Comedians

[philipdalton]

No-one's started a thread on comedians here yet, so I've decided to start one. I like Lenny Henry, Mike Yarwood, Morecambe & Wise and The Two Ronnies.
Do you like watching Jim Davidson on the telly perhaps? Are his live shows a trifle too vulgar for your liking?
Do you like Harry Hill, or is his sense of humour too silly for you?
Let's all have a chat on who makes us laugh the most.

[tch]

Here's my list:

(sure I'll think of more two seconds after I click 'submit')

Eddie Izzard
Billy Connelly
George Carlin
The Marx Brothers
Monty Python ( individually or as a group)
Chris Rock

[Graceful Leonard]

Emo Phillips
Eddie Izzard (though he's gone off the boil a bit in recent years)
Spike Milligan
Julia Davis (a comic actress, rather than a comedian as such, but brilliant)
Amy Sedaris (ditto)
Monty Python
Larry David

Proabably others I've forgotten...

[Graceful Leonard]

Oh, and I forgot the absolute genius of the sadly departed Peter Cook.

[philipdalton]

Did anyone on here ever enjoy the humour of Bob Monkhouse?

[Graceful Leonard]

Did anyone on here ever enjoy the humour of Bob Monkhouse?

While I wouldn't have gone out of my way to watch his show, I think he seemed a decent man and was certainly a very talented comedian in his way. He probably didn't really get the credit he deserved until later in life.

I've thought of a few more:

Frankie Howerd -- I was fortunate enough to see two of his live shows in his later years. Outstanding.
Dave Allen -- saw a live show of his, too. Very good, very dry sense of humour.
Les Dawson

[philipdalton]

"Dave Allen -- saw a live show of his, too. Very good, very dry sense of humour".

Did he do stronger material in his live show than what he did on television?

[Graceful Leonard]

Did he do stronger material in his live show than what he did on television?

I would say his language was stronger, though not with the intent of offending, but the material was similar. It was quite relaxed, much like spending an entertaining evening in the pub with a very witty friend.

[philipdalton]

I seem to remember reading an article on Hale & Pace in which they said most comedians got blue during live shows but they didn't. I have a DVD of one of Tim Vine's live shows and there is nothing to offend in it apart from one use of the word 'sod' and a joke referring to heroin.
When I was on a Youth Training Scheme in 1986 there was one boy who was a big fan of Roy "Chubby" Brown and continually played a cassette tape of him with one blue joke on it after another. I remember this really dirty song on it that said "What a world, what a place, ain't you glad you're a member of the human race?" (The rest of it could be prosecutable under the Obscene Publications Act even now)

[Graceful Leonard]

I have no problem at all with shocking material and I don't go along with the view some hold that shocking comedy is a lower form. But it depends how it is done.

Roy Chubby Brown doesn't appeal to me at all for the same reasons Jim Davidson and Bernard Manning don't appeal to me -- it's dull, unimaginative, and full of bile. It doesn't even really break any taboos because you can hear that kind of stuff down the pub or at a football match. And, frankly, if I wanted to hear an hour of abuse I'd just invite the mother-in-law over (boom boom!)