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Chris Morris- The Performer

Started by Eight Taiwanese Teenagers, February 26, 2005, 08:18:04 PM

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Eight Taiwanese Teenagers

I'm not really qualified to start this thread what with my relatively poor CM-knowledge and poor memory, but I've been waiting to see if anyone else would do it and  got impatient.

Is Chris Morris simply a far better performer than he is a writer? And as for directing...

On screen or on the airwaves he has such a charm and wit that he can bring a smile to anyone's face!

Has he lost confidence in himself so he doesn't want to put himself on the front line?

Or does he feel that it's below him? (he really shouldn't - how many great comedians are remember for their writing rather than their performances?)

His quick wit is what makes him great rather than his more thought out ideas (which are often great but not always).
For example Why Bother - pretty much improvised and I love it.
Radio One Music shows - pretty much improvised - fantastic.
On the Hour - Probably quite 'dynamic' recording, lots of CM performing - superb.
TDT - ditto.
Brass Eye - Much more CM input - great stuff, but still, it's his roles that make it great.



Anyway, as I said, I probably haven't expressed this very well and maybe someone will disagree with me. But it seemed such a pertinent point that I was amazed no one had brought it up before and I'm interested to see what you all think about it!

Shindig

There's no doubt he's a good improviser and, I'll be honest, he seems funnier when it's off the cuff stuff.

But, he seems more productive when he's writing so I guess it's a well balanced juggling act of... thiiiiiiiings.

Eight Taiwanese Teenagers

Quote from: "Shindig"
But, he seems more productive when he's writing so I guess it's a well balanced juggling act of... thiiiiiiiings.

How can writing be "more productive" - if he'd put himself about a bit then he wouldn't have to spend his time writing, he's be doign the stuff I (we?) love best. In my experience it's when you are busy doing work that you start having actually good ideas, so maybe it would have an extra positive effect.

I really don't know who else's work he could perform though - I wouldn't expect him to have zero input in the writing though.

A Passing Turk Slipper

Quote from: "Eight Taiwanese Teenagers"
Radio One Music shows - pretty much improvised - fantastic.
They weren't though were they? I remember seeing some scanned scripts.

Eight Taiwanese Teenagers

Well of course I don't mean literally, that would be a miracle. But it's nearer to improvised than any more recent stuff.

Anyway, that's not the point, when I talk about his skills as a performer I don't really mean imporvising as in making up everything on the spot, I mean using tone and inflection, timing, and funny faces to make us laugh.

RHX

He needs to stop putting others in the spotlight and make more shows where the main focus is on himself. Less of the "reclusive genius" schtick and more of the "LOOK AT HOW GREAT I CAN BE". Face facts, the moment he dropped himself out of the limelight was the moment everything went wrong. Even the Brasseye Special was bad, with one of the reasons being that he was giving too much time to inferior actors instead of holding up the show by himself.

However, it seems too late. As long as people give hime acclaim for the work he has been doing recently, I doubt we will ever see him back to his old ways. It's a damn shame.

DJ One Record

Quote from: "RHX"Even the Brasseye Special was bad, with one of the reasons being that he was giving too much time to inferior actors instead of holding up the show by himself.

That's true. In fact, BES also marks the first time ever (I think) where a music parody -in this case, Rye Spangle - was not fronted by Morris, which in hindsight I found a little odd. Did he somehow think that glam rock singing was out of his range? He never thought that Barry White was (and in terms of accuracy he was, but that didn't stop "Earthquake In Your Bed" being funny) so its hard to tell whether Morris' recent performance rations are down to laziness, boredom (so let's try some directing instead) or simply just wanting to give inferior actors some screentime.

At any rate, Morris' ability to make lines not necessarily meant to be jokes hillarious is far in advance of most (if not all) of the Nathan Barley cast who barely have the ability to make a funny line funny.

Neil

Morris does feature in the band, but I presume that Davis was chosen as the lead singer as a comment on how glam singers made themselves up to look androgynous. It's still Morris doing the main vocal though, isn't it?

Ambient Sheep

Quote from: "Neil"Morris does feature in the band, but I presume that Davis was chosen as the lead singer as a comment on how glam singers made themselves up to look androgynous. It's still Morris doing the main vocal though, isn't it?
I didn't even realise it WAS Davis as the lead singer!  I've always wondered who it was.  Heh, point proven (about androgynousness).

And yeah, of course Morris was in the band, as the guitarist if I remember rightly.

DJ One Record

Quote from: "Neil"Morris does feature in the band, but I presume that Davis was chosen as the lead singer as a comment on how glam singers made themselves up to look androgynous.

Well bloody hell, I never realised it was Davis either (although I can definitely see it now). Probably the best performance she's ever done as well. I'll have to listen out for that Morris vocal next time.

Quote from: "Ambient Sheep"
And yeah, of course Morris was in the band, as the guitarist if I remember rightly.

Yeah, albeit not actually playing the guitar but instead clapping above his head and gurning. Glam rock, eh?

Neil

And it's a left-handed and right-handed guitar at the same time!  Another thing I noticed when going through the show again recently is that the crab is alive before Dr Fox hammers a nail through it.

Ambient Sheep

Quote from: "DJ One Record"Yeah, albeit not actually playing the guitar but instead clapping above his head and gurning. Glam rock, eh?
Yup!  :-)

Quote from: "Neil"Another thing I noticed when going through the show again recently is that the crab is alive before Dr Fox hammers a nail through it.
Oh God, you're joking.  That's sick.  <actually somewhat offended, even though he knows that's probably hypocritical>

DJ One Record

Quote from: "Neil"Another thing I noticed when going through the show again recently is that the crab is alive before Dr Fox hammers a nail through it.

You're on about the scene were Dr Fox is saying "This is a crab, this, this has sex with kids" right, where the crabs tendrills (or whatever they're called) are moving? I noticed that too.

MrManson

Hahaha! Getting Dr Fox to kill a frog! That's good stuff.


I love his onscreen work. He's brilliant, his delivery of lines and accents are absolutely brilliant. Particularly in The Day Today, I love how he can switch expressions so quickly and believably.

Jemble Fred

Don't forget his IAP appearance, which is the best part of all IAP.

As has been said before, the best thing to get from the lad himself now is a new album of interviews, in the vein of Why Bother and the TDT DVD Partirdge interviews. The latter being his funniest work in the last five years or more.

Purple Tentacle

Quote from: "Ambient Sheep"Oh God, you're joking.  That's sick.  <actually somewhat offended, even though he knows that's probably hypocritical>

Well...... not really. Not unless you don't eat crab, of course.

Nailing a crab is a perfectly normal and humane way of killing them, I've certainly heard about that method a couple of times. Certainly more humane than leaving them to die of dehydration which is what often happens, and they are so yummy scrumptious.


However, I'd be very interested to know what the laws are on killing an animal on-screen..... you know, how "no animals were hurt during the recording" is standard on pretty much everything, did Morris break a big no-no by doing this?

Morrisfan82

I think there are more lenient criteria attributed to aquatic/semi-aquatic lifeforms. In that History's Worst Jobs thing with Tony Robinson, someone sliced off the head of a live eel.

Ambient Sheep

Quote from: "Purple Tentacle"Nailing a crab is a perfectly normal and humane way of killing them, I've certainly heard about that method a couple of times.
I'd be happier if I thought that Dr. Fox had some kind of qualification in the field of humane crab-nailing.

Spiteface

Quote from: "MrManson"I love his onscreen work. He's brilliant, his delivery of lines and accents are absolutely brilliant. Particularly in The Day Today, I love how he can switch expressions so quickly and believably.

He does have a great face for it.  That supid grin on his face, after having reduced that jam festival woman to tears on TDT, is gold!

and the bit just before the Pool Documentary where he goes "They're a load of old rubbish" as well.