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A few weeks ago, ITV3 rescreened An Audience With Freddie Starr. I recorded it out of sheer curiosity, as I remember thinking he was great when I was a kid.

I just got round to watching it last night. I thought the number of Elvis songs in the show was a tad self-indulgent, and the audience humilation routines left me cold, but there were some moments of ridiculous genius.

This, for example.

And there was a surprising amount of magic on the show - a head chopper trick, and a comedy bullet catch (mentored by George Kovari). And on that score, I have to say that I love his style. It's never about the trick - it's about how many laughs he can squeeze out of it. The secret is sacred, but he treats the mystery and himself with complete disrespect. I'd pay to see him on a magic gala show, rather than some of the cheese-fest acts I've seen...

The bullet catch and a comedy knife-throwing routine are here.

hit and miss... but great fun regardless!

Pete

Wayne Dobson did a lot of his TV shows so magic was certainly in the forefront of the show design in this days. Freddie certainly can be a bit self indulgent and his Elvis songs backed by The Jordanaires seemed to me to be a bit tasteless but his comedy is manic, unpredictable and very entertaining. A far cry from the apparently endless diet of reality, celebrity, makover and cop shows served up these days.....

Its lovely to see George Kovari . I assisted George with the gun trick when i was about 20.

The gun does have quite a kick to it you know.Heavy thing too.

Yup, it was the Wayne Dobson interview at South Shields that reminded me of how much I liked Freddie Starr when I was a kid. And that's the reason why I recorded and watched the ITV special.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7nI_5Ao ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeNDkxnz2V0

its all about the fingers...

here's the thing, i always hated freddie starr, apart from when he used to hit his head with the microphone - HILARIOUS!

but these two clips go to show why one is genius, and what a good mentalist should be...

and the other is a good example of an ego-driven magician...

so there!

Chalk and cheese though, innit?

Dave Allen's sit-down comedy was wonderful. But comparing the two is like comparing Mel Brooks with Jacques Tati.

I think Starr needs to be ego-driven for the type of act he does. I wouldn't want to go for a drink with the guy, but i like his comedy. There's always room in this world for basic, crass and tasteless humour.

But comparing the two is like comparing Mel Brooks with Jacques Tati.

In the case of Brook's Silent movie.. you can.

pcwells wrote:Chalk and cheese though, innit?

Dave Allen's sit-down comedy was wonderful. But comparing the two is like comparing Mel Brooks with Jacques Tati.

I think Starr needs to be ego-driven for the type of act he does. I wouldn't want to go for a drink with the guy, but i like his comedy. There's always room in this world for basic, crass and tasteless humour.

im all for basic, crass and tasteless, but it has to be done with intelligence...but then, when its done with intelligence, its no longer basic, crass nor tasteless...there's the rub...

starr is hardly a doug stanhope...

in the starr clip with Ali, he made Ali jump and tried to upstage it all by dressing how he did, and making Ali, the physically, yet mentally distressed gentle giant look silly...the little man making the goliath look idiotic...

with Allen, he told roughly the same kind of story, ignored the laughter until the end when it was HE who looked silly/the fool...

thats how i felt watching the two anyways...starr was the magician, the show off, the look-at-me...making others look and feel silly...

allen drew you in, shared something intimate and finished on a strong "reveal"...

daleshrimpton wrote:

But comparing the two is like comparing Mel Brooks with Jacques Tati.

In the case of Brook's Silent movie.. you can.

Not even that... Silent Movie took its lead from Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. Jacques Tati's movies were physical and visual, yes, but much more subtle and elegant - relying on observation, and trusting the audience to pay close attention, rather than just shoving the gag right under their noses.

And I love both. Silent Movie was a great film. And I also rate both Young Frankenstein and M. Hulot's Holiday among my top five movies ever. Come to think of it, Mon Oncle's in there too.

I love intelligent comedy.

But stupid and idiotic is good too.

What always struck me about that Parkinson clip was that it appears that Freddie Starr was higher on the bill than Ali!!!

Surely if Ali was the star guest, he wouldn't have already been on stage when Freddie Starr was introduced!!

I vaguely remember that episode when it was originally shown, must have been very young at the time... And I loved Freddie Starr as a kid!

Having seen a great many of Freddie's shows both on TV and live I feel I have to comment about a few of the comments made.

Firstly, self-indulgence is Fredie's style. Las Vegas has a strict rule about Elvis impersonators playing the places where Elvis himself performed. The only impersonator to have been allowed to play Vegas was Freddie.

Secondly, not many people know of Freddie's skill as a ventrioquist and his interest in spiritualism and paranormal phenomena of all kinds. He also loves magic which is why it features to a large extent in his stage act.

Yes he insults the audience, but they all end up with tears running down their faces all through the show and those audiences come back time after time to see him.

Most people would be of the opinion that Freddie is a few screws short of a toolbox but then again geniuses usually are...