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I concede, Bottom, and it's predecessor of sorts The Young Ones, is an acquired taste, and not one I'm personally a huge fan of. I agree that the slapstick elements are too much and sometimes it's a little too 'alternative; for it's own good.
And I'm not saying all American comedy is poor, just that most of the great comedians of the 20th and 21st century are largely British. I admit to not having seen a lot of American stuff, but what I have seen hasn't really appealed to me. Also, another thing I will concede is that in terms of comedy films as opposed to TV, the USA does produce some of the best. The Big Lebowski, Wild Hogs, Night at the Museum (yes, it's a kid's one, but still hilarious), Spinal Tap, and RIPD all spring to mind as being great American comedy movies.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, Hlaine Larkin mk2, have an exalt for Boris! Funny thing is, appearing in this thread is probably the most useful thing he's done for Britain!
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/06/20 18:12:21
Paradigm wrote: I concede, Bottom, and it's predecessor of sorts The Young Ones, is an acquired taste, and not one I'm personally a huge fan of. I agree that the slapstick elements are too much and sometimes it's a little too 'alternative; for it's own good.
And I'm not saying all American comedy is poor, just that most of the great comedians of the 20th and 21st century are largely British. I admit to not having seen a lot of American stuff, but what I have seen hasn't really appealed to me. Also, another thing I will concede is that in terms of comedy films as opposed to TV, the USA does produce some of the best. The Big Lebowski, Wild Hogs, Night at the Museum (yes, it's a kid's one, but still hilarious), Spinal Tap, and RIPD all spring to mind as being great American comedy movies.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, Hlaine Larkin mk2, have an exalt for Boris! Funny thing is, appearing in this thread is probably the most useful thing he's done for Britain!
Honestly, I think it's more the American "style" of stand up that doesn't work as well on this side of the pond.
Izzard is a top notch comedian. I won a VHS tape of his Glorious show as a prize on a local radio station back in 1997. I was kinda disappointed when it arrived initially because I never heard of the strange guy in lipstick, but after watching it I became a life long fan. Izzard brings the funny!
Saw him last year in a small theater with about 100 people and absolutely loved his performance. Also saw him at the Hollywood Bowl with a big amphitheater audience and in both cases he absolutely killed. He has major talent especially considering his penchant for performing in foreign languages. That takes skill!
Yes, the joke is playing on how we are so fething polite.
The funniest people in the UK for quite a while now is Mitchell and Webb. Especially Mitchell, when he is on one of the myriad of panel shows over there it is usually gold.
We were once so close to heaven, St. Peter came out and gave us medals; declaring us "The nicest of the damned".
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
We were once so close to heaven, St. Peter came out and gave us medals; declaring us "The nicest of the damned".
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
Paradigm wrote: Yes, the nation that gave the world Dad's Army, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, Monty Python, The Two Ronnies, Blackadder, Mr Bean, Not the Nine o'Clock news and Fry and Laurie* is pulling comedic rank. Do you have anything to say in your defence?
*and that's not even mentioning Porridge, The Fast Show, Steptoe and Son, Open All Hours... Need I go on?
Didn't you also hand out 'Allo 'Allo and Johnny Vegas?
Paradigm wrote: Yes, the nation that gave the world Dad's Army, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, Monty Python, The Two Ronnies, Blackadder, Mr Bean, Not the Nine o'Clock news and Fry and Laurie* is pulling comedic rank. Do you have anything to say in your defence?
*and that's not even mentioning Porridge, The Fast Show, Steptoe and Son, Open All Hours... Need I go on?
Didn't you also hand out 'Allo 'Allo and Johnny Vegas?
Allo Allo! How did I forget that one. I'm not a fan of Johnny Vegas, though.
whembly wrote:You want a funny American Comedian?
Even a clean comedian?!?!?
I give thee... Bill Cosby as Himself:
I dare you NOT to fething laugh!!!
Bill Cosby is a laugh indeed, as is Bob Newhart from the same sort of era and style.
feeder wrote:The funniest people in the UK for quite a while now is Mitchell and Webb. Especially Mitchell, when he is on one of the myriad of panel shows over there it is usually gold.
Mitchell is funny on panel shows, but as a double act I think Armstrong and Miller are miles better. That said, they haven't done anything new in a while.
I find Python great when I was 10 I enjoyed the absurdist stuff and as I grew older I began appreciating their social commentary more, still love the surreal stuff too.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/06/21 09:57:59
Paradigm wrote: Allo Allo! How did I forget that one. I'm not a fan of Johnny Vegas, though.
Yeah, I was using those as examples of bad British comedy. Which, as a whole, is overrated. Even Python isn't particularly funny once you're over 13.
Allo Allo is not bad at all! A little odd and simple at times, but still very funny. And Python, I think, will always be the best comedic assembly in history. They've done a lot of less-than-stellar stuff, but as a proportion of their large body of work, it's very much a minority.
feeder wrote: Bill Cosby is like the Beatles of comedy.
I would argue that would be Richard Pryor as a lot of major comedians were influenced by him such as George Carlin, Louis CK, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Lewis Black, Bill Hicks, Robin Williams, Patton Oswalt, Eddie Izzard, Jon Stewart, etc his intimate relationship with
the audience and his ability to find comedy out of some really tragic events made him stand out.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/06/21 20:26:39
kronk wrote: Don't get me wrong, Rowan Atkinson was incredibly talented and funny as Mr. Bean. I enjoy his stuff very much. But that's just an act as much as Larry the Cable guy is an act. And both are very silly in their own respect.
Have you seen any of his other work? Most notably Black Adder, for example? The man is a comic genius.
I HATE Mr. Bean because IMO, that is absolutely the worst role that Atkinson has ever performed is exactly the one that actually made him famous internationally...
We have Mel Brooks. While I love Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Mel's success list is far longer. 'Merica wins this one too. Go home Britain. Your ass got kicked harder in comedy than it did in a war with a bunch of farmers.
Reality is a nice place to visit, but I'd hate to live there.
Manchu wrote:I'm a Catholic. We eat our God.
Due to work, I can usually only ship any sales or trades out on Saturday morning. Please trade/purchase with this in mind.
I'll grant that US humor is more vulgar than British humor, but I wouldn't call either of them more intellectual. That's 2 different things.
Well, both the US and Britain are very capable of intellectual and "stupid" humor. It'd put guys like Lewis Black, George Carlin, Ben Stein and the like in an "intelligent" class and of course, there's tons of the stupid humor flying around.
As to the OP... were you by chance watching Tosh.O?? it sounds like one of the extremely not funny jokes that he would tell, and in all likelihood, unless it was an actual standup routine/show, the laughter was a canned laugh track.
When you look at the talent of the actor to stage and perform a character like that, I'd say yes. It's not just a bloke pratting around, it's a bloke pratting around in a way that, in terms of comedic timing and framing, is flawless and a class act.
Genuine question, who is Benny Hill? The name rings a bell, but I don't recall seeing any of his stuff.
d-usa wrote:If we are talking about English and American humor we might as well combine that with English and American soccer/football
Spoiler:
Paradigm, you don' know who Benny Hill is? are you really a Brit? Next you gonna say that you don't know who Tommy Cooper is.
D-usa, now that was funny!
I notice the difference in American and British humor whenever they make an American version of an English comedy show, it just doesn't work
