Stevie Riks (YouTube "Star")

[23 Daves]

I've done a search, and it doesn't seem as if there's been a Comedy Chat thread on this already... but please feel free to slap me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, Stevie Riks has been picking up a bit of press attention lately for his YouTube videos, which appear to number in the hundreds.  Apparently a TV project is "in the pipeline" (although this could just mean that somebody's commissioned a pilot which may not go anywhere) and the views the damn things get are frequently off the scale.

Unlike most would-be comedians on the Tube, however (who I think are largely dreadful) I have mixed feelings about Riks.  For one thing, he's actually a seriously good impressionist at times, offering completely on-the-nail impressions of music figures you'd expect (Bowie, McCartney) and others most mainstream figures would leave well alone (Lemmy, Brian May).  There's a detail on offer there which is frightening.  His Bowie effort below is worth a glimpse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkRlIMrVG1w

As is his downright peculiar imagining of Bowie singing a Matt Munro song, which presumably isn't supposed to be funny so much as some kind of absurd experiment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8va5P9-isIA

On the other hand, though, the comedy material itself is enormously patchy, veering towards "miss" more often than it does hit.  The self-conscious whackiness, Freddie Starr-isms and, dare I say it, borderline Chucklevision humour that comes through some of the skits harks back to a bygone age, which makes sense given that Riks was previously a New Faces winner in the eighties.  I can't get through twenty seconds of the Jeff Lynne sketches without cringing and pressing "stop".  A shame, because the idea of Jeff Lynne out of ELO telling rude jokes whilst being sat in his garden is one which could lead to decent comedy, if placed in the hands of Vic Reeves at his peak rather than Riks.  There's a slight lack of imagination in the way he handles it, not moving much beyond the set ups of the not-too-impressive gags.

However, this clip of Freddie Mercury performing "Mouldy Old Dough" never fails to get a laugh out of me for some reason. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o5ztoMpLjQ

I would genuinely be interested to see what a production company could get out of him with a proper budget and perhaps a team of writers smoothing over the rough edges - at the moment, I'm reserving judgement.  If he does become the first person to product commissioned purely through constant use of YouTube though, it would set something of a precedent, and I think that as rough and ready as his stuff is, it should show other people who want to try similar low budget stuff on there that it can be done. 

[Beagle 2]

I sort of immediately want to hate him, and there's an added element of tragedy when you see this stuff done in someone's front room, alone, of a Thursday afternoon, but fuck it, that Freddie clip brought a massive grin out of me. The Bowie laugh is also great. Not enough for me to be actually arsed to check him out further, but on the level of dreading the class show off getting up and making a tit of himself again, and then not being able to help laughing at it anyway, he succeeded with me.

[Brundle-Fly]

It's what makes him laugh and he's bunged it out on YouTube.  It's been picked up by old'uns (and some cunt from Word magazine) who like silly impressions of old popstars.

He's not going to get a series on the BBC or Channel 4, give the guy a break!

[The Region Legion]

That Bowie impression is spot on, probably best I've ever seen. He should just become a Bowie tribute act...

[23 Daves]

He's not going to get a series on the BBC or Channel 4, give the guy a break!

Why not?  Far worse things have.  I actually think that if he had the right material, his performances are easily good enough to create a reasonable series out of.

There's an interesting BBC interview with him here, actually:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqzamhWou3c

[Brundle-Fly]

Why not?  Far worse things have.  I actually think that if he had the right material, his performances are easily good enough to create a reasonable series out of.

You've answered your own question with the second sentence, 23.

[drberbatov]

I don't think the UK has really warmed to the idea of Youtube stars. I can't imagine there being a Chris Crocker or a Tay Zonday figure who will make a lot of money out of a youtube vid. We'd much rather have the next Jade Goody.

[Ja'moke]

He actually used a Jimmy Carr joke, the "Nickname was Shagger, thought it was cool, SHE didn't like it though". Enough said.

Good impression though.

[Garfield And Friends]

Macca, Costello, and Bing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqbCoNCNKm8&fmt=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNF1w6Ri_b4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMyauzQZ-HM

He's very funny. I'm sure he could flesh out material for some of his better impressions, if taking it to a pro level was something he desired.

Good guitar and keyboard chops too!