[Humour] Is comedy in crisis?

[whosthedaddy]

I would suggest visiting the Edinburgh Festival Fringe when it returns and lap up the comedy from there.

You'll not find politically correct 'woke' conscious watered down tv comedy, instead it'll be a much more vibrant, edgy and daring styled comedy if you care to look.

 

[Tokyohands]

I dunno, I find people spitting the dummy about stuff that doesn't really affect them pretty funny itself. **** 'em.

 

[Music City Gull]

It's only the Hannah Gadsby types that make you think comedy is in crisis.

Once you move away from unfunny ***** like that and watch something from Chappelle, Burr or even an Andrew Shultz you realise there's still funny stuff out there from people not afraid to have a pop at anyone if there's comedy in it.

I think the problem is too many people that are labelled comedians really aren't comedians or at the least really bad at it but have some kind of profile on social media. It makes comedy look in crisis.

Wife and I are seeing Shultz at the end of March here in Nashville. Very excited. We also saw the final practice show for Nate Bargatze before he taped his second Netflix special that just came out today on Netflix. It’s very good (clean, no politics). We go to several comedy shows a year and comedy is not dead, at least here in the US. I follow several comedians from all different backgrounds, politics and races here and every single one of them would tell you to f-off if you tried to silence comedians, even those they don’t agree with on subjects. Also, while I don’t find him all that funny, Burr taped his latest special at 3 sold out shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He can be very abrasive and Brits sold his shows out. There’s a very good English podcast called “The Comedians Comedian” by Stuart Goldsmith and he had Burr on. They went after it hard when Stuart told Burr he should censor his comedy to not offend segments of society. Was a pretty interesting back and forth.

I find it interesting that so many posters believe all comedians should change and become non-offensive to all, yet also say what is offensive is different for every person. Seems like an impossible logic trail to go down and ever meet. Seems like a simpler solution is to follow and go see who you like and simply not listen to and go see comedy that you don’t like. Not sure how that’s a crazy idea.

I saw Chappelle one summer in college. He came to our school and put on a three hour show because he was having a good time. He pushes things from all angles as well. A lot of people will argue points wrapped up in comedy is an important tool giving the layman a voice in culture.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Wife and I are seeing Shultz at the end of March here in Nashville. Very excited. We also saw the final practice show for Nate Bargatze before he taped his second Netflix special that just came out today on Netflix. It’s very good (clean, no politics). We go to several comedy shows a year and comedy is not dead, at least here in the US. I follow several comedians from all different backgrounds, politics and races here and every single one of them would tell you to f-off if you tried to silence comedians, even those they don’t agree with on subjects. Also, while I don’t find him all that funny, Burr taped his latest special at 3 sold out shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He can be very abrasive and Brits sold his shows out. There’s a very good English podcast called “The Comedians Comedian” by Stuart Goldsmith and he had Burr on. They went after it hard when Stuart told Burr he should censor his comedy to not offend segments of society. Was a pretty interesting back and forth.

I find it interesting that so many posters believe all comedians should change and become non-offensive to all, yet also say what is offensive is different for every person. Seems like an impossible logic trail to go down and ever meet. Seems like a simpler solution is to follow and go see who you like and simply not listen to and go see comedy that you don’t like. Not sure how that’s a crazy idea.

I saw Chappelle one summer in college. He came to our school and put on a three hour show because he was having a good time. He pushes things from all angles as well. A lot of people will argue points wrapped up in comedy is an important tool giving the layman a voice in culture.

Shultz is something a bit different. When he just sits down and talks to the audience some truly funny stuff comes up as he connects with the crowd on a more personal level. He also just doesn't give a **** which I think helps.

Burr is the perfect example of people hearing one thing but not actually understanding what he's saying. He's super self deprecating.

Chapelle is a comedic genius. His Clayton Bigsby sketch is probably my all time fave comedy sketch. As you can see by my user name I'm a huge fan of Dave. A tad jealous you've been lucky enough to catch him live.

 

[Klaas]

Comedy is incredibly subjective and of it's time. To take one of your examples, Spitting Image, it was on, what, 35 years ago?? My only observation about SI is, why bring it back at all?

It is my personal view that the quality of comedy on our screens has plummeted. I'll give two examples:

Spitting Image - a pale shadow of its former glory.
Zapped - A half-hour sitcom with an excellent cast (James Buckley, Paul Kaye, Steve Coogan, Tim Key, Phil Daniels, Sally Phillips) but a woefully bland script.

Where does comedy go from this point?

 

[Music City Gull]

Shultz is something a bit different. When he just sits down and talks to the audience some truly funny stuff comes up as he connects with the crowd on a more personal level. He also just doesn't give a **** which I think helps.

Burr is the perfect example of people hearing one thing but not actually understanding what he's saying. He's super self deprecating.

Chapelle is a comedic genius. His Clayton Bigsby sketch is probably my all time fave comedy sketch. As you can see by my user name I'm a huge fan of Dave. A tad jealous you've been lucky enough to catch him live.

You see Burr’s stand up comedian, black wife after people tried to attack him for a racial joke he made at the Grammy’s? Point is - edgy comedy isn’t dead and folks are fighting for those that might be “offensive” to challenge norms.



https://twitter.com/niasalterego/status/1371493626895761408?s=20

 

[father_and_son]

What can you make jokes about any more?

1.We live at a time when stories of racism and sexism dominate the news.

2. We have lived through 4 years of Brexit that has divided the country.

3. Covid has killed tens of thousands, while waiting lists for medical treatment is at record levels and damage to people's mental health is rife.

4. The proliferation of social media and TV channels mean there are fewer points of cultural reference we can all identify with.

5. People don't read as much as they used to.

6. Celebrities who exercise strong or controversial opinions are ridiculed, silenced or sacked.

It is my personal view that the quality of comedy on our screens has plummeted. I'll give two examples:

Spitting Image - a pale shadow of its former glory.
Zapped - A half-hour sitcom with an excellent cast (James Buckley, Paul Kaye, Steve Coogan, Tim Key, Phil Daniels, Sally Phillips) but a woefully bland script.

Where does comedy go from this point?

Mainstream/Primetime TV comedy... yes. Virtually all utter dross.

Fringe TV comedy is still very much in prime health (covid aside, live comedy too).

But, as I recall, the number of "good" mainstream comedy shows in the 70s 80s 90s was pretty lacking. All the good stuff was over on BBC2 or, later, CH4.

The thing I'm finding as I age, is that banal, childish, bottom humour was funny when I was 8 and again when I was drunk at 18. Slapstick and innuendo just don't cut it for me as humour anymore so whilst I might have found Russ Abbott funny in the 80s, I find Mrs Brown's Boys absolutely dire.

Some greats stand out and survive the tests of both time and aging... Billy Connolly, Dave Allen, Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese. Others less so... Robin Williams (exception being Good Morning Vietnam), Eddy Murphy, Two Ronnies (exception being Four Candles). Some, not at all... Jim Davidson, Russ Abbott and virtually anyone on BBC1 or ITV between 7pm and 10pm on a friday/saturday/sunday evening.

Satire [on TV] at the moment is struggling. There is no "Not the Nine O'Clock News", Spitting Image is a shadow of its former self and Saturday Night Live, during the Trump presidency, should have been overflowing with material, but was mostly very bland.



Moving to the positives... The good stuff is still there in the fringes... just the fringes are no longer where us oldies thought they were. BBC2 isn't "fringe" anymore. CH4 / Dave / Comedy Central certainly aren't. I'd even go as far as to say Komedia is pretty mainstream these days.

Podcasts & online videos are where today's great comics lurk. Frankly, if you see them on TV, they've already sold out.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

If you feel that the public are being deliberately deprived of TV comedy, and that old school comedy (whatever that is) is being censored then, that's a viewpoint. Old school comedy is available online, though, and I'm not sure you can realistically demand that the BBC airs old episodes, or indeed 'updates' of Blackadder, Love they neighbour or whatever it is you feel is no longer available to you, at 7.30 on National telly.

If you worry that your personal taste no longer fits with the mainstream, and that you have been left behind by the changing world, that's a little sad. Perhaps you could try suspending your disbelief and giving the new stuff that the young people (the under 50s) seem to like a go? I stated listening to Elllis and the other boke on Radio 5 on Saturday morning recently (having initially dismissed them, after a few seconds' listen, as twats), and now find them very engaging, and I get 3 decent laughs an hour, and it isn't even a comedy programme! I intend to fend of Meldrew syndrome for as long as possible. I recommend it.

 

[joydivisionovengloves]

Apart from the danger to live venues, comedy is in fine form.
There are hundreds of podcasts representing hundreds of differing view points.
I agree that some TV comedy is lame (some is utter shite) but theres a load that isn't. I recently binge watched Stath Lets Flats It's stupidly funny and expertly acted in a Father Ted style.

I think one of the problems that Spitting Image had was trying to parody politics at a time when politics is in many ways a parody to start with . The actuality of Trump is like a Spitting Image sketch in itself so where can you go with that ? They should have left it as a classic memory.

I honestly havn't noticed comedians having to water down their content and the fact that Family Guy is still aired on terrestrial TV seems to me to squash the pro 'PC' argument .
Comedy is alive and well and f*** me don't we all need a good laugh right now.

 

[The Clamp]

What can you make jokes about any more?

1.We live at a time when stories of racism and sexism dominate the news.

2. We have lived through 4 years of Brexit that has divided the country.

3. Covid has killed tens of thousands, while waiting lists for medical treatment is at record levels and damage to people's mental health is rife.

4. The proliferation of social media and TV channels mean there are fewer points of cultural reference we can all identify with.

5. People don't read as much as they used to.

6. Celebrities who exercise strong or controversial opinions are ridiculed, silenced or sacked.

It is my personal view that the quality of comedy on our screens has plummeted. I'll give two examples:

Spitting Image - a pale shadow of its former glory.
Zapped - A half-hour sitcom with an excellent cast (James Buckley, Paul Kaye, Steve Coogan, Tim Key, Phil Daniels, Sally Phillips) but a woefully bland script.

Where does comedy go from this point?

I beg to differ, Zapped is superb.

You are talking about shite that's on mainstream telly, though. When they open again, go to comedy clubs, or listen to some out of hours radio stuff and some podcasst. My god! There's some brilliiant comedy on podcasts out there. , that's where they get away with the good stuff. Also people can't keep themselves off the socials, your Twitter, Your Insta and that's what draws the right wing "ban everything I don't like" nutters in . Just has been the way for centuries, the fodder for the masses to moan about is in the mainstream, the cool kids go to comedy and spoken word nights (when able) or tune into the wireless and podcasts. There's a rich world of subversive madness out there from Norm Macdonald to Daniel Kitson. Heck! Even Alexi Sayle is doing marvelous things these days on the radio

Nah. comedy is stronger than ever, you just gotta know where to look. old boy!

 

[father_and_son]

If you worry that your personal taste no longer fits with the mainstream, and that you have been left behind by the changing world, that's a little sad.

We seem to agree on most things, but this bit I think misses the point.

Mrs Brown Boys (I will keep using this dross as my example for as long as a "Special" appears every f**king Christmas) is almost identical to most of the Two Ronnies. Putting on a dress and making smutty innuendos about tits and bums is exactly what 90% of their material was.

What changes over time is whether everyone thinks that's funny and I acknowledge that there are demographics that do find that funny.

Mainstream has to appeal to 'most' people watching TV during that time slot. Young people [generally] don't watch TV. They binge on Youtube or one of another million channels streaming on the web so the idea of that nuclear family sat around watching some family comedy that calls tits bristols so that the kids can be in the same room are gone... and the only ones who don't see it are the commissioning execs at Auntie. That humour is targeted at a demographic that aren't even sat in front of the TV.

Time to move on and for "mainstream" to stop making crappy sit-coms and commission something for their actual audience, not their imaginary audience.

 

[Gwylan]

Time to move on and for "mainstream" to stop making crappy sit-coms and commission something for their actual audience, not their imaginary audience.

I don't understand this. Mrs Brown (to use your example) is massively popular and is commissioned precisely because it does appeal to BBC's actual audience and not an imaginary one. I don't understand the appeal of Mrs Brown either but I can't deny that millions of people like it.

And there are some excellent sitcoms around right now. In the last year I've really enjoyed This Country, Motherland and, especially Derry Girls (the funniest programme I've seen for years). I haven't seen The Detectorists but I've heard good things about it - that's a wide spread of subject matter there.

There's always been a mixture of rubbish and classic comedy on TV - not forgetting that those definitions are rather fluid. Some will see one programme as being in the former and another one in the latter, while someone will have them the other way around

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

We seem to agree on most things, but this bit I think misses the point.

Mrs Brown Boys (I will keep using this dross as my example for as long as a "Special" appears every f**king Christmas) is almost identical to most of the Two Ronnies. Putting on a dress and making smutty innuendos about tits and bums is exactly what 90% of their material was.

What changes over time is whether everyone thinks that's funny and I acknowledge that there are demographics that do find that funny.

Mainstream has to appeal to 'most' people watching TV during that time slot. Young people [generally] don't watch TV. They binge on Youtube or one of another million channels streaming on the web so the idea of that nuclear family sat around watching some family comedy that calls tits bristols so that the kids can be in the same room are gone... and the only ones who don't see it are the commissioning execs at Auntie. That humour is targeted at a demographic that aren't even sat in front of the TV.

Time to move on and for "mainstream" to stop making crappy sit-coms and commission something for their actual audience, not their imaginary audience.

No, I agree with all that.

I just thought I'd take the opportunity to go a bit off topic and have a random dig at people who still hanker after the good old days.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

I'm not sure about a crisis, but I'm afraid it's in a bit of trouble on BBC1 tonight.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Comic relief is dreadful tonight.

Maybe it’s just me but comedy TV shows without an audience do not work.....in fact all these shows with “ audiences “ on big TVs just looks ridiculous.

Anyone seen Ranganation? Jeez the cackling from the TV “ nation” is so horrendous it goes off after a minute!

The best one this week was an old Bill Bailey show from Hammersmith Apollo. His sketch about meeting Paul MCCartney, nearly finished me off. I couldn’t breathe it was so funny!

But yes this comic relief is dreadful

 

[El Presidente]

I don't listen to many comedy podcasts, but at least half the pods I do listen too are comedians.

Frank Skinner, Elis James (The Social Distant Sports Bar is one of the greatest ever), The Bugle, James Acaster & Ed Gamble, Romesh and Tom Davis, The Fish team, Rhys Darby and so on.

None are actually comedy shows, in the traditional sense, but they are all very funny many of which have introduced me to other comedians.

*cough*

 

[mikeyjh]

Comic relief is dreadful tonight.

Maybe it’s just me but comedy TV shows without an audience do not work.....in fact all these shows with “ audiences “ on big TVs just looks ridiculous.

Anyone seen Ranganation? Jeez the cackling from the TV “ nation” is so horrendous it goes off after a minute!

The best one this week was an old Bill Bailey show from Hammersmith Apollo. His sketch about meeting Paul MCCartney, nearly finished me off. I couldn’t breathe it was so funny!

But yes this comic relief is dreadful

Yeah, it's been really poor. I've sat here waiting for Nan v Bond, OMG it was gash....

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Comic relief is dreadful tonight.

Maybe it’s just me but comedy TV shows without an audience do not work.....in fact all these shows with “ audiences “ on big TVs just looks ridiculous.

Anyone seen Ranganation? Jeez the cackling from the TV “ nation” is so horrendous it goes off after a minute!

The best one this week was an old Bill Bailey show from Hammersmith Apollo. His sketch about meeting Paul MCCartney, nearly finished me off. I couldn’t breathe it was so funny!

But yes this comic relief is dreadful

I was waiting for someone to have a pop at Comic Relief tonight so I can have a playful pop at them.
Now then, you can never take away the fact that they are raising money for extremely good causes and that is the way you have to see it.
But it is COMIC Relief, it is supposed to be mainly funny and entertaining, to keep you watching to see what is next and hopefully donate.
I usually, in the past, have found parts of it funny or adequately funny, so i watched tonight and right from the start it has been just awful and quite frankly embarrassing.
I know what you mean with Ranganation but I do enjoy it as a lockdown bit of stupidity, generally I find it funny especially the quirkiness of the public all colours and religions.
Now Bill Bailey, I saw that, the man is a genius, comedy and musically, some is improv, but most of the rest must be scripted but you would never think so, its like he is making it up as he goes along and talking to you personally, none of this running around the stage rubbish, engrossing.
Now I will add one, I saw a programme about Caroline Aherne, we have all seen her in Royale Family, Fast Show and maybe Mrs Merton, all very good, but I saw her in a stand up as Sister Mary, i did not know she did stand up but i thought it was extremely good and hilarious, so sad she died early.
Anyway back to my best prog of the week, Graysons Art Club on 4, another fabulous lock down themed programme, each week it is brilliantly facinating.

 

[crodonilson]

No, Comic Relief with Sir Lenny Henry and the team proved that tonight. No sexual or smutty uncomfortable jokes but plenty poking fun at zoom calls and lockdown life.

 

[Stato]

No, Comic Relief with Sir Lenny Henry and the team proved that tonight. No sexual or smutty uncomfortable jokes but plenty poking fun at zoom calls and lockdown life.

Classic crodonilson. Like many others, we made our donation early on and viewed it as an exit fee.