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Rob Newman: anyone else here a fan of his post 2000 work & career arc?

Started by tribalfusion, January 12, 2022, 07:04:43 PM

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Would you describe yourself as someone who thinks well of Rob Newman's post-2000 comedy?

Yes definitely
4 (17.4%)
Yes somewhat
12 (52.2%)
No; I noticed a name I don't like in his Twitter follows
0 (0%)
No; I noticed more than one name I don't like in his Twitter follows
1 (4.3%)
I don't really care about ideas or comedy, I just like talking about TERFs
6 (26.1%)

Total Members Voted: 23

tribalfusion

Quote from: KennyMonster on January 14, 2022, 02:35:30 PMEveryone's beliefs are potentially misguided if were basing our assumptions on stuff that doesn't exist.

You know about these accounts more than I do, so presumably you've looked them up, I haven't.

So by your logic, you're a bit TERFier than I am.

Indeed.

tribalfusion

Quote from: KennyMonster on January 14, 2022, 03:43:17 PMIt doesn't look great, it doesn't look bad, it doesn't look like anything right now.

We could jump to conclusions or we could wait for some facts and evidence.


I asked already for some evidence like an actual statement from Newman to support the view that he believes X or Y and so far, no one has even attempted to provide one.

This isn't about evidence and facts but the most rank and infantile political disorder one can have.

And of course all the other Twitter follows which could easily suggest many other directions...well those somehow aren't relevant.



Jackson K Pollock

Don't think I've seen anything of his since In Pieces, but he played at the 30-seat village theatre literally three doors down from our house a couple of months ago.

Sadly, the theatre didn't send out their upcoming attractions brochures until two weeks after the gig, so whether or not anyone actually went I have no idea.

Shame, as I absolutely would have gone to that if I'd been aware of it.

lauraxsynthesis

I should make an effort to see him live again. I saw him a few times around 2003 - 2005 and he was stunningly funny. The layers of meaning/wordplay/satire/silly jokes/cultural references were beyond anything I'd seen before.

I hung out with him socially a few times and he seemed sound. He introduced me to Sean Hughes who I was dismayed to experience being a total cunt. At least he was that night and I got the impression it wasn't unusual.

KennyMonster

Quote from: lauraxsynthesis on January 14, 2022, 11:29:08 PMI should make an effort to see him live again. I saw him a few times around 2003 - 2005 and he was stunningly funny. The layers of meaning/wordplay/satire/silly jokes/cultural references were beyond anything I'd seen before.

I hung out with him socially a few times and he seemed sound. He introduced me to Sean Hughes who I was dismayed to experience being a total cunt. At least he was that night and I got the impression it wasn't unusual.

Tom Jones considers rewrite.

Hobo With A Shit Pun

Bloody Hell, this pointless thread is not the thread I was expecting.
For what it's worth, I'm in the mailing list for the Epoch Times, for much the same reason I read the Glinner threads (save for the song parodies), and while I don't use twitter have curated a bunch of awful takes in my facebook feed as a source of raging bile/amusement.  Following someone on social media tells us...nothing, really.

johnlogan

Suspected the mention of potential TERFery on page 1 would generate a few pages - I was meant to reply to this a couple of days ago,

I'd echo most people saying the History of Oil show was good, but haven't followed him closely since. Went to see him a few years ago with my partner, who was not even slightly impressed with Newman in his pomp. Having lurked long enough to have read about his bad poetry, I could feel my chest tightening when there wasn't a lot of audience response for the first few minutes. It was going to happen again, and it would forever be a black mark on me when I suggested plans in the future.

That said, my partner was actually crying with laughter just as I was about to sink into a panic attack, and I think her laughter was such that Newman noticed it, thinking he'd unknowingly stumbled upon a local joke he wasn't aware of. So I remember that set positively, all told, although I didn't think it was as good as History of Oil.

Anyway, it was during that show that I remember him, as part of a routine, explaining gender identity to his child (I think?). This was before Linehan was at the banana factor he's currently at, but he was bad enough that I was aware of TERFs at that point, so it did get my spider-sense tingling initially, but I'm pretty sure that he didn't say anything that I perceived as rum, and certainly didn't sound at all like he would have been casting in with that lot. This was four or five years ago, so I suppose things can change. 

Gurke and Hare

Quote from: tribalfusion on January 14, 2022, 09:47:05 PMIndeed.

Can you or one of the ones you're in a circlejerk with here actually point at anywhere in this thread anyone's declared that they've decided beyond all reasonable doubt that he's a terf? The most I see is a few people reasonably saying that following a huge list of terf accounts (without following any accounts on the other side of the 'debate', which you'd probably do if you were just doing a bit of research) looks a bit suspicious.

jobotic

Quite odd isn't it?

He follows a few terfy accounts, I like him so I really hope he's not gone down that route

How dare you condemn him on that basis?!!?!

Barry Admin

Let's get onto his material now please; three pages on who he follows on Twitter is more than enough.

Pimhole

Dear me.

Quote from: lauraxsynthesis on January 14, 2022, 11:29:08 PMThe layers of meaning/wordplay/satire/silly jokes/cultural references were beyond anything I'd seen before.


I think this is part of why I couldn't get into his radio stuff. Either it's too dense or I am. Even The History of Oi!, which I did enjoy, I had to watch twice to get some of the references or understand the point he was making. Like, I'm not going to start throwing around words like "pseudo-intellectual" or "pretentious" but he's definitely structuring things so that it's inaccessible to your average punter. I'm not saying everything needs to be John Bishop but sometimes it comes down to a choice between clever or clear communication. You'd think if these messages are important to him he'd make them a bit clearer.

There probably is a (small) audience for comedy that flatters people into feeling like intellectual elites and that's fine but it does come at the expense of funny. I feel like a lot of his audience's laughs are like when people laugh at the jokes in Shakespeare. They're congratulating themselves for being clever enough to "get it", but it's not gut laughter.

As someone said, he's a very talented impressionist and his stand up started out being just that, but he largely turned his back on it because he felt it was beneath him. Again, fine, but it's like he also turned his back on being directly, overwhelmingly funny.

KennyMonster

Quote from: Pimhole on January 15, 2022, 11:10:37 AMDear me.

I think this is part of why I couldn't get into his radio stuff. Either it's too dense or I am. Even The History of Oi!, which I did enjoy, I had to watch twice to get some of the references or understand the point he was making. Like, I'm not going to start throwing around words like "pseudo-intellectual" or "pretentious" but he's definitely structuring things so that it's inaccessible to your average punter. I'm not saying everything needs to be John Bishop but sometimes it comes down to a choice between clever or clear communication. You'd think if these messages are important to him he'd make them a bit clearer.

There probably is a (small) audience for comedy that flatters people into feeling like intellectual elites and that's fine but it does come at the expense of funny. I feel like a lot of his audience's laughs are like when people laugh at the jokes in Shakespeare. They're congratulating themselves for being clever enough to "get it", but it's not gut laughter.

As someone said, he's a very talented impressionist and his stand up started out being just that, but he largely turned his back on it because he felt it was beneath him. Again, fine, but it's like he also turned his back on being directly, overwhelmingly funny.

This is interesting but I actually really like comedy that pushes me to be better by having a whole bunch of references that I don't get mixed with jokes and ones that I do.

Alexei Sayle's stuff and repeats of Monty Python spring immediately to mind when I was a teenager and then later on, watching the first episode of QI, where I thought, 'I'm going to find loads of new great things here because I'm going to struggle to keep up'.

The same with Newman's work I guess, lots to come away with after its over.
I don't find his stuff prohibitive or exclusive though, I (personally) find them very accessible.

I guess I want to feel that my most favourite comedians, musicians etc  are be better than me and they can lead to a richer life.

Its also why recently, post 2019 GE probably, I've been disappointed with so many I used to like and why I really work when one of the few who remains in my fan-book lead me to have thoughts such as "oh you don't really think that shick-jock really is a voice of the left do you?" 

tribalfusion

Quote from: KennyMonster on January 15, 2022, 08:41:57 PMThis is interesting but I actually really like comedy that pushes me to be better by having a whole bunch of references that I don't get mixed with jokes and ones that I do.

Alexei Sayle's stuff and repeats of Monty Python spring immediately to mind when I was a teenager and then later on, watching the first episode of QI, where I thought, 'I'm going to find loads of new great things here because I'm going to struggle to keep up'.

The same with Newman's work I guess, lots to come away with after its over.
I don't find his stuff prohibitive or exclusive though, I (personally) find them very accessible.

I guess I want to feel that my most favourite comedians, musicians etc  are be better than me and they can lead to a richer life.

Its also why recently, post 2019 GE probably, I've been disappointed with so many I used to like and why I really work when one of the few who remains in my fan-book lead me to have thoughts such as "oh you don't really think that shick-jock really is a voice of the left do you?"

I'm with you on the above. Are there any comedians who have emerged after Newman you find comparable in terms of what you describe here?

KennyMonster

Quote from: tribalfusion on January 20, 2022, 05:43:16 AMI'm with you on the above. Are there any comedians who have emerged after Newman you find comparable in terms of what you describe here?

I think these days only Stew, Robin Ince and Josie Long.

Although for the latter two I prefer to listen to them talk and perform interviews rather than be a fan of their comedy per se.

And for Ince, over the last couple of years I've become less impressed, there's some real blind spots there.

I'm happy to take recommendations from elsewhere if you have any.

tribalfusion

Quote from: KennyMonster on January 20, 2022, 11:14:01 AMI think these days only Stew, Robin Ince and Josie Long.

Although for the latter two I prefer to listen to them talk and perform interviews rather than be a fan of their comedy per se.

And for Ince, over the last couple of years I've become less impressed, there's some real blind spots there.

I'm happy to take recommendations from elsewhere if you have any.

Thanks very much for the reply.  Stew is also really high on my list with Rob and I too appreciate Josie Long probably more as a complete person than as a comedian (same for Ince to a somewhat lesser extent).

I can think of a few people I think you might find interesting-ish (or maybe already do) and I'd be curious to hear your thoughts. 

I'll start off with my UK list and then follow it with my US list. Not all of these people are mind-blowing but I feel like they are trying and are probably the ones I find the most intriguing.  I've had to remove a few people from the UK list in recent years unfortunately (you can probably guess the names) and I also tried to include some less well known people who may not be the most brilliant performers but I think they are interesting people in some cases:


UK:

Rob Newman
Stewart Lee
Mark Thomas
Alexei Sayle
Josie Long
Bridget Christie
Robin Ince
Matthew Alford


I think the 'Marxist magician' Ian Saville is a good guy and he does a bit of comedy but I'm not sure that I'd call him an actual comedian. Still, I think he deserves a mention.

Matthew Alford mentioned above is mostly an academic but does some comedy and I think he's an interesting fellow. I didn't list Don Biswas and Chris Tavner but they are at least politically left of center though still relatively inexperienced as comedians and I try to be supportive of younger people trying to do some more left material even if I wouldn't say that I'm a fan per se.


Now for the US:

Ted Alexandro
Dave Anthony
Lee Camp
Nato Green
David Feldman
Judah Friedlander
Maria Bamford
Hari Kondabolu
Eddie Pepitone
David Cross


If you're interested in anything more specific about these people (some I know are obvious and others may be less so), I'd be happy to try and say something more.




lauraxsynthesis

I recently saw Mark Thomas perform for the first time in several years - he is stunningly good, isn't he? The years honing his craft really shows and he's just effortlessly hilarious in material and performance.

Re Ince and Long I feel the reverse of some of you. I like them live, but I had to give up on their podcast because they kept talking over each other and their guests and to me that made it unlistenable. Two folks with ADHD shouldn't do audio together innit.

tribalfusion

Quote from: lauraxsynthesis on January 20, 2022, 09:35:51 PMI recently saw Mark Thomas perform for the first time in several years - he is stunningly good, isn't he? The years honing his craft really shows and he's just effortlessly hilarious in material and performance.

Re Ince and Long I feel the reverse of some of you. I like them live, but I had to give up on their podcast because they kept talking over each other and their guests and to me that made it unlistenable. Two folks with ADHD shouldn't do audio together innit.

I should say that I don't listen to Ince and Long on their podcast either with very rare exceptions but I do think they are both decent people (especially Long) which counts for a lot with me these days :)

And yeah, Mark Thomas is great and I think you all are fortunate to have him over there!

KennyMonster

Yes Mark Thomas, of course, and Lexi.

I haven't heard of Matthew Alford, so I'll check him out, and the same goes for most of the US names you've given there, I only know a few of them from their regular TV work so some deeper digging is needed maybe.

Thanks.

banana

Does anyone remember the documentary that was on the telly around the time he was writing his first book? I've been trying to find it to see it again for years. I remember him being a bit all over the place and having a blackboard wall in his house? It was an interesting insight and a good bit of film.
I really like Rob Newman and I remember it being a bit sad because he didn't seem that happy in it.

Saw him do a talk at a university because one of his mates was a lecturer there, that was pretty good.
His radio stuff is pretty groovy too. I took my partner to see one of his shows in Soho (maybe the evolution one) and they basically hate comedy but really enjoyed it. He was really charming afterwards and made time to have a chat with us.

(also for what it's worth as an observer / non regular poster, the witch hunt stuff in this thread looks really fucking lame and there seem to be some really hateful people on this board to are quite frankly really boring and making it a bit shit for everyone else. I think people are scared to speak up about it because of the level of their desire to seem virtuous with no visible benefit to constructive discourse about actual topics is mega spiteful and relentless).

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: debord on January 22, 2022, 08:39:34 AMDoes anyone remember the documentary that was on the telly around the time he was writing his first book? I've been trying to find it to see it again for years. I remember him being a bit all over the place and having a blackboard wall in his house? It was an interesting insight and a good bit of film.
I really like Rob Newman and I remember it being a bit sad because he didn't seem that happy in it.
I do remember this - was part of a series about authors working on books, and it was him researching/preparing his third novel, hence travelling to Central America.

If I remember right, he was living off the earnings he'd made in the early 90s, as he hadn't done stand-up for years at that point and was a bit worried that he'd had to get a "proper job" which he said might be hard after years of getting out of bed at eleven every day.

lauraxsynthesis

Quote from: debord on January 22, 2022, 08:39:34 AMDoes anyone remember the documentary that was on the telly around the time he was writing his first book?

I think it was his 3rd novel. There was a thread about it here 10 years ago https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=29854.0
 

banana

Thanks for the help.
I'm closer to tracking it down again now.