talkmagic.co.uk

The only US comedy (Oliver Hardy aside) that I have ever laughed at was Diff'rent Strokes. And that's mainly because of the midget.

American "comedy" falls into the following categories:

"Wacky" - Stupid, face pulling stuff and smug "Aren't I being wacky?" faces

"Very smug" - The "Aren't we being clever" school of thought such as Frasier,. neither funny nor clever

"Ranting" - fat men in ill fitting suits swearing a lot about smoking and vegetarians

"Schmalty" - twee moralistic "feel good" rubbish like Friends.

For me, proper comedy is the Carry On's, Up Pompeii, Benny Hill, One Foot In The Grave, Cannon and Ball, etc. Ones where there are jokes and personalities. The blandness of things like Friends leave me cold.

As for The Simpsons being 'adult comedy' why have they opened the film in time for the school holidays? It's a kids programmes and grown men with models of them dangling from their rear-view mirror have some real issues to deal with. It's about as adult as Bob The Builder.

American comedy is one of my pet hates. It's horrid and we've been subjected to it for so many years. Mr Bean was our revenge.

surely you can't rate cannon and ball? surely?!

a pinging of braces, a third rate flannigan and allen and some very poor lounge-lizard singing...come on now...rock on lord freddie...rock on...

i think its a pretty much equal share, but the brits win it by the nose for doing it in the first place...satire, slapstick, innuendo etc etc etc

dont forget laurel was english...i even read that theres a rumour he's clint eastwood's dad!

...and hooray for Harold Lloyd! he blew a finger off didnt he in an accident..and he was a magician...

whose for the Baron Knights? the drummer was a hypnotist...

Firstly you're talking about a subjective thing as if it's an objective fact; you say that Friends is rubbish but that itself is a rubbish statement because millions upon millions of people enjoy it; from an objective writing viewpoint those guys knew how to structure episodes and the timing is often fantastic.

Frasier's not trying to be smug or clever - it's subtler than some other comedies, but just because Niles and Frasier are smug doesn't make the comedy smug.

The whole point is that we laugh at how pretentious they are; here we have these two psychiatrists charged with sorting other peoples lives out who have just as many problems in their own! They make jokes about 'sophisticated' things like wine and opera, but we're not supposed to find the jokes they make funny but the fact that they find them amusing funny.

You've got the 'everyday people' like Martin and Daphne and Roz who the audience can relate to.

And what of Curb Your Enthusiasm? Seinfeld?

You may say that, but none of these are a Fools and Horses, are they?

Well strutured characters with witty dialogue. - OF&H
Friends -cardboard cut-outs reeling off unfunny one-liners from an autocue.

A lot of people "enjoyed" Friends, you say? I believe that was due to the never ending hype it received. If the people that claimed to like it actually enjoyed it then car boot sales across the land wouldn't be filled with Friends videos and DVD's. It was a fad of the time.

My Benny Hill DVD's won't be going anywhere other than from my shelf to the DVD player!

It must be just me that finds almost all stand-up comedy about as funny as herpes!! I just dont get a lot of it.

Occasionally Ill see some guy Ive never heard of and he'll say something I can relate to.. but a lot of them talk complete tripe.

Back in my 'urban' days I used to watch a lot of the def jam stuff.. but I realise I hate americanism and I tried to find some good british humour.

I can find so much humour in Britain but stand-up itself goes over my head.

Mind you.. I find things like Fonejacker hilarious so that says it all really

I find Friends funny.. it grew on me like my beloved corn on my little toe..

I find things like Bottom funny, a lot of the old stuff from the 70's..

Modern comedy tries too hard!!

Now Jimmy Cricket, there's a fine comedian...

if you like phonejacker, try and find a tape of Victor Lewis Smith's "tested on humans for irritancy"...pretty much what phonejacker is...but ruder...

before the Jerky Boys too...

come on now Jason King, sorry, avatar change, Lord Freddie - now i know you're joking....Jimmy Cricket indeed...unless you actually are Jimmy Cricket...

abraxus wrote:if you like phonejacker, try and find a tape of Victor Lewis Smith's "tested on humans for irritancy"...pretty much what phonejacker is...but ruder...

before the Jerky Boys too...

come on now Jason King, sorry, avatar change, Lord Freddie - now I know you're joking....Jimmy Cricket indeed...unless you actually are Jimmy Cricket...

I have the VLS CD and it's a corker. Tracey The Midget....
Genius....

Shows like Brass Eye, imagine how crass a US version would be?
I saw what they did with The Office - turned it into some Jim Carey style whackathon.

To be honest, I like most British comedy, from music hall to present day, but the blandness of US "comedy" is something that leaves me completely cold.
The only men that watch Friends are ones that are forced to by their girlfriends. As for all this Ugly Betty nonsense... awful.

Lord Freddie wrote:The only men that watch Friends are ones that are forced to by their girlfriends. As for all this Ugly Betty nonsense... awful.

I've fallen into this category: Mrs Seige lived in New Jersey for quite some time, and picked up a few US habits, like Friends and Seinfeld.

Frankly, I find neither even remotely amusing—even though I have persisted. Whilst she [mrs s] can roll on the floor at such things as the 'wacky' lass in friends attempting to sing campfire accoustic guitar songs, all I actually found amusing about the show was something which wasn't even meant to be funny, and that is the fact that the cast demanded a payrise and went on strike until they got one. The result? In the last season, they were paid $1m per-episode. Now that's really hilarious.

But Benny Hill is so juvenile - which is surely as bad as being 'wacky' right?

John Shuttleworth, Dave Gorman, Flight of the Conchords, absolute classics.

is teeth there?

friends...i laugh at some of the episodes...

its very clever on one level, that if you take a real man and woman, split both into three of their main characteristics (food/sex=joey, scared of commitment, humour as a defense=chandler, safe bet, smart and nerdy=ross)...

and i occasionally treat myself to watching Joey, but only cos i fancy that hard-faced woman that plays his sister in it...

Benny Hill was rubbish. Honestly. He was. I'm as un-PC as it's possible to be, but Benny Hill leaves me completely cold. The only reason you don't see any videos or DVDs of his at car boot sales is that nobody anywhere ever buys them in the first place.

If the only men who watch Friends are those whose girlfriends and wives make them, then the only men who watch Benny Hill are the slightly sadder variety who are just after some t*ts and ass before scuttling off to the bathroom for a "shower".

themagicwand wrote:Oh dear. Ummm....mods?

What you need mods for? The best way to remove pests is wait till they eat your poisoned bait

There have over the years been some fantastic comedians but as said by others personal preferences will always get in the way of a definitive list. Bob Monkhouse was brilliant even if I felt he was too smarmy; Les Dawson, Ken Dodd, Billy Connelly (in his better years); The Two Ronnies especially Mr Barker were all stars of their era and have lasting appeal. Ross Noble, The Pub Landlord, Lee Evans, Peter Kay etc are the latest crop of 'mainstream' with some interesting new faces starting to crop up. Between those were the likes of Ben Elton, Harry Enfield & Co, Rowan Atkinson etc etc Before all of them the musical hall and picture house acts. There is no real way to compare them to each other. It's like comparing Monty Python with Charlie Carroli (remember him from "Crackerjack"?). Each generation produces its own versions and variations. (Maybe if 'magic' did that more it would be more popular???).

There are some good North American comedians but for me the majority of them do come across as rather lame, same-ish and only slightly amusing rather than producing fits of laughter. There are a few who can do that, Joan Rivers on a good day can be hilarious.

When it comes to sit-coms I have to agree that American stuff tends to be very bland. Some occasional funny moments or one-liners but nothing to make me go out of my way to tune in. Compare that with the likes of Porridge, Open All Hours, Yes Minister, Vicar of Dibley etc. No contest. the Americans probably would not pick up on much of the comedy in those, however, because of the cultural focus.

If they can make me forget whatever else is going on around me by drawing me into a surreal world and have me in fits of giggles or gasping for breath through laughter I don't really care what nationality a comedian is but people with that sort of talent or willing to put the effort in to go beyond just telling a joke are rare.

How on earth anyone can find the Office or Ricky Gervais funny has me completely stumped.

Jae wrote:
How on earth anyone can find the Office or Ricky Gervais funny has me completely stumped.

Oh but the Office to me is side-splittingly funny! Perhaps it's because it is so accurate, as anyone who works or has worked in an office knows only too well. It's the old saying - it's only funny because it's so true.

Me and the missus met while working in an office many years ago. We watch the Office together now and it's like a trip down memory lane! Kinda sweet really. And also very very funny.