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March 28, 2024, 04:43:13 PM

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Comedians who were in bands before they became comedians. The Album.

Started by Brundle-Fly, March 28, 2018, 11:30:05 AM

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Brundle-Fly

Watching the brilliantly skewiff new wave Graham Fellows videos on the Graham Fellowes thread made me ponder other comedians who started trying to make it in bands before laughtermaking.

Could there be a compilation album here?

Dudley Moore - The Johnny Dankworth Band.
Russ Abbott - The Black Abbots
Tony Dale & The Wanderers - The Grumbleweeds
Jasper Carrott - Fingimigig
Billy Connolly - The Humblebums
Chris Sievey (Frank Sidebottom) - The Freshies
Graham Fellows - Jilted John
Charlie Higson - The Higsons
Paul Whitehouse- Bonsai Forest
Kevin Eldon - The Time
Ted Chippington - The Nightingales
Ronnie Golden - The Fabulous Poodles
Ricky Gervais- Seona Dancing

Anymore? There must be some women.

It can't be the other way round though. ie : Comedians forming bands after they've made it.

(below) Ted & Ralph in their punk pomp.


Gregory Torso

You've got to have Neil Hamburger aka Gregg Turkington who's been in a load of crazy San Francisco art noise irritation bands like the Zip Code Rapists and Caroliner.

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: Gregory Torso on March 28, 2018, 11:33:37 AM
You've got to have Neil Hamburger aka Gregg Turkington who's been in a load of crazy San Francisco art noise irritation bands like the Zip Code Rapists and Caroliner.

Yeah, must be loads of American comics who were in punk bands. I'm surprised Bill Hicks didn't have a serious stab before comedy because he clearly wanted to be a rock god.

Norton Canes

Thought Bill Bailey might be an obvious one so checked his Wiki

He is a classically trained musician and received an Associateship Diploma from the London College of Music as well as being made an honorary member of the Society of Crematorium Organists. He performed with a boy band "The Famous Five"

Here we go: Bill Bailey Reunited With The Famous Five

Well that killed five minutes.

SteveDave

Wasn't the actor Kevin Eldon in Virginia Doesn't as well? I seem to recall that being their name from when Lee And Herring played "Telephone Box" from their Peel session.

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: SteveDave on March 28, 2018, 11:55:15 AM
Wasn't the actor Kevin Eldon in Virginia Doesn't as well? I seem to recall that being their name from when Lee And Herring played "Telephone Box" from their Peel session.

Yes, John Peel described them as "sub-Kenny Everett whimsy" IIRC

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: Norton Canes on March 28, 2018, 11:43:01 AM
Thought Bill Bailey might be an obvious one so checked his Wiki

He is a classically trained musician and received an Associateship Diploma from the London College of Music as well as being made an honorary member of the Society of Crematorium Organists. He performed with a boy band "The Famous Five"

Here we go: Bill Bailey Reunited With The Famous Five

Well that killed five minutes.

But superb!

Ron Superior

Wasn't Stewart Lee in a group with Al Murray on drums called Crop Duster or something?

And I loved Telephone Box!


Danger Man

Isy Suttie

QuoteAs a teenager she was a member of a progressive rock band called Infinite Drift.[4]

McChesney Duntz

Fred Armisen played drums for a pretty good 90s band called Trenchmouth.

shh

James Acaster mentioned he was in a few I think in RHLSTP.

Here's the myspace for one of them: https://myspace.com/introducingthewowscenario/photos

dallasman

Very very famously, Chevy Chase played drums with Don and Walt of Steely Dan in one of their earlier bands. Someone probably has a tape.

Meanwhile, here's Bill Hicks tearing it up on the geetar, 1979: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWMf1L6D3NU

Brundle-Fly

And Matt Berry, of course, who has managed to make the two careers co-exist from the off pretty much.

petril


nardis

Adam Buxton told a funny anecdote in one of his podcasts about being in a sixth-form band that was just a bad Talking Heads rip-off. Cornish and/or Theroux may have also been involved. Can't put my finger on which episode and a quick google search reveals nothing :(

Neomod

Quote from: McChesney Duntz on March 28, 2018, 12:29:42 PM
Fred Armisen played drums for a pretty good 90s band called Trenchmouth.

Not forgetting Carrie Brownstein of Sleater Kinney.

jobotic

Quote from: Gregory Torso on March 28, 2018, 11:33:37 AM
You've got to have Neil Hamburger aka Gregg Turkington who's been in a load of crazy San Francisco art noise irritation bands like the Zip Code Rapists and Caroliner.

I've got a record that features the Zip Code Rapists. I did not know that.

marquis_de_sad

Chris Morris

Quote from: wikiOn graduating, Morris pursued a career as a musician in various bands, for which he played the bass guitar.

poodlefaker

The folk singer / stand-up crossover thing in the 70s is interesting (Billy Connolly, Jasper Carrott, Mike Harding, Fred Wedlock, Phil Cool etc). I've heard it was because they had to develop a certain amount of patter to fill the gaps between songs while they retuned their guitars - not sure if this is true or not, but you can hear John Martyn doing it in some of his live recordings - Nick Drake obv not suited to it.

Brundle-Fly


hermitical

Quote from: McChesney Duntz on March 28, 2018, 12:29:42 PM
Fred Armisen played drums for a pretty good 90s band called Trenchmouth.


Never knew that, got this on 7"

hermitical

Steve Hughes of course, the Aussie metalhead, been in a number of bands

/m/

Quote from: nardis on March 28, 2018, 01:15:23 PM
Adam Buxton told a funny anecdote in one of his podcasts about being in a sixth-form band that was just a bad Talking Heads rip-off. Cornish and/or Theroux may have also been involved. Can't put my finger on which episode and a quick google search reveals nothing :(

Like you, I can't put my finger on the episode, but I half recall the two of them talking about 'the worst thing you did at school' (or 'your worst memory', perhaps). I think Adam's story was about him feeling guilty because of something he did to another kid, who was a member of said Talking Heads rip-off band, and the incriminating bit was him making this kid the fallguy when one of their gigs went south. Adam and the rest of the band just walked off, abandoning him on-stage, or something like that. It's been a few years since I heard it, though.


Dolly Clackett

I seem to recall Bob Mortimer tweeting about his old band Dog Dirt.

Brundle-Fly


Tom Gleeson, Australian stand-up & game-show host, and Andrew Hansen, of The Chaser newspaper, radio, books and TV, were in keyboard-heavy indie-pop band The Fantastic Leslie together in the '90s. (Hansen previously had a bash at being a sensitive singer-songwriter-in-cafes type, as shown in the documentary Uni.)

Before finding success as a comic, Tom Green was a member of rap outfit Organized Rhyme. They released one album, in 1992.

non capisco

Quote from: nardis on March 28, 2018, 01:15:23 PM
Adam Buxton told a funny anecdote in one of his podcasts about being in a sixth-form band that was just a bad Talking Heads rip-off. Cornish and/or Theroux may have also been involved. Can't put my finger on which episode and a quick google search reveals nothing :(

It's in the same Theroux episode as the stone cold classic "Aaaaaaaaahyessir, I can boogie" section.