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March 29, 2024, 12:31:41 AM

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"40 Genius Gervais Gags"

Started by Jon_Norton, June 13, 2005, 10:26:32 PM

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Jon_Norton

Quote from: "Beloved Aunt"Considering that you don't like Munnery, you like deploying his jokes, doncha Jon?

That makes me cleverer than  him as well.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

One of his jokes quoted in that Zoo article concerned the coded handkerchief-wearing of gay men, to wit: 'Don't go into a gay pub with a cold or you're in trouble!'.

Is that homophobia, or is it 'Aw lighten up, he's a character' time again? I doubt the Zoo readers care too much.

Jon_Norton

Whether it is or not, it isn't a joke - it's just an observation.

slim

Quote from: "Peking O"I'd hardly call Gervais 'an underdog.'
I was just pissing around really. Besides, he's an underdog in this thread, or others like it, and you're sticking up for him. Sometimes I think the arguments in here occur just because it gives people pleasure to have a little set-to every now and then.

Quote from: "Peking O"I'm not a big fan of his in particular, I just can't understand why we have to have this discussion time and time again.
Well, as I said above, I quite like some of his stuff. I also quite like joining in threads ribbing comedians. If I recall correctly, I've had pops at other comedians' styles in CC before, including ones I'm very fond of. In fact, I've written some sketches based around affectionate parodies of Seinfeld, CYE Fawlty Towers and more.

I don't see the harm in it, or the need for you or others to defend someone by proxy against it. As I said to Utter Shit, I'm sure he could handle it, were he to read it.

Hoogstraten'sSmilingUlcer

Not a true observation, though. If you walk into a gay pub with a hanky, you're not going to get defrocked and buggered, are you?

Jon_Norton

Quote from: "slim"As I said to Utter Shit, I'm sure he could handle it, were he to read it.

According to Iain Lee, RG was "the most hated person on the 11 O'Clock Show". And that was watched by millions of people. So he's already been through a level of scorn far worse than this board could ever inflict on him.

But the whole point of his style of comedy is that it's "confrontational".... the worst audience reaction that could happen to him is indifference.

Just a thing but bolding your statements is really cocking irritating!

Jon_Norton

Quote from: "Banana Woofwoof"Just a thing but bolding your statements is really cocking irritating!

Oh really?


Jon_Norton

Quote from: "Banana Woofwoof"Yes!

Alas.

Peking O

Quote from: "Emergency Lalla Ward Ten"One of his jokes quoted in that Zoo article concerned the coded handkerchief-wearing of gay men, to wit: 'Don't go into a gay pub with a cold or you're in trouble!'.

Is that homophobia, or is it 'Aw lighten up, he's a character' time again? I doubt the Zoo readers care too much.

Yes that's right, and Chris Morris is a paedophile isn't he? Anyway, for now I shall follow Mundays Chylde's advice and step out of this pointless exercise.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

Quote from: "Peking O"

Yes that's right, and Chris Morris is a paedophile isn't he?


So you believe Gervais is satirising homophobia?

bennyprofane

surely the homophobic hankerchief gag is just a rubbish attempt at seinfeld-stand-up-style taking -to-logical-conclusion type joke rather than an observation.  hence it obviously isn't 'a true observation,' but he takes a 'madcap' attitude to it.  The problem is that it's not very funny and not alleviated by any build-up or linguistic cleverness.  because he's a man of the people innee.  I don't think it's homophobic, but it does rely for at least half its hahahileeriousness on just being about gays rather than, i don't know, about those birds that peck at red things.
and obviously he's not satirising homophobia.  in all the anti-gervaise threads here or elsewhere I can't remember seeing anyone, even his staunchest defenders, actually claim his character is a satiriccal role.  they used to say it about brent, but then his stand-up showed that he was a brent who knows he's speaking non-PC.  it's just a character, so he can say what we're all really thinking.  And because he's a character, the concept, pro or con, of political correctness immediately becomes irrelevent, jinx no returns.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

I don't think Gervais is homophobic, but I think he knows full-well the lad-mag crowd will love jokes like that. And that's another reason to dislike him. He *is* a salesman.

Jon_Norton

But they're not even fucking jokes! Just bits of random radio banter snipped out!

The Mumbler

He is shit.  Proof that anything average can be elevated into "high art" these days.  I blame Mark Lawson.  Just generally.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Surely we should applaud him for being one of the few comedians to have the popularity of both the lowbrow and the highbrow comedy market, and I'll be one to say that I think he's a lot better than others I've seen. An altogether very funny man who I have no moral concerns over at all.

Darrell

Quote from: "Shoulders?-Stomach!"Surely we should applaud him for being one of the few comedians to have the popularity of both the lowbrow and the highbrow comedy market

Why? Would you applaud Revenge Of The Sith for having done well in the cinema, or McFly for getting to number one?

Rubbish metaphor: If you throw a dead pigeon off a cliff on a windy enough day, and it's seen from enough of a fog-blanketed distance by some easily-fooled, short-sighted passers-by, it still doesn't mean that pigeon can fly any more than it could before.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Apart from the fact that you can't compare music and cinema to stand-up like that, I'd argue that the difference is that Gervais is good, wheras Episode III and McFly are shit. Also, success in stand-up has to be earnt, wheras the only people to be applauded in Star Wars and McFly are the marketeers that managed to make them successful. Good stand-up is raw- it's about good material and an ability to keep the audience in stitches which Gervais does with aplomb.

The bit you wrote below isn't just a rubbish metaphor, it's not really a metaphor.

Darrell

Quote from: "Shoulders?-Stomach!"Also, success in stand-up has to be earnt, wheras the only people to be applauded in Star Wars and McFly are the marketeers that managed to make them successful.

Keep going, you're almost there...

Shoulders?-Stomach!


Quote from: "Shoulders? Stomach!"Apart from the fact that you can't compare music and cinema to stand-up like that, I'd argue that the difference is that Gervais is good, wheras Episode III and McFly are shit. Also, success in stand-up has to be earnt, wheras the only people to be applauded in Star Wars and McFly are the marketeers that managed to make them successful. Good stand-up is raw- it's about good material and an ability to keep the audience in stitches which Gervais does with aplomb.

Sorry, stand up has to be earned? That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. What did Gervais do to "earn" his right to go on tour (instantly) and put out two mediocre shows?  I'd say you earn the right to do that after pissing around in shitty clubs for twenty years.  Had anyone else did his stand up it would have been dismissed for it is- mediocre fluff.  Nothing "raw" about it, every look and gesture is scripted to appeal to his blokey Zoo reader fanbase. But Gervais "earns" it because one cocking programme secured his place as some sort of new comedy god.  ONE sitcom!  The people who should be applauded are the marketeers who made Gervais successful.

Godzilla Bankrolls

Before Extras wrapped, each week The Sun (which Gervais gives meaty 'exclusives' to) would run a story about the next big celeb who had allegedy BEGGED for a part in the series. I thought it was ludicrous when Patrick Stewart was linked, but the one that *really* took the piss was Mariah Carey. And you do have to wonder who tells them all this aggrandising shit... "a spokesperson for Gervais"?

What do the Gervais-likers think of the awfully luvvie Jude Law/Gervais stories?

Shoulders?-Stomach!

That's rubbish. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant wrote two series of an excellent comedy show 'The Office', and then two excellent scripts for stand-up in 'Politics' and 'Animals'. They've earnt their success, and also possess talent. Now can we dispense with the piss-poor multimedia analogies please?

You criticize his stand up for being "mediocre fluff", and yet as I've already stated, I think both are very funny, and crucially manage to appeal to both sets of the comedy audience, the lads humour lowbrow market and the comedy aficionados of the highbrow market. Ricky Gervais also has a terrific sense of timing and works the audience as well as anyone I've seen. Appealling to both types of fans is extremely hard to achieve, and has clearly been an aim if you watch the shows. It's a relatively rare thing to find comic writing which does this and Gervais should be applauded for this. It's only opinion but to summarise I think he has more talent than a few people on here give him credit for, and the way his every action has been minutely scrutinised and criticized by people on here is extraordinary. I can't think why a few people appear to come across so paranoid and bitter, I'm sure there isn't one reason.

Darrell

Quote from: "Shoulders?-Stomach!"and crucially manage to appeal to both sets of the comedy audience, the lads humour lowbrow market and the comedy aficionados of the highbrow market.

Woah, woah, slow down. Comedy's an art, not a business. The instant an agenda is set and cynical pie-chart-style audience-targeting is employed, it loses all artistic worth and merit it could have had in the first place.

Quote from: "Shoulders?-Stomach!"Appealling to both types of fans is extremely hard to achieve, and has clearly been an aim if you watch the shows.

In which case he can fuck off out of my sight while I enjoy the work of people whose aim is to create good comedy. Comedy which is artistically worthy purely by it being a genuine, honest product of the creators, and totally unstained by dollar-signs-in-the-eyes businessman leanings.

Just comedy which is funny would do for a start.

Quote from: "Shoulders?-Stomach!"I can't think why a few people appear to come across so paranoid and bitter, I'm sure there isn't one reason.

Reason: "he offends me by tarring the current affairs of an artform I adore by bringing his greedy, money-making, 'industry'-straddling, patronising attitude into things, affecting not only the space he occupies, but causing increasingly destructive ripples which affect the big picture as far as I am concerned."

Neil

Splutter, you've not half changed your tune, Shoulders?-Stomach!!  What happened to Gervais being a 'useless twat and Merchant undoubtedly being the one with all the talent'?  Or what about this stuff:

QuoteI like the Office. What I don't like is the hype surrounding it, and the "he's a genius" badge. It's overrated, and so is Gervais. Watch his next piece of work fail. Mark my words, and cack them back at me if I'm wrong. I'm bitter about the Office's success whilst equally good shows went relatively unnoticed, and jealous of its acclaim.

Godzilla Bankrolls

Does anyone (ie Benthalo or The Mumbler) know how S Lee's mid-90s routine about feeling uncomfortable around the disabled went? I've heard him mention it in interviews, but I've never actually heard the material itself.

I wonder how it compares to Gervais's stuff.

Godzilla Bankrolls

Oh: Gervais once appeared on Jonathan Ross's R2 show to promote an appearance on Parkinson (which went out that very night).

Is Flanimals 'genius', Shoulders? Or just a lazy and cynical kid's book that has been done millions of times before? When's the Hollywood adaptation of it due? Is he playing a character when he mentions shit like that? If so, it's not very funny.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

Quote from: "Shoulders?-Stomach!"
you can't compare music and cinema to stand-up.

Why not?

Quote from: "Shoulders?-Stomach!"
the only people to be applauded in Star Wars and McFly are the marketeers that managed to make them successful.

And this is different to Gervais how exactly? Because you like Gervais but dislike Star Wars/McFly?

slim

Quote from: "Darrell"Comedy's an art, not a business.
I agree with this.

Quote from: "Darrell"The instant an agenda is set and cynical pie-chart-style audience-targeting is employed, it loses all artistic worth and merit it could have had in the first place.
But not that. Comedy can be marketed, targeted, whatever. The two aren't mutually exclusive and to infer any comedy which employs it loses all artistic worth and merit is a worthless generalisation.