AmexRuislip
Retired Spy 🕵️♂️
Spike Milligan, especially with the Goons.
Monty Python.
Lee Evans
Monty Python.
Lee Evans
Your favourite ever comedian
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thedonkeycentrehalf
Moved back to wear the gloves (again)
- Jul 7, 2003
- 9,340
Some good shouts there. Allen and Connolly in their pomp were something special based on old albums and videos I have seen. Never saw Carrot live but can still remember some of his albums word for word despite not having heard them for years. I only saw Mike Reid a couple of years before his death and wasn't impressed.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Micky Flanagan. He came to fame late and that act has taken years to get noticed. It will be interesting to see how he kicks on as I did enjoy his last Sky series.
You are joking, of course. Good, but you don't make it into my top 4.
Henning Wehn (seen him several times and have tickets for the upcoming Canterbury show)
Alexei Sayle
Peter Cook
Frankie Boyle
I absolutely loved the Dangerous Brothers and Bottom but your thread wasn't about comedy duos....
And the sublime William S. Burroughs, but he was a raconteur rather than a comedian....
And Chris Morris......
I'll give you my bottom three, too:
Davidson
Starr
Manning
All nasty bullying inadequates. And deeply unfunny.
Gus Poyet used to make me laugh.
Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
- Thread starter
- #66
I know it's all about opinions but I don't see much difference between Frankie Boyle nowadays and Bernard Manning except for the racism. I watched a few of those Frankie Boyle live shows and he is a terrible bully and very cruel at times. Love him or hate him, Andrew Lawrence got it spot on when he pointed out that in his time Boyle has done jokes about down's syndrome children, the queen giving a blowjob and God knows what but now touts himself as a heavyweight social commentator. He's become like Ricky Gervais.
And Henning Wehn is a bit of a one-trick pony, isn't he? Actually I've sometimes thought of sending him a joke I thought up. A mickey-take of Stan Boardman would be to come on stage at Liverpool and ask "Your grandad chipped my grandad's bomber".
That joke's much funnier in my head than written down.
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So many of my favourites have already been mentioned.
I "like" Stewart Lee but I don't find him laugh out loud funny. He's actually got a gag about 'agreeing the f*** out' of his set and I do sit there grinning and nodding. Early Izzard, on the other hand, (think Start Trek phasers set to 'sudden interest in botany' mode era) had me crying with laughter to the point I was almost falling off the chair. Billy Connolly is another one I've always laughed at on the telly and caught live when I can. Went to see the High Horse tour last year and though he's physically losing it thanks to Parkinson's, and has to get the audience to remember words for him now and again it's still like the funniest ever night in the pub with a really amusing mate.
Sketch and film wise nothing beats the Pythons.
Bill Hicks was a genius. So was Tommy Cooper. And finally I love Frankie Boyle, the more outrageous the better IMO.
I "like" Stewart Lee but I don't find him laugh out loud funny. He's actually got a gag about 'agreeing the f*** out' of his set and I do sit there grinning and nodding. Early Izzard, on the other hand, (think Start Trek phasers set to 'sudden interest in botany' mode era) had me crying with laughter to the point I was almost falling off the chair. Billy Connolly is another one I've always laughed at on the telly and caught live when I can. Went to see the High Horse tour last year and though he's physically losing it thanks to Parkinson's, and has to get the audience to remember words for him now and again it's still like the funniest ever night in the pub with a really amusing mate.
Sketch and film wise nothing beats the Pythons.
Bill Hicks was a genius. So was Tommy Cooper. And finally I love Frankie Boyle, the more outrageous the better IMO.
And he was an amateur boxer. Spent so much time on the canvas he was known as 'The Battling Rembrandt'.
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,263
Steve Coogan - the man is a genius.
Honourable mentions to Peter Kay, Peter Cook, Ronnie Barker and Stewart Lee.
Honourable mentions to Peter Kay, Peter Cook, Ronnie Barker and Stewart Lee.
Gabbafella
Well-known member
- Aug 22, 2012
- 4,906
Reeves and Mortimer
Rik Mayall
Bob Monkhouse
Mickey Flanagan
Eddie Murphy (Delirious and Raw stand ups at least)
Jimmy Carr (Before he developed that god awful, fake laugh)
Ricky Gervais
Got tickets to see Greg Davies in a couple of weeks and then got Mickey Flanagan a couple of weeks after that.
Never seen either one of them live so I'm really looking forward to both.
Rik Mayall
Bob Monkhouse
Mickey Flanagan
Eddie Murphy (Delirious and Raw stand ups at least)
Jimmy Carr (Before he developed that god awful, fake laugh)
Ricky Gervais
Got tickets to see Greg Davies in a couple of weeks and then got Mickey Flanagan a couple of weeks after that.
Never seen either one of them live so I'm really looking forward to both.
Not sure I can pick just one.
Depending on my mood, Billy Connolly, Dave Allen, George Carlin, Ronnie Barker, Dara O'Briain and Jasper Carrott could all be in contention.
Depending on my mood, Billy Connolly, Dave Allen, George Carlin, Ronnie Barker, Dara O'Briain and Jasper Carrott could all be in contention.
What Gervais and Boyle have in common is active Twitter accounts that you may not agree with, but are in no way dull. When I first started using Twitter I followed a few comedians thinking they would be funny, but who's going to give their best material away free when Cheggers is just going to steal it anyway? So most of their tweets were like "I'm playing Bristol next Tuesday, still a few tickets left #MyTour". Dull. As, Dishwater.
Gervais and Boyle never are, You may not agree with them but they're the social media equivalent of some of the more incendiary posters on here.
Does it invalidate their comedy? Maybe with Gervais. I loved The Office but found Derek dire. But I love Boyle for the same reason I love South Park. He takes the p**s out of EVERYTHING. Nothing is sacred. So there's no p.c. nonsense but nor is one group continually targetted. Manning only had black and asian gags by the end.
Thanks for this thread though. Far more entertaining than our match...
You are spot on, my friend. I've never laughed so much whenever I've seen him. A total one-off!
Doug Stanhope is pretty good, too. I did see Bill Hicks at the Dome in the early 90s and he was a favourite for a while. Also, having a good think about it, I also loved Dave Allen.
The Spanish
Well-known member
Of the last few years, Paul Foot always cracks me up. Genuinely eccentric rather than laugh out loud but one I would pay money to see.
Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
- Thread starter
- #77
What Gervais and Boyle have in common is active Twitter accounts that you may not agree with, but are in no way dull. When I first started using Twitter I followed a few comedians thinking they would be funny, but who's going to give their best material away free when Cheggers is just going to steal it anyway? So most of their tweets were like "I'm playing Bristol next Tuesday, still a few tickets left #MyTour". Dull. As, Dishwater.
Gervais and Boyle never are, You may not agree with them but they're the social media equivalent of some of the more incendiary posters on here.
Does it invalidate their comedy? Maybe with Gervais. I loved The Office but found Derek dire. But I love Boyle for the same reason I love South Park. He takes the p**s out of EVERYTHING. Nothing is sacred. So there's no p.c. nonsense but nor is one group continually targetted. Manning only had black and asian gags by the end.
Thanks for this thread though. Far more entertaining than our match...
I'll happily concede that lots of people think Boyle is funny, he's just not for me but those animal rights memes that Ricky Gervais seems to love are hilarious for all the wrong reasons. Very David Brent.
I've just remembered Emo Philips. Definitely a one trick pony but the first time you saw him, my God he was funny.
Sid certainly had the look of someone who could look after himself. Les also said he could pull those grotesque faces after having his jaw broken in a boxing match.
