Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: alanabit Date: 07 Jan 11 - 07:43 AM I am a belated admirer of Victor Borge. A lot of what made him so funny was that he understood the conventions of classical music so very well. And what a fabulous musician he was. In fact, the tradition of comedians having other skills is long established. WC Fields was by all accounts a terrific juggler and we all know about Steve Martin's musicianship. Charlie Chaplin first entered America as a member of Fred Karno's clog dancers. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: GUEST,I don't know Date: 07 Jan 11 - 08:00 AM Morecome & Wise, Jasper Carrott, Joe Brand, Eddie Izzard & Rick Myall |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: GUEST,Neil D Date: 07 Jan 11 - 09:07 AM At least two of us have mentioned him. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: olddude Date: 07 Jan 11 - 11:15 AM who was the guy that smashed watermelons with a big club ... I thought he was a riot... |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: Bill D Date: 07 Jan 11 - 12:05 PM well.... that watermelon bit got a bit old after awhile. When folks show up early so they can sit in the front row wearing raincoats, it loses a bit. But I do like Red Green, even though it's almost impossible to find him any more in this area. They brought him back...at midnight Sat... then he disappeared again. They have some of the same 'themes', but endless variations on them. (No...never saw Minchin) |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: pdq Date: 07 Jan 11 - 01:12 PM ... And how about the Marx Bros, the Mills Bros, the Three Stooges? The Mills Brothers are comedy? You perhaps meant the Ritz Brothers? |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: MGM·Lion Date: 07 Jan 11 - 01:17 PM You are right, pdq; I did mean The Ritz Bros. Sorry. ~M~ (old & confused!) |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: ChanteyLass Date: 07 Jan 11 - 10:10 PM Now, Rita Rudner. Some quotes are here.http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/rita_rudner.html Previously, Sam Levenson. Some quotes are here. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/sam_levenson.html |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: framus Date: 07 Jan 11 - 10:20 PM Thanks alanabit - great funny man, great musician - and so august. I assume he is at his uncle's birthday party now. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: Ed T Date: 07 Jan 11 - 11:34 PM Anyone remember Wayne and Shuster, from the Ed Sullivan days? I believe Johnny Wayne died back in the early 90s. Rinse the Blood Off My Toga |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: Sandy Mc Lean Date: 08 Jan 11 - 11:44 AM Rod Beattie as Walt Wingfield. Wingfield |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: kendall Date: 08 Jan 11 - 01:00 PM Tim Conway and Foster Brooks. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: Ed T Date: 08 Jan 11 - 01:31 PM I nominate gnu, for a candidate, for putting forth best Mudcat humour. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: GUEST,Alan Whittle Date: 08 Jan 11 - 02:14 PM My personal favourite was probably Derek Brimstone. Derek's song introductions were the inspiration of all that 1970's wave of folk comedians. Jasper Carrot, Mike Harding, Malc Stent, Billy Conolly - all of them mentioned Derek as the originator of the folk club style of comedy. He's retired now, and the folk scene is more po-faced than is good for it. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: gnu Date: 08 Jan 11 - 02:32 PM Ed T... not sure what you mean, but if I twist it my way, thank you but there are far better. Sandy... that Wingfield clip only gives a slight taste of the finely crafted and intricate tales woven so beautifully on Wingfield. I don't buy the DVD series compilations of TV shows but if I ever see such for Wingfield I will pay top dollar. Better than Red Green (yes, I said it). Kendall... Tim Conway... amazing comedic actor... The Carol Burnett Show was NEVER missed in our house and I would guess in any house in NA. Amazing troupe. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: Ed T Date: 08 Jan 11 - 02:36 PM Just, that I enjoy the hurmour of your posts, when you are in thet kind of a posing mood. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: gnu Date: 08 Jan 11 - 02:46 PM Thanks... right back atchya. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: Sandy Mc Lean Date: 09 Jan 11 - 04:00 PM Yeh gnu, that clip was all that I could find on YouTube. I loved the TV shows and I have seen Beattie perform Wingfield live on stage several times. I am truly amazed at how he can change characters so quickly by facial expression and voice. How he can carry on a four way conversation without getting mixed up is beyond belief. To my mind he is the best that I've ever seen! If you have a TV connection that provides the Book Channel you can still get his show on Tuesdays. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: GUEST,DonMeixner Date: 09 Jan 11 - 04:18 PM Marshall Dodge Lionel Jeffries George Carlin Jonathan Winters |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 10 Jan 11 - 04:24 AM Mae West did some great funny quips like 'when I was good I was very very good but when I was bad, I was better' and 'It's not the men in my life, it's the life in my men' for the time quite risky. Most of the mentioned comedians I've liked. Early Jasper Carrot was very funny and Billy Connolly. Lee Evans can also be very funny except that just recently he is tending to pepper his act with too many f words in his act he has never had to that before so why he is doing that now, who knows? His observation comedy is funny anyway but there you go he obviously thinks he needs it in his act. When I was small watching Victor Borge on the London Palladium was a treat as was Jack Benny (just about remember) I've always liked that droll sense of humour. Jack Dee is another one of those and he's not too bad in situation comedy either. Dawn French, Victoria Wood (sometimes), Alison Steadman for her comedy character roles such as Abigail's party and the whole cast of the Royale Family, Caroline Aherne's writing is very underrated. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 10 Jan 11 - 05:24 AM and John Candy. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: MGM·Lion Date: 11 Jan 11 - 12:17 AM Has anyone mentioned Laurel & Hardy yet? Or Buster Keaton [who I must admit has never made me laugh yet, but had a great following in his time]? ~M~ |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: Allen in Oz Date: 11 Jan 11 - 02:59 AM Tommy Cooper Spike Milligan Phil Sinvers Groucho Marx AD |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: Allen in Oz Date: 11 Jan 11 - 03:00 AM Phil Sinvers ? Sorry Phil Silvers ! Must be getting old AD |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: theleveller Date: 11 Jan 11 - 04:16 AM "But to me, the language of 'your' guy is third grade stuff and does not - to me - it ucking funny make. " Well, Ebbie, I think it does emphasise the difference between what is considered humour in the UK and the USA - nothing to do with men and women. You obviously don't understand the concept of Spoonerisms which have been an important part of UK comedy since the man himself told one of his students that he had "tasted an entire worm and must leave Oxford by the town drain." Rindercella very much carried forward the great pantomime tradition. Ronnie Barker was a comic genius - not just in his writing but in the faultless delivery, timing and characterisations, which is why he had so many series on UK TV for so many decades. Sadly missed! |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 11 Jan 11 - 04:28 AM The Odd Couple was a favourite of mine too also Taxi and Cheers both very funny, really good comedy. All the characters that were in those shows were brilliant. Lily Tomlin (not to sure of the spelling) when she used to portray herself as a typical little 5 year old girl sat on a gigantic chair. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: theleveller Date: 11 Jan 11 - 04:30 AM This is probably the funniest Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett sketch ever! fork handles |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 11 Jan 11 - 07:53 AM The fork handle sketch is a classic. The Two Ronnies show was more of a must in my household than Morecambe and Wise especially at Christmas and it's good to see Ronnie Corbett still carrying on in his career too. It is a shame that we have to go to past comedys to get a laugh, I find it difficult to find much to make me laugh these days. In UK so many comedy programmes now seem to end up getting axed not long after being launched. My Family with Robert Lyndsay is a strange one, sometimes it can be really quite funny another time the acting can be so wooden and hammy, it is never consistantly funny but I suppose it is just funny enough to keep it going compared to some others. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: Jim Dixon Date: 11 Jan 11 - 11:36 AM I find it odd and kind of disturbing that most of the people mentioned in this thread are dead. Some have been dead a long time. And of those that are living, many are retired and don't perform much any more. What does this mean? Was there really a Golden Age of comedy that is now past and gone? Is there nothing worth watching any more except old reruns? Is there nothing funny about the world we live in now? Have we run out of funny things to say about it? I think we are cheating ourselves if we don't pay any attention to the younger comedians who are still performing. The main reason I find this thread disappointing is that, by concentrating on the old-timers, it has told me very little that I don't already know. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: pdq Date: 11 Jan 11 - 12:31 PM "Was there really a Golden Age of comedy that is now past and gone? Is there nothing worth watching any more except old reruns? Is there nothing funny about the world we live in now? Have we run out of funny things to say about it?" ANS: yes, yes, no, yes |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: topical tom Date: 11 Jan 11 - 06:54 PM For my favorite comedian I would have to choose the stand-up comedy of Bob Newhart. I also laugh heartily at Robin Williams. These are my two choices. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: Donuel Date: 11 Jan 11 - 10:44 PM George Carlin must of had a TIme Machine. He predicted so many scenarios that happened later. He even played a guy who had a time machine in a Bill & Ted movie. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 12 Jan 11 - 08:12 AM May be it's the writers rather than the comedians causing the problem. Stand up comedy is a little bit different there are good ones that are making me laugh but there are so many of them especially doing the observation type comedy, too many to know who is who. It seems that everytime I look up there is a new face on my screen being as equally funny as the last but without the personality to stay in my memory. These days if one stands out at all I find myself calling the comedian whatshisname or whatshername. |
Subject: RE: BS: Your favourite comedian From: kendall Date: 12 Jan 11 - 10:16 AM Red Skelton never used a 4 letter word. He made it on talent alone. Jack Benny was the master of timing. Take away his cue cards and Bob Hope couldn't say his name. Ernie Kovaks. Who could forget the "Nairobi Trio"? Lilly Tomlin Carol Burnett Minnie Pearl |