I don't know if they had one in 2020 due to COVID, but a few years ago I went to see Jerry Sadowitz. If you love offensive comedy he doesn't pull any punches. At a small venue, it does make you feel part of something rather than just watching it. Comparable to the front row at bigger venues perhaps.
I've also seen Frankie Boyle three times, but years apart. I like his humour, but if you see him too often he can be repetitive.
I've been to see many others over the years, some big names and plenty that I can't even remember. Offensive comedy is my favourite "genre", but it is just that - comedy. Wherever you sit on the political spectrum we should never ban it. I'll pipe down before I go off at a tangent. Any other offensive comedians that anyone can recommend?
StevieBee said:
With you on this. To me American stand-up tends to lack any nuance - they take a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. There are some exceptions - Lewis Black being one of them.
I'm not sure if they count given how long he has been in the UK, but Reginald D Hunter and Rich Hall were both excellent when we saw them live a couple of years ago.It's a bit like Henning Wien, I like the view of an "outsider" that can both see what is strange about the UK to other people but also understands the UK.
Edited by David_M on Thursday 11th November 10:05
StevieBee said:
DRFC1879 said:
I hear a lot about the genius of some American comics but I very rarely find them any good.
With you on this. To me American stand-up tends to lack any nuance - they take a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. There are some exceptions - Lewis Black being one of them. I don’t like how they pause for a laugh after not saying anything even remotely like a joke e.g: “I went to this club last night” and then pauses for a laugh.
However reggie hunter is hilarious.
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