Show Me The Funny

[Wayman C. McCreery]

Yep, there are kid's comedy festivals, and most of the comics are mainly exclusively kid's comedians (there are exceptions though). It's a particular knack to get kids to laugh, and probably a rare gift to make an exclusively teenage audience laugh en masse (without just going for obscenity). Maybe they just ran out of ideas for types of audiences.

As an aside, Mrs McCreery was flicking through the Edinburgh programme last night and noticed that the hyper Geordie is doing a kid's show there alongside his standard one (

Spoiler alert

which we can probably use to rule him out of winning SMTF as his run would clash with the live final

[close]

).

[evil_lafayette]

I didn't sympathise with him at all.  He sounded a bit ridiculous continually saying "it's not my audience" while the others just got on with it.  It was going to be an unusual experience for all the contestants- that's the entire point of the series.  They knew when they signed up that they would be playing to specific groups of people, so it was clear that tailoring your act to the situation was part of the challenge - to then complain about it for the whole show then walk off mid-performance is a pretty big admission of failure.

I agree, and I don't see how this was going to be the hardest crowd they had to face. First of all, they were kids in school so the chances of heckling and such is reduced by the fact that the teachers (and seemingly parents) were all present. That said, considering the layout of the day and presence of cameras they all seemed remarkably well behaved and polite. They also lapped up any reference to popular culture or teachers. Any routine based on either of them (and let's face it, it could have been weak - they were fawing over someone who spat at kids) would have gone down a storm. I'd go as far to say this was the easier of the three weeks to date.

[scarecrow]

As an aside, Mrs McCreery was flicking through the Edinburgh programme last night and noticed that the hyper Geordie is doing a kid's show there alongside his standard one (

Spoiler alert

which we can probably use to rule him out of winning SMTF as his run would clash with the live final

[close]

).

Yeah, he's been doing those for a few years now, strange that it was never mentioned. I actually saw one of his shows two years ago and thought that most of what he said went over the kids' heads.

Tiffany Stevenson is also doing a Fringe show at The Stand.

[Petey Pate]

The ratings for this have been pretty lousy.

[Little Hoover]

It's been pretty poorly promoted hasn't it? This thread was the first I heard about it and I still don't know when it's on. Then again I guess don't have the TV on very often.

[23 Daves]

I always thought that if any new show was launched during July/ August, it was a sign that the TV company didn't have a great deal of faith in it anyway.  Even in the digital age, people don't want to start following new programmes whose momentum might be interrupted by a two week break away (or perhaps that's just me).

[Steve Williams]

It's been pretty poorly promoted hasn't it? This thread was the first I heard about it and I still don't know when it's on. Then again I guess don't have the TV on very often.

You can't really say something at nine o'clock on ITV is being poorly promoted, especially if you don't watch ITV. Certainly Manford did the rounds to plung it when it started and it's straight after Corrie, but it is opposite New Tricks, which pisses all over everything, so ITV probably didn't expect it to do that much. And they've got to show something new in July and August, rather this than a drama which you've got to stick with from beginning to end.

The biggest problem is that it's at nine o'clock which it is woefully unsuited to, it's far too slight to be the main show of the night and I doubt it'll reach an audience that might be interested in it. Unfortunately this is thanks to ITV now spending no money at all after ten o'clock so every show has to get bunged straight into primetime - The Marriage Ref is another example, I know it's no good anyway, but it might have worked better in a 10.30 slot where they could be ruder and they wouldn't have to book hopeless panellists like Geri Halliwell and Eamonn Holmes to appeal to the primetime audience.

Basically ITV are clueless, and you think they'd learn that if you rip off BBC2 formats, you get sub-BBC2 audiences. Tycoon is another one.

Incidentally I thought Cole might have made more from his remarkable physical and vocal resemblance to Charlie Brooker.

[Gavin]

Certainly Manford did the rounds to plung it...

I know he was in trouble a while back for being naughty but I've never heard of this. Is it like a Cleveland steamer?

[rudi]

:-D :-D :-D :-D

Sorry, that just had me cough up a bit of Calippo. Gav owes me aprox 13p.

[Jake Thingray]

For a split second in the first episode, Ellie looked like someone I used to have a massive crush on, who wasn't a comedian or performer in any way but had the same characteristic of putting one hand on her hip while the other held the microphone. Rather pleasant but ultimately pointless.

[23 Daves]

Given that nobody wrote about this last week, I'm going to assume that a lot of you have given up on it - unless you all got distracted by the riots.

I felt sorry for yer Welsh man this week who made the absolutely classic mistake of responding in an over-aggressive and spiteful manner to a drunken audience.  It is a very interesting audience dynamic I've witnessed before - hecklers are always in the wrong, in my opinion (unless the act they're heckling is being racist or offensive).  Jumping into somebody else's gag for no good reason other than to show off to your mates is asking for trouble, and whatever slap-down you get you usually deserve.  However, a lot of audiences don't see it that way, and begin jeering and booing if the retort seems overly personal - which is exactly what happened to him.  And he never recovered.

It could happen to absolutely anybody and I've watched it happen to mid-league pros in clubs before, although in fairness none of those stammered and stuttered as much as he did, flabbergasted at being rejected by his home crowd.  But the audience/ act dynamic in small clubs and pubs where a lot of the audience know each other is often terrifying and can go either way for even the most seasoned act. 

The copper deserved to go, I think.  He's been far too bland throughout the series, and clearly wasn't ever going to be the winner.

[evil_lafayette]

Given that nobody wrote about this last week, I'm going to assume that a lot of you have given up on it - unless you all got distracted by the riots.

I felt sorry for yer Welsh man this week who made the absolutely classic mistake of responding in an over-aggressive and spiteful manner to a drunken audience.  It is a very interesting audience dynamic I've witnessed before - hecklers are always in the wrong, in my opinion (unless the act they're heckling is being racist or offensive).  Jumping into somebody else's gag for no good reason other than to show off to your mates is asking for trouble, and whatever slap-down you get you usually deserve.  However, a lot of audiences don't see it that way, and begin jeering and booing if the retort seems overly personal - which is exactly what happened to him.  And he never recovered.

It could happen to absolutely anybody and I've watched it happen to mid-league pros in clubs before, although in fairness none of those stammered and stuttered as much as he did, flabbergasted at being rejected by his home crowd.  But the audience/ act dynamic in small clubs and pubs where a lot of the audience know each other is often terrifying and can go either way for even the most seasoned act. 

The copper deserved to go, I think.  He's been far too bland throughout the series, and clearly wasn't ever going to be the winner.

The format of the show isn't helping (the comics) as far as I can see. Ellie, for example, struggled and the judges said as much and yet she goes through to the next round without being told as much. They should all be getting feedback at the end (although, admitedly, this might happen off screen). I also think too much is being made of them having to develop specific material each week. I appreciate that each crowd is going to react to material differently but surely if they can develop something funny it will translate - there seems far too much emphasis on localising the content - talk about Liverpool/Wales/Medicine. It certainly seems to make them struggle for material a lot more on a weekly basis.

[23 Daves]

So we finished the semi-final last night, and I started this thread, so I may as well try to finish it despite the lack of interest.

Dan Mitchell (from Pontypridd), Patrick Monahan (from Teeside) and Tiffany Stevenson are all through, which is curious.  Stuart Goldsmith may well be a bog-standard nice-guy comedian in the Michael MacIntyre vain, but I thought of all of the contenders he's been the most consistent performer and the most likely to find an audience. 

Dan clearly has the potential to be hilariously funny and is an excellent physical comic, but I just haven't been knocked out by him yet and he seems to fuck up every other week, Patrick Monahan is just Fogwell Flax reborn minus the impressions, and Tiffany Stevenson is bland and faintly awkward looking.  So that's what we're left with.  Unless one of them can pull an amazing performance out of the bag on Thursday night when the final is scheduled, I don't think a lasting future in television comedy is assured. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Though curiously(-ish), Monahan and Stevenson were the only two I was really aware of prior to the show, and the only two that seem to have a visible profile at this year's Fringe (presumably post-recording of this series).  Having not seen either of them I can't comment, but I don't think either of them is supposed to be an actively bad comic.  Maybe just, at worst, uninspired.

[Harpo Speaks]

So we finished the semi-final last night, and I started this thread, so I may as well try to finish it despite the lack of interest.

I watched it, I decided to see it through. I'd originally only seen a couple of episodes, but then went back and saw the others so I could talk about it on a thing for Neil's CaB Radio show.

I had a feeling that Dan would make the final right from the start, he has the occasional good turn of phrase, but he's done some pretty weak material throughout. Patrick's decision to tone down the pissing about seemed to starkly expose that he has little to no material, and it was delivered in a rather unconvincing manner.

Unless one of them can pull an amazing performance out of the bag on Thursday night when the final is scheduled, I don't think a lasting future in television comedy is assured. 

At least in this case they presumably will have had a lot more time to prepare and rehearse material, and aren't working within the false parameters they have been doing throughout the series.

Still, it feels like this show actually has very little to do with comedy.

[Jake Thingray]

Googling Ellie recently (no, she doesn't seem to have done any artistic poses for those with repressions, when she was a model), despite being eliminated last night she has the same agents as Manford.

[garbed_attic]

They missed a trick in not calling in 'The Last Laugh' a la 'Time Trumpet'. Then at least they could have the presenter pipe up, "Who's going to have the last laugh?"

Oddly enough, in a failed interview for a job at Googlebox Productions at the start of the year, which took the form of an episode of 'The Apprentice' presided over by one of the creators of 'Big Brother', I basically suggested just this idea... not very novel considering that it was an obvious gap in the market and with the current boom in cheap, stand-up comedy television. The way I envisioned such a programme though was that the viarable would not be different types of audience, but rather different types of comedy: stand-up, clowning, panel show, sitcom etc. with a much higher emphasis on tutorage under more established, better comedians.

The main problems with the show strike me that we simply don't see enough comedy, the comedians aren't terrible enough or brilliant enough to be funny, the bulk of each episode is taken up with mundane tasks only tangentially related to their end-of-show stand-up set and the programme is really poorly edited, with no sense of drama or narrative.

[actwithoutwords]

The disagreement between Cannon and Ball on Stuart going out was the first difference of opinion between the judges all series. That's poor formatting.
It's got a bit boring and repetitive as time went on once the novelty wore off. Johnny Vegas last week was the highlight of the series, he actually gave proper criticism and advice. All 3 finalists are pretty bland and uninspiring, but that's what the show has been set up to produce. Though I'm sure they are disappointed they haven't found a proper star.
Stuart Goldsmith has a show at the Fringe as well incidentally.

[An Actual Propeller]

The policeman bloke - Alfie Moore - did a free show at the fringe last year.  Was alright I guess.  Nothing I would (or did) pay for like.  His missus is hot as fuck, however.

[ColonelVolestrangler]

Want to relive your favourite highlights of this series? Now you can, with these cut-out and make facsimiles of the contestants, host, regular judges and special guest judge, Jimmy (Oh-ho, hide your cigarette holders) Tarbuck!
http://weepaperpeople.blogspot.com/2011/07/show-me-funny.html


Actually, never mind that, I've just spotted the Apprentice ones...
http://weepaperpeople.blogspot.com/2011/05/apprentice.html

[Gavin]

Want to relive your favourite highlights of this series? Now you can, with these cut-out and make facsimiles of the contestants, host, regular judges and special guest judge, Jimmy (Oh-ho, hide your cigarette holders) Tarbuck!
http://weepaperpeople.blogspot.com/2011/07/show-me-funny.html


Actually, never mind that, I've just spotted the Apprentice ones...
http://weepaperpeople.blogspot.com/2011/05/apprentice.html

The Complete Set Of Arrested Development Paper Dolls
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/the-complete-set-of-arrested-development-paper-dol

[evil_lafayette]

fucking hell, Bob Mortimer's a polite liar. As 'mentor' for Tiffany he's just delivered a fairly believable level of praise, despite every crowd shot of him looking on the brink of tears.



What a nice chap.

[Icehaven]

Who's going to to be in the audience for the winner's tour? The ratings have apparently been so bad that even if every single person who watched it went to the see them they'd still be a lot of empty seats.

[Harpo Speaks]

Dan to win. Perhaps.

[Icehaven]

Yeah probably. Definitely him or Pat anyway, don't think she stands a chance.

[Icehaven]

That this programme has made me love Mr. Vegas even more despite his involvement in this programme is further evidence that it's right to love him even more.

[Jobey]

After seeing Patrick Monohan back in my student days do a set, we had a chat and that was pretty much the tipping point for making me start stand up comedy.
Interesting fact that no one will care about there. Nice guy.

[23 Daves]

After seeing Patrick Monohan back in my student days do a set, we had a chat and that was pretty much the tipping point for making me start stand up comedy.
Interesting fact that no one will care about there. Nice guy.

He does seem like a nice bloke, although he clearly suffers from the same approval-seeking behaviour a lot of comics do (and obviously I'm not the first one to chime in with that comment, he's heard it all series and was the victim of Johnny Vegas ripping the piss out of him for it last night!)

Was he the right person to have won?  I'm not sure.  I would have favoured Dan, but of all the sets, there was nothing truly striking going on.  Dan is the only one I can imagine going on to create genuinely innovative material in the future, however - as has been pointed out, his use of language and his on-stage persona are both quite highly developed - whereas the rest were all incredibly trad in the manner they approached stand-up. 

[Aploplectic]

I don't think there's anyone who would doubt that Pat is a nice guy – that seems to be the main reason that he won.  Obviously there's a lot to be said for coming across as a nice guy on stage, and I can certainly see why people would enjoy his style, but I did think that his material was pretty weak.  The joke about

Spoiler alert

spending most of his holidays in customs

[close]

is definitely not original, and I am almost certain that I have heard variations on the

Spoiler alert

'he's on fire' and 'real guns in paintball'

[close]

bits as well.  It is possible that these are just very well worn topics (although that's not really an excuse) and, if we're being very charitable, it is just about possible that he originated these jokes and had them pinched by a bigger act for Comedy Roadshow or something.  Either way, I thought they were pretty stale and uninteresting. Still, I did think that he performed well (aside from saying 'thanks' after every laugh) and he probably just about deserved to win.

I thought Dan was good again, but the

Spoiler alert

dog in a bin

[close]

bit didn't really work for me.  I thought his opening joke was funny, and I was a bit disappointed when the set seemed to tail off towards the end.  I didn't really enjoy any of Tiff's material, which was a shame because I thought a lot of what we had seen through the series from her was very strong (last week's 'I'm like a fine wine' bit particularly).

The problem with the show, as has been the case throughout the series, was that there wasn't enough actual performance.  I appreciate that we got to see the entire thing this time, but 15 minutes of stand up in a show of an hour and a quarter is pretty poor value.  That said, I did think that the mentoring bits were worthwhile – certainly more worthwhile than watching the contestants run aimlessly around Liverpool visiting hairdressers.  If the entire series had had little challenges like the ones we saw last night (where there was a clear objective in terms of improving the contestant's stand up) then the first half of each episode wouldn't have felt like such a waste of time.

[Kapuscinski]

I would imagine that Dan and Tiff will get a fair few bookings as a result of this exposure. I really wanted Dan to win - of all the acts, he is the only one I would pay to go and see, though Pat's set did make me laugh as well.