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Greg Proops Proopcast - The Smartest Man In The World

Started by 3-d lobster, June 19, 2011, 09:46:53 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Johnny Townmouse

It sounds to me (with the exception of the most recent cast) that the audience have been steadily finding Proops performances increasingly funny, and their enthusiasm has noticeably changed from the early to the later casts. I guess that is a natural reaction to hearing the casts and getting into the Proops zone. The more you listen to them, the better they get in my opinion.

I emailed Proops my thoughts and he replied to say, amongst other things, that Hicks is "always an inspiration to me." He channels that Hicksian anger without resorting to parody, like Leary or some other pretenders.


Well there we were, me and my significant other, happily working our disjointed way back through the Proopcast when BOOM we get to 'Dogs'. After several hours worth of laughs we get treated to the absolute nadir of humour... if you're a girl or boy in England you were no doubt buggered at a young age? The awkward silence in the room spoke volumes. Dumb stuff from the Smart Man.

Jemble Fred

Didn't hear that. Can you elaborate, please? What was the context?

Neil

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on September 13, 2011, 08:55:15 PM
The last one I listened to had him reading out a question which started "We can put a man on the moon, so why can't we cure the common cold." He ripped that to shreds in the most fucking hilarious way.

Do you happen to remember what episode that was in?  That also delighted me, and I really meant to make a clip of it, but never quite got around to it.  The demolition of that phrase and logic was absolutely superb.

Johnny Townmouse

Yep, I certainly can.

Rasberries, starts at 48:48.

"If frogs can hop then why can't I get a hard-on all the time?"

DeGrise

Quote from: Jemble Fred on September 15, 2011, 03:54:39 PM
Didn't hear that. Can you elaborate, please? What was the context?
He was talking about maltesers. He'd done a bit about the RAF being grounded by their parents, where he'd done an upper class English accent. He then said that the chocolate had a bizarre sexual element, and then went into a bit about English boys and girls spending their childhood avoiding being buggered. He then did a joke about singing in the round being a sexual act from the 13th century. Then he said "That's England. And if you're listening in England, thank you for listening, it's so awesome to have you."

So basically he was screwing around with stereotypes for big laughs at the payoff. Having lived here for many years, he's surely entitled to say whatever he likes about the English.

I really can't see how you could get wound up about it unless you were actually being sexually abused at the time.

Johnny Townmouse

Quote from: DeGrise on September 15, 2011, 05:11:43 PM
I really can't see how you could get wound up about it unless you were actually being sexually abused at the time.

lolacaust.

Neil

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on September 15, 2011, 05:10:32 PM
Yep, I certainly can.

Rasberries, starts at 48:48.

"If frogs can hop then why can't I get a hard-on all the time?"

Thank you, can't bloody wait to hear that again. 

Neil

Here's his contribution to the Time Out '100 greatest comedy films' poll, in which Four Lions placed 24th.

Quote from: http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/1508/the-100-best-comedy-movies-contributors-o-q#greg-proopsGreg Proops

Greg Proops has done just about anything you can do in comedy. A regular member of the 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' team in both the UK and USA, he also performs stand-up all over the world, is part of Paul Provenza's improv stand-up show 'The Set List' and has his own hugely successful podcast, 'The Smartest Guy in the World', which is available to download from smartest.libsyn.com.

    * 1. The Producers (Mel Brooks, 1968)
    * 2. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
    * 3. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
    * 4. The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 1937)
    * 5. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
    * 6. The General (Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton, 1926)
    * 7. Bedazzled (Stanley Donen, 1967)
    * 8. Raising Arizona (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1987)
    * 9. A Day At the Races (Sam Wood, 1937)
    * 10. Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998)

'The Producers' is a love story about two men. The scene at the fountain where Gene Wilder agrees to do Zero Mostel's evil plan is Mel Brooks' crowning achievement as an artist. They are human, they fail and we still love them and it is not sentimental – that is the toughest hat-trick for a comedy picture.

Jemble Fred


Neil

Listened to Ships the other night.  He mentions that he's going to be on Lewis Black's comedy cruise, and then this spirals into an absolutely stunning and compelling 30 minute monologue about Columbus and other explorers.  His passion for history is really infectious and very entertaining.  This was a real highlight for me - I wish all history was presented in this way.

Enjoyed the audience-free show, too. 

These are pretty much the only thing I listen to, currently. I found myself taking a longer route home the other night, just to make sure I heard all of Ships before I got back.

Johnny Townmouse

He's been really laying into his audiences in the last handful of proopcasts, showing his open disdain and berating them for being unlively and unresponsive. As a rule I dislike this kind of attitude. It's like when nobody laughs at a Jimmy Carr gag and he assumes it is either because its a bit sick, or because they didn't get the joke.

However, in Proops case I think it is genuinely because a lot of the audience have just turned up for a free gig, and find the mixture of expositions on classical history, non-partisan political rants and Negro league baseball trivia to be perplexing. Of course this is why I love the Proopcasts so much, and why I didn't mind him doing his cast without an audience. In fact, I really rather liked it. The Columbus material was great.

Little Hoover

To be fair to his audiences, I don't find myself laughing that much at them even though I'm enjoying them, although I imagine it'd be slightly different if I was actually in the audience for the recording of them.

KnuckleSupper

Speaking of being in the audience for the podcast, he's recording an episode at the Soho Theatre on Wednesday 7 December. Stumbled across it while booking Pajama Men tickets. Anybody else going?

Little Hoover

Yep, in fact I was going to bump this thread to alert people myself. Glad it's finally happening since he's been in London twice since Edinburgh and didn't do one.

Johnny Townmouse

FUCK I would love to go to this. I don't see how I can make it work unless I can get a free night at a hotel. I bet it will be nice and lively.

Little Hoover

I don't know that it'll really be worth going to all that effort for something you'll be able to download for free a couple of days later.

One thing concerns me, aren't venues often quite strict about the 11pm curfew? if he's starting at 10pm, it might not even be a proper hour. Hopefully it'll be alright running over a bit in that basement bit of the soho theatre though.

Johnny Townmouse

Yeah, the basement is usually pretty liberal about staying open a bit later. I know it's going out on the podcast, but I just really want to see it live. Arse flakes.

Little Hoover

This week someone called Neil asks "Coltrane or Parker?"

Mini

I'll briefly add my love for the Proopcast. He just has a superb way with words and is refreshingly impassioned about whatever he tackles

DeGrise

This week's is the funniest one of the lot.

Not the most informative, but it does show the quality of Greg Proops as a stand-up.

A nice change of pace following the previous week's "Alone in the office" show.

TIAL

Just started this today, loving it so far. There are a few references that go over my head but the content is so concentrated and spot-on it doesn't really matter.

I love discovering decent podcasts that have been going for ages. This will make shelving time at the library sail by for a good few weeks.

Johnny Townmouse

Where I have grown slightly jaded by the WTF? podcast, the Proopcast really doesn't get old for me.

Yes, this week's cast definitely has a 'stand-up routine' feel to it, and in consequence is less on the hoof, but admittedly induces more proper belly laughs. You can tell that the guests are getting a real kick out of how much Proops is ripping the piss out of the cruise. He manages to do this in a way that isn't alienating to the listener.

Fantastic.

Retinend

How do I go about listening to these? Google and itunes only advertise an 'app' for devices I don't own (iphone and ipad). I'll buy it if necessary, but I want the sound files.

Jemble Fred

They just appear as basic mp3s within my normal browser, easily downloadable.

Retinend

Quote from: Jemble Fred on November 20, 2011, 06:53:52 PM
They just appear as basic mp3s within my normal browser, easily downloadable.

From where?

Johnny Townmouse

I either play them straight from the Proopcast website, or download them, but usually they just automatically update to my podcasts on iTunes, because I subscribe.

http://smartest.libsyn.com/

Retinend


Dusty Substance

I have Neil to thank for alerting me to the Proopcast after he tweeted about them a few months back. I'm still slowly catching up, currently at around the June episodes.

The Smartest Man In The World is magnificent. Proops is wonderfully funny and incredibly knowledgable about all manner of subjects. Great anecdotes about his early life, growing up and life as a comedian.

His constant references to pot smoking always has me craving a joint though.

Johnny Townmouse

Yeah, I do wonder if brought some weed onto the cruise? I can't imagine he would have coped otherwise.

I have emailed him a couple of times and he only replies in a most friendly and generous way.