BS: Worst comedian ever?

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: mrdux
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 01:52 AM

Sam Kinison

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Folk Form # 1
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 02:15 AM

"The English audience is the most easily pleased on the entire planet when it comes to humour" - Glasgow Green.

Now, now, Glasgow Green, keep your prejudices to yourself. We did produce Fankie Howard, the funniest man on the planet, and we also laughed along with Billy Connelly, despite his profanity.

Worst comedian has to be Spike Milligan, who was about as funny as toothache.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 02:57 AM

Aha! I didn't find Spike Milligan funny either. Just damned annoying!

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: The Walrus
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 04:55 AM

Most of the 'alternative comedians' of the 1980s (the "acts" all seemed to be 'Swear a lot, make a few pc statements and say "Thatcher" every so often'

Jim Carrey and the rest of the 'gurners' - I'm sorry, pulling a funny face is infantile, no humourous.

Rowen Atkinson (in Mr Bean mode) - I find the 'Bean' character about as amusing as Bubonic Plague.

W

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 05:25 AM

DARN! What WAS the name of the sherrif on the Red Skelton Show???.... "Bartender! Quick, gimmie a drink before the fight starts."

BTW... didn't see Bob Newhart mentioned as one of the greats. The master of timing. His telephone skits crack me up. A favourite is the one where he is the King of England and he's taking a call from Sir Walter Raleigh regarding "Nutty Walt's" purchase of shiploads of tobacco.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: alanabit
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 05:28 AM

I am not a fan of Mr.Bean for a different reason. It is basically just a long series of actor exercises. You can see how it's done. He is not a real character for me.
Blackadder, on the other hand, is inspired.
I, too, recall those "alternative comedians" of the eighties. I saw them as an "alternative" to comedy. They always seemed particularly smug about having invented the clitoris too, didn't they? Although I am not convinced that even that claim was based on fact.
Milligan? Well along with Peter Cook, I think we had the two comedy giants of post war Britain. Still, if they don't make you laugh, I guess you have to look elsewhere. For me they were national treasures.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 05:41 AM

I think I go with melodeonboy and "Ken Dodd"..

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 06:46 AM

It's OK about Spike Milligan, we know Americans don't understand irony.

Here in the UK the main contenders are Jimmy Tarbuck and that wanker Jim Davidson.

eric

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: kendall
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 07:30 AM

Gnu that was San Fernando Red.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Bee
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 07:35 AM

Skelton had a seagull act, too... Gertrude and __? Cracked me up when I was a kid.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: kendall
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 07:35 AM

Leonard Barr

the three stooges.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 07:38 AM

Steve Wright (only included as a comedian because he's so sure he is, despite all the evidence), Ben Elton, Catherine Tate, Jimmy 'I go golfing with lots of famous and amusing people!' Tarbuck, Jim Carrey, Johnny Vegas. Oh, and there's nothing funny about Tony Blair.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 07:45 AM

Sixty 'worst comedian' posts , mostly Trans pond , and NO One mentioned President Bush - You have to laugh at him or you burst out crying !

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 07:55 AM

Norman Wisdom.

:0

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Big Mick
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 09:03 AM

Emo Phillips.

I loved Red Skelton.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 09:06 AM

BEE.....Red's seagulls were Gertrude and Heathcliff.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: jimlad9
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 09:20 AM

Please remove George W Bush from this thread. None of the other nominees have caused the deaths or brought misery to so many families in the US/UK/Middle East that he has done.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Big Mick
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 09:30 AM

BTW, there is a DVD available of all of Red's stuff. It is a two DVD set. We have it and my daughter loves it just as I did.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 10:57 AM

Gertrude and Heathcliff are flying over a used car lot.... "... let's make a deposit on a Ford."

Thanks, Kendall... San Fernando Red.... that was the guy!

"Quick, gimmie another drink beofre the fight starts."

"Okay, here. What fight?"

"I don't have any money for the drinks."

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 11:22 AM

I thought San Fernando Red was a real-estate sharpie, not a wild west sheriff.

Bill Dana was pretty crappy, with his Jose Jimenez and Chief Walking Eagle shticks

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: ranger1
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 11:32 AM

Oooh, it's a three-way tie between Jerry Lewis, Jim Carrey and Andrew Dice Clay. There are a ton of honorable mentions, most of which Kendall has already beat me to.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: pdq
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 11:43 AM

another candidate for worst comedian: Milton Berl

BTW, Red Skelton's s lawman character was sheriff Deadeye. San Fernando Red was a con artist, I believe.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: GUEST,ib48
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 11:47 AM

definately Roy Jay,slitherman.He is working in benidorm and he is absolute pants.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 01:15 PM

Sherrif Deadeye... that sounds right! San Fernando Red? Hmmm...

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: autolycus
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 01:30 PM

I've never seen the worst comedian. i have the knack of avoiding them.

   Comedy seems an even more personal thing than music.

   Among those who leave me cold - Benny Hill,Jim Davidson,Les Dawson,Seinfeld,Chris Rock,Jack Dee.

   Among the tops,Spike,Seven Wright,Jackie Mason,Rik Mayall (in Kevin Turvey mode),Emo Phillips,Rita Rudner,Frankie Boyle.






       Ivor

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Don Firth
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 01:37 PM

One of my favorite characters on "The Red Green Show" is Ed Frid, the nervous animal control officer.

I do find Rowen Atkinson (either as Blackadder or Mr. Bean) pretty funny at times, but a little bit definitely goes a long way!

One bit he did on "Mr. Bean"—sitting on a park bench next to another fellow and making a sandwich while the fellow watched in horrified fascination—was pure Charlie Chaplin. Hilarious!

When he's in comedy mode, Hugh Laurie (especially in the Jeeves and Wooster shows) always reminds me of a chicken who suddenly realizes that he's just accidentally flown through an electric fan.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 02:01 PM

Yeah, the sandwich skit was brilliant. The one about putting on his bathing suit at the beach without fully disrobing was pretty amazing too.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Don Firth
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 02:03 PM

I find that "wibble wibble!" comes in very handy at times.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 05:24 PM

Reg Varney, neil warnock, george walkewr bush,benny hill, jim davidson

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 05:42 PM

I was going to nominate my hamster - but Freddy Starr appears to have eaten it (Americans probably won't understand this - but then there are quite a few American references in this thread that I don't understand either).

Oh yes, life's too short to watch anything with Robin Williams in it (both Brits and Yanks will probably understand this - although some may not agree).

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 05:44 PM

Except "Popeye". That was great.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: GUEST,the doc
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 05:51 PM

Chubby Brown and Jim Davidson and Bernard Manning ...that would be a bill from hell.

Only things unfunnier are their audiences. Think middle aged plus bigots who are generally overweight, overbearing and over the hill.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: robomatic
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 05:55 PM

Pretty much all the 'talent' listed above suffers from the fact that while some particular citizen can't stand 'em, there are other folk who really liked 'em.

My personal can't stands:
Martha Raye <= She's from a different era, but she made me remember a quote from HL Mencken: "Look at that woman, makes you want to burn every bed in the world!" To be fair, she was a real great person, could sing, was and is beloved by millions, just not me.

Three Stooges

Jerry Lewis as a comedian. I think he was a pretty good actor in later life.

The 'thing' with comedians is that when you think you've got the worst one, another comes along who just blows the doors off bad.

I thought Pauly Shore had to be the end of the line in stupid, vapid, and creepy.

Then along came Tom Green.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: The Length
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 06:17 PM

Morecombe and Wise, the worst I ever saw.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Peace
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 06:21 PM

Top joke in UK

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: "That's the ugliest baby that I've ever seen. Ugh!" The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: "The driver just insulted me!" The man says: "You go right up there and tell him off – go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you."



However, ignoring the weasels, the top American joke was…

A man and a friend are playing golf one day at their local golf course. One of the guys is about to chip onto the green when he sees a long funeral procession on the road next to the course. He stops in mid-swing, takes off his golf cap, closes his eyes, and bows down in prayer. His friend says: "Wow, that is the most thoughtful and touching thing I have ever seen. You truly are a kind man." The man then replies: "Yeah, well we were married 35 years."

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Peace
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 06:23 PM

Top joke in Canada

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 C. The Russians used a pencil.


Top joke in Australia

This woman rushed to see her doctor, looking very much worried and all strung out. She rattles off: "Doctor, take a look at me. When I woke up this morning, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my hair all wiry and frazzled up, my skin was all wrinkled and pasty, my eyes were bloodshot and bugging out, and I had this corpse-like look on my face! What's WRONG with me, Doctor!?"
The doctor looks her over for a couple of minutes, then calmly says: "Well, I can tell you that there ain't nothing wrong with your eyesight...."

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Peace
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 06:24 PM

Top joke in Germany

A general noticed one of his soldiers behaving oddly. The soldier would pick up any piece of paper he found, frown and say: "That's not it" and put it down again. This went on for some time, until the general arranged to have the soldier psychologically tested. The psychologist concluded that the soldier was deranged, and wrote out his discharge from the army. The soldier picked it up, smiled and said: "That's it."


I now return you to the regular program.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Don Firth
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 07:32 PM

Favorite joke at the West Seattle golf course:

A man comes home from his usual Sunday afternoon golf game with his buddy, Harry. His wife looks at him and says, "Good, heavens, you look completely done in! What happened? What's the matter?"

"Well," sez her husband, "Harry and I had just started our game when he had a heart-attack and died right there!"

"That's horrible!" said his wife. "Poor Harry! No wonder you look so drawn, haggard, and worn out!"

"Yeah, it was awful! For eighteen holes! Take take my shot and drag Harry, take my shot and drag Harry. . . ."

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 07:42 PM

Little Britain.
The only thing less funny and more pointlessly offensive is Big Brother.....

Ricky Tomlinson in the office is a close runner up.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 08:37 PM

ricky tomlinson is in the royle family. ricky gervais is in the office. love them both but everyone is different.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: GUEST,Bruce Michael Baillie
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 04:51 AM

...Woody Allen, my god how I hate that miserable bastard!

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 09:12 AM

Morecambe and Wise - hhhmmm, an interesting case (but not necessarily very funny). I thought that Eric could be quite amusing (in an eccentric 'favourite uncle' sort of way)- but Ernie wasn't amusing at all. Ernie always reminded me of a rather dull little man desperately trying to be funny - and failing.
I have a dim memory of them getting a new writer about 30 years ago (Eddie Braben ... or something?). He wasn't the genius he was made out to be at the time and, for me, M & W went (even further) downhill from then on. Mind you, they got a lot more popular, so what do I know?

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 09:15 AM

agree - Woody Allen

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 09:32 AM

Benny Hill worked out a foolproof formula for comedic success without actually being funny. Feature enough scantilly clad women and most men will watch whether the jokes are funny or not.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: JeremyC
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 09:55 AM

Emo Philips is hilarious. I saw him a few months ago, and he was still just as brilliant and weird as he used to be.

Worst comedian: Larry the Cable Guy. "Git-R-Dun" is not a joke.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Dazbo
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 10:31 AM

The Three Stooges

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Scoville
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 10:32 AM

I've actually witnessed Larry the Cable Guy being funny. He was on the Tonight Show and was somewhat cleaner than usual. Also, he had to keep up with Jay Leno. Whether or not you think Jay is funny, his routine is at least not entirely reliant on fat and toilet jokes.

I wouldn't say he was the worst comedian ever, but we had a comedian come to our small, left-leaning, liberal arts college when I was in school. He went through his usual schtick of girlfriend and boob-job jokes and was greeted with cold silence. He finally stopped the show, admitted that he'd never bombed this badly with a college audience (and he really was bombing spectacularly), asked what was up, and then made a valiant effort to use gags that were better suited to his feminist/tree-hugging/gay-sympathizing audience. He was much funnier without the boob jokes.

* * * * *

The best comedian I ever saw, on the other hand, was Elvira Kurt. She came for Gay Pride Week and I almost didn't go because I figured I wouldn't get a lot of lesbian jokes (since I'm not a lesbian). As it turned out, there weren't that many lesbian jokes and I laughed until I was in pain. And then kept laughing. She nearly killed us.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: GUEST,Bruce Michael Baillie
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 10:47 AM

...Not to mention Ricky Gervais, there's just something about the smug pillock I don't like! Oh and of course FREDDIE F****** STAR! outmoded, outdated AND Liverpudlian, in fact any comedian from Liverpool!

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 12:55 PM

I did think that 'The Office' was brilliant but, like many successful TV comedies, it was an ensemble thing - several excellent comic actors working together to create something original and exceptional.

I think that the real problem with Ricky Gervais is that he's been over-hyped. He tends to do the same thing over and over (ie. playing an insensitive, pathetic idiot continually getting himself into embarassing situations). I thought that 'Extras' with its emphasis on guest Stars and Celebrities was fairly tiresome.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst comedian ever?
From: Blindlemonsteve
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 01:25 PM

Mark Lamar, i have never found anything remotely funny about him. The Goons, my dad likes em, i just dont get it. grown men making stupid noises. its just not funny. But Freddie Starr must be the best comedian in the world that turned totally crap. come to think of it, i dont ever remember Lenny Henry being funny either, and i hate that odius cretin Michael Barrymore, i have never liked him even before his fall from fame.
But you have gotta love "Peter Kay"... fantastic.