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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Comedians need love, too. Show a little.

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

17:08 / 01.02.05

As I came out of my cave the other day, I realized that the people who have made television watching a little more worthwhile these days are funny men. Correction: funny strange men. Men that I find myself oddly attracted to. The list as follows:

Bob Odenkirk (seriously, a man who wears suits and is that deranged makes my heart do a little dance)

Rob Huebel (member of Upright Citizen Brigade--not the TV show version--and pop culture pundit)

Zach Galifinakis (hard to catergorize this one, but anyone who names their facial hair Sheila wins my love)

Oh yeah, and Sarah Silverman. Rowr.

17:18 / 01.02.05

John Stewart. Duh.

Also: Henry Rollins is always fascinating on VH1 specials.

Sean the frumious Bandersnatch

22:16 / 01.02.05

You've got good taste, Kali.

Seconding Sarah Silverman and Zach Galifinakis, and adding mister David Cross and mister H. John Benjamin (Coach McGuirk from Home Movies).

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

14:41 / 02.02.05

Patton Oswalt. There is no higher. Other emcees bow down and call him sire.

Honestly, his bit on the Comedy Central special about reality tv was dense and clever enough to be a bestselling novel. But his cleverness is always outshined by his just unbelievably effortless method of being simply the funniest guy on Earth. Listen to his Robert Evans/ESPN bit with a mouth full of carbonated soda. I DARE YOU.

See Also: Tom Carvel, Stella Doro Breadsticks, the Bolivian Woman downstairs with night terrors, "Oswalt's Latest Bon Mot", Nick Nolte as Batman, George W. Bush in Stephen King's The Stand, The Chipmunks at 33rpm, and the continuing and FUCKING BRILLIANT adventures of Slade Ripfire, et al, serialized at bobanddavid.com

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

17:31 / 02.02.05

Chris Morris. As far as I can tell, he's the only justification we have for the existence of television at all.

XXII:X:II = XXX

05:36 / 04.02.05

Oh come on, it took until the sixth post of this thread for Saint Bill Hicks to get some love? Wassa matta witchu people? Man, now you make me glad I poisoned the water supply.

That all said, it gives one hope that the greatest standups of the past 25 years are returning to the stage: Robin Williams did a special a couple years ago, and Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg each have one person shows on Broadway. Now if only Eddie Murphy would get it into his head that his movie career is sunk and that we miss the way he used to be it might inspire a religious reawakening in me.

When I see Jim Gaffigan on Conan I find him goofily hysterical. I enjoy how he'll sometimes switch voices mid-track and get inside the heads of his audience. "Now I can't stop picturing him naked. I'm gonna be up all night."

/+,

10:54 / 04.02.05

Shit, did you know Malcolm Hardee was found dead in the Thames on Wednesday? Missed that one. Shame, he was evil but funny. Once wrote an autograph for me :"Jesus loves you, but I think you're a cunt".

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:08 / 04.02.05

Only reason I didn't mention Hicks is that I thought we were confined to the living. If we're not...

Haus of Mystery

13:06 / 04.02.05

As I work in a venue with a good deal of stand-up comedy, I am incredibly fussy about who I find genuionely laugh-out-loud funny. There are so many average comedians peddling the same old gender/region/nationality based comedy on the circuit I could cry. It takes a lot to get through my cynicism these days, but for my money some of the best comedians working the British market at the mo are: Phil Nichols (Canadian lunatic, ex member of Corky and The Juicepigs - a total fucking genius. Neurotic but unstoppable), Stephen K Amos (caustic piss-taker - spends first 10 minutes of his act pretending to be African, insulting as many nations as possible. His whole act consists of being rude to the audience) and Gina Yashere (very funny lady who you've probably seen as a pundit on a million shit TV shows, but don't be dissuaded: rude, raucous and very astute). I'm sure there are others, but off the top of my head that'll do.

Tom Tit's Tot: A Girl!

16:55 / 04.02.05

Simon Munnery who seemed like an idiotic and arrogant tit when I first saw his comedy, and then afterwards he has my sides hurting and tears streaming from my eyes. See his stand-up if you get the chance.

Goodness Gracious Meme

19:06 / 04.02.05

Actually, Kali, this is a great thread.

Shit, on the Malcom Hardee news. Blimey....

Victoria Wood. 'Acorn Antiques' in particularly has me howling on the floor with laughter.

Lots of what's been mentioned above, Simon Munnery and Bill Hicks especially.

Have a tape of an old Rowan Atkinson gig from the 80s, incredibly sharp and funny. Sketch in which he plays the Devil welcoming the newest arrivals to Hell is one of the funniest things ever.

Eddie Izzard. Am astonished no-one's mentioned him yet. Seen him live several times over the years and he's always been brilliant.

Brigade du jour

23:47 / 04.02.05

Hey, maybe this thread could be like that 'Comedian's Comedian' thing that was on Channel 4 over Christmas, except ... not completely and utterly fucking WRONG.

Um, I don't know ... I do recall an hour-long Jerry Sadowitz video from the 80s cracking me up into a ball of 'ooh he's soooo rude!'

Oh, and Richard Pryor (for fuck's sake).

13:01 / 05.02.05

Can't believe I get to be the first to mention these two:

Have any of the Bill Hicks fans seen or listened to his stuff recently? I *loved* him 10 years ago, but watched one of his shows a few months ago and boy, cringerama.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

14:27 / 05.02.05

I listen to Hicks a lot, and while his stuff isn't cringe-worthy, it is VERY much a product of the time, and his constant assault on the sudience can be too much to take at times. I got a bootleg of a Chicago performance that I woudl have walked out of.

As for the comedians that I like:

George Carlin To be his age, and still be more relevant than most stand ups working is enough to give him props, but the fact that he is such an incredible wordsmith and knows how to gets laughs from Language amazes me every time I see him. He is also very much a "timeless" comedian, and his work from the 70's is pretty much as relevant as it is today.

Richard Pryor Another master who doesn't get his due today because he hasn't been able to perform for a long time. Forget his mostly forgettable acting jobs....his stand up albums of the 70's are amazing.

David Cross I'm new to his work, mostly because I didn't have HBO when Mr. Show was on, but his is VERY funny, and has a LOT of good material. I wish he'd quit acting and do more stand-up.

Mitch Hedburg A standup who started here in Minneapolis, and I watched him as he would come to the stange with a notepad and just read off his jokes....got so popular here that he would do an hour then ask people to give him topics that he hadn't made jokes on yet. He's working on "Crank Yankers" which is a damn shame, since he's as inventive as Steven Wright was in his prime.

Sean the frumious Bandersnatch

14:29 / 05.02.05

Oh man, I'm amazed I forgot Patton Oswalt.

And Smoothly, you commit blasphemy! I'll let you choose your form of penance.

14:48 / 05.02.05

That's fair enough, Sean. I'll strap myself to a chair and sit unblinking through at least half an hour of the sucking satan's cock routine.

15:59 / 05.02.05

Milton Jones. The very world of. Some of the finest scripted radio shows I've eevr heard. Yes, it's cheap puns, but it's still funny.

Haus of Mystery

17:35 / 05.02.05

Live, he wears the most fucking hideous jumpers. And his hair sticks up like he's just woken up. It's funny.

01:00 / 06.02.05

just going to second George Carlin, very funny guy and name checked by all the best stand up acts.

Richard Pryor is a masterclass on how stand up should be done

Chris Morris love everything hes done

Charlie Brooker, ive just finished reading Screen Burn, a collection of articles he wrote for the gaurdian and sat giggling on the bus like a drug addleded child

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:40 / 06.02.05

Phil Nichol I like a lot, although last time I saw him he was having a difficult gig. To give the floppy Brit commedians a huggle, Milton Jones, Will Smith and Boothby Graffoe. I saw Graffoe at Edinburgh, and he is just excellent - must get his albums.

Bill Hicks, of course, ripped off his entire act from Denis Leary. It's a sign of Leary's good nature that he never called him on it.

Haus of Mystery

16:07 / 06.02.05

I know it doesn't matter, but as a person Boothby is an arse. Extremely egotistical and condescending, and as a result his comedy is rapidly going downhill. He can be very good though, and anyone who can improvise comedy gets a big thumbs up from me.
Agree about Will Smith - just very, very funny. And a nice guy to boot. Phil Nichol tends to have quite a few 'difficult' gigs as far as I can see - indeed I witnessed quite a spectacular post drug meltdown last year. I think he's quite a highly strung character, and really 'feels' the comedy. When he's on form though he's hysterical.

Jack The Bodiless

20:29 / 06.02.05

Bill Hicks ain't dated that much in the last ten years - re-watched and listened to my old stuff recently. Although if I hear one more intelligent and perceptive friend of mine call the guy a prophet I'll begin to kill again. He was hilarious and had some of the best comic instincts of any performer I've ever seen... but he was an emotional fuck up, a fantasist and a barely-closet misanthrope/misogynist who, given the soul-bearing nature of his comedy, had all of that running like a cancerous vein throughout virtually everything he did. A genius stand-up? Very likely, you won't hear me quibbling. A prophet or social revolutionary of any kind? No, he was a rabid and highly confused throwback with an at best garbled philosophy.

21:35 / 06.02.05

Bill Hicks, of course, ripped off his entire act from Denis Leary. It's a sign of Leary's good nature that he never called him on it.

Arf. Haus, thy name is troll. In a fluffy trip-trappy way, o'course.

Brigade du jour

07:28 / 08.02.05

Bill Hicks, of course, ripped off his entire act from Denis Leary. It's a sign of Leary's good nature that he never called him on it.

It's ok though, because Leary beat Hicks to the supporting role of 'Cool Underground Resistance Leader' in Demolition Man. Revenge is a dish that is best served by Sylvester Stallone.

ONLY NICE THINGS

10:48 / 08.02.05

Operation Dumbo Drop. Bill Hicks. Just imagine.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:21 / 08.02.05

Ooh, how could I forget Dylan Moran? Saw him a couple of months ago... I nearly pissed myself. (Partly this was becuase I'd been drinking and was too scared to get up and go to the toilet, having seen the verbal assault he'd dished out on the last guy to do so). Very, very funny indeed, though a bit of his Black Books misanthropy slipped through by the very nature of the fact that he was playing a no-smoking venue, and kept lighting up.

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

19:03 / 08.02.05

Oh thank Christ, I feel the love now.

Anyway, Bill Hicks, for me, went pretty much unsaid. I think I was more or less discussing the living. I think.

I'm also fond of Demetri Martin, Janeane Garofalo before she kinda became unfunny (she can always bounce back), and of course, Eddie Izzard.

Goodness Gracious Meme

00:44 / 14.02.05

Oh, and MacG is so right about Gina Yashere, bright, caustic, imginatively rude and hysterically funny.

Hmm. Can't believe I forgot Shazia Mirza. Especially right now.

She is spiky, makes you laugh at things that your better nature is telling you are beyond the pale, is political and bloody funny. See her.

(Gig I saw, rotten rainy night, (audience soggy and miserable) in S.Lonodon about 6 mths ago. She walked in, adjusted her hijab, and opened by noting 'I bet you wish you all had one of these now'.)

03:48 / 18.02.05

but he was an emotional fuck up, a fantasist
Who isn't?

A prophet or social revolutionary of any kind? No, he was a rabid and highly confused throwback with an at best garbled philosophy.

Prophet? No. Revolutionary? That might be able to squeeze through the logic strainer. His political/drug rants, I'd like to think, got maybe a couple of people thinking. And, like a string of dominoes, we are now a more free people, living in harmony. Could just be fantasizing, though.
Besides, the only people that don't have a garbled philosophy are Objectivists. And those people are fucked up.

I think David Cross, along with Chris Rock, are pretty much the intellectual heirs to Hicks. In style, if not entirely in content. Doesn't make me like them any less.

Eddie Izzard is fantastic. Jim Bruer is a lot more entertaining to me as a comic than as an actor.

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

16:36 / 08.03.05

Just received word Zach Galifianakis, Patton Oswalt, and Brian Posehn will be in town in April. Guess who gets to have dinner with them?

Sweet!!

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

03:50 / 01.04.05

Just found out that Mitch Hedberg passed away on Tuesday...which is a damn shame. He was a hell of a nice guy and a brillian comedian.

Damn.

Haus of Mystery

11:02 / 01.04.05

What the fuck???? I'd literally only just gotten into him (got a CD from american pals) and have been singing his praises from the rooftops. This FUCKING SUCKS!

16:05 / 01.04.05

Demetri Martin is hilarious. Short one-minute routines that make you laugh so hard you can't breathe.