Not just morally...

[benthalo]

Doesn't Sadowitz work in the Magic Shop in Clerkenwell Road?

Yes. He served Mr Grue a year ago, just after his Riverside Studios warm up for Edinburgh. Well, not literally. The next day.

Some comics that I've known seem to be perpetually selling flats to one another. Is property buying just a case of investing early success so you've got something secure to fall back on? I once heard that Morrissey rented bedsits in Manchester, which has a pleasing circularity.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

I think some comedians come from well-off families, who presumably "help them out." Did I read somewhere that Marcus Brigstocke's parents are very very rich, or have I just made that up?

Damn. I should've saved some room. I already 100% hated him before reading the above.

Though I'd suggest the reason for the plethora of fucking useless but ultra confident 'comedians' has it's base in the secure middle and upper classes. Too smug to be self aware and realise what gash they are, obviously.

[Purple Tentacle]

The rich and middle classes have literally produced nothing of worth ever.

[Mr. Analytical]

The rich and middle classes have literally produced nothing of worth ever.

 You wrote for the NME circa 1979 and I claim my five pounds.

[Purple Tentacle]

'Oi hate Tony Parsons and John Peel, oi have a friend called Charlotte who let me see her foo-foo'


I had a friend who claimed with utter seriousness that homosexuals have never produced good 'art'. That was a fantastic night, going through every gay/non-straight artist, author and auter that has ever existed. The twat.

[lazyhour]

LeboviciAB84 - according to your helplessly pretentious MySpace - you're a teenager...John Fortune? The Establishment Club? The sixties?
I'm not one for unprovoked personal attacks on kids, nor is it for me to suggest lifestyle choices, but just maybe a few years on a large council estate and getting beaten shitless by some local youths outside a pub several dozen times might do you some 'good'?

Goths are the preserve of the middle class. It's very rare to see a group of goths on a council estate, and all too common to see groups of goths, after goth nights at a clubs, being taken home in their mummy's BMW.

Also, I'm lead to believe Welsh rugby is 'more of a working class tradition' whereas English rugby is all about public school, buggery, toffs at Twickers and allover cuntishness.

My experience of VSO has been middle and upper class kids looking for CV padding.  Plenty of whom warmly embrace parents employed by multinationals whose 'work' ensures the need for VSO and similar organisations.

Again, IMO, the world is full of vacuous, often middle class (just thought I'd chuck that in) 'comedians', full of confidence, performance skills, but without an original idea between them.

Why do you hate your middle-class brethren so?

*Apologies for the selective-bullying hue of this post.  I could lie and say I'm drunk, to absolve me of responsibility.

[Oscar]

I notice earlier in this thread, Kitson getting a whopping amount...didn't I read elsewhere he sat down in heap recently, was it in Brixton? and let crude hecklers 'win'? Hard to imagine a builder, overhwelmed by building a conservatory, sitting down and giving up without suffering financial penalties and a big blow to their reputation.

What builders have you met? None of the ones I've known would have taken constant heckling or abuse without making a stand - either by leaving, going on strike or putting a few subtle flaws into the conservatory.
I'll agree that a certain amount of heckling is part of the job of stand up, and I don't know if Kitson acted like a weeping wuss in that situation, but comparing comedians to builders is just silly.

[Mr. Bleaney]

I wonder who makes more money - a middle-rank comedian (say Sean Lock) or a middle-rank "professional" (doctor/lawyer/accountant)?

I've deliberately picked a comic who doesn't (as far as I know) do many voiceovers or corporate gigs 'cos that's silly money.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

I notice earlier in this thread, Kitson getting a whopping amount...didn't I read elsewhere he sat down in heap recently, was it in Brixton? and let crude hecklers 'win'? Hard to imagine a builder, overhwelmed by building a conservatory, sitting down and giving up without suffering financial penalties and a big blow to their reputation.

What builders have you met? None of the ones I've known would have taken constant heckling or abuse without making a stand - either by leaving, going on strike or putting a few subtle flaws into the conservatory.
I'll agree that a certain amount of heckling is part of the job of stand up, and I don't know if Kitson acted like a weeping wuss in that situation, but comparing comedians to builders is just silly.

I didn't suggest builders are heckled. Different jobs present different problems, twas all.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

lazyhour, how could I feel bullied by a groupie?

[lazyhour]

:)

Edit:  In case it looks like I'm a stalker psycho, collating all those quotes from puffypasty, it was actually a simple matter of doing a search for posts by him that contained the word "class".

[Mr. Bleaney]

Of course most of the serious money comedians make is from things other than writing and/or performing comedy - Stephen Fry made most of his dosh from writing the book to Me And My Girl, Cleese made about 12p from Fawlty Towers but made millions from his training videos.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

Look. I just bought every national daily paper for seven years, the local library does it,  and you wouldn't call the library weird, right? And, yeah, ok, so I've got some scissors, so what, haven't you? And gum, stationary gum for gluing paper, how fucking crazy of me...so what's wrong with that? I bet you've got some, some glue, right? Or at least you did have some, go on admit it., or are you afraid of looking mad too? So, newspapers, scissors, glue, makes me some kind of nutter does it? I bet loads of people keep Jill Dando scrapbooks.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Comedians must reach a point where they become unemployable in any other industry - they haven't worked in an office since 1989 or whatever, so going back to a proper job will never be an option. They have to be a comedian. Maybe that's what gives them the kick up the arse to continue, I've no idea.

[lazyhour]

Do you know if Roger Mann did ordinary work alongside the comedy work?  He's the only person I can think of who quit the comedy biz (presumably because he wasn't successful enough at it to justify continuing), and I wonder if he just fell back on other stuff he'd been doing all along, or if he had to get back into the world of work?

For those who don't know, Roger Mann was (among other things) Roger Crowley, the wickedest man who ever lived, on TMWRNJ.  I think he also appeared on Attention Scum.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

he wasn't successful enough at it to justify continuing

I heard it was the other way around - ie, he was too good at his Proper Job and was offered a huge amount of cash to stay.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

Nothing to do with comedy...but as he's championed by king of the mods, lest we forget Alex Harvey, who would return to working on tarmac gangs between tours and studio work. I heard this in my childhood and can't find any online confirmation, though I'm sure someone out there knows the truth.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

Hugh Dennis still had a day job whilst doing appearances on Carrott, didn't he? I'm not sure when he jacked that in, but I assume it was the very early 90s. Times must have changed since then, but living in London is stupidly expensive. I know some low-level comics do the odd bit of data-entry alongside their gigs (which makes sense), but considering the amount of venues in London alone, it must be fairly easy for comics to gig at least once every couple of weeks.

Then I think of Simon Munnery, who apparently couldn't get any bookings for love nor money a few years back, and still appears to do very few spots. How does he support *himself*, let alone his family?

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Hugh Dennis still had a day job whilst doing appearances on Carrott, didn't he? I'm not sure when he jacked that in, but I assume it was the very early 90s.

He said it was after the first MWE series, so summer '89.

I do wonder about comedians who aren't stand-ups/live performers. Chris Morris being the obvious one. How did he make money between the end of his R1 series (Dec '94) and Brass Eye?

[kngen]

I notice earlier in this thread, Kitson getting a whopping amount...didn't I read elsewhere he sat down in heap recently, was it in Brixton? and let crude hecklers 'win'? Hard to imagine a builder, overhwelmed by building a conservatory, sitting down and giving up without suffering financial penalties and a big blow to their reputation.

What builders have you met? None of the ones I've known would have taken constant heckling or abuse without making a stand - either by leaving, going on strike or putting a few subtle flaws into the conservatory.
I'll agree that a certain amount of heckling is part of the job of stand up, and I don't know if Kitson acted like a weeping wuss in that situation, but comparing comedians to builders is just silly.

this has given me the very pleasant mental image of hiring a builder to build me a conservatory and then heckling him while he was doing his job.

"Blue Circle cement ?!?! Boooring! The last guy used that too. You're shit, aaaaah! etc."

[neveragain]

Has anyone mentioned Arnold 'two racial stereotypes for the price of one - and what a low price it is' Brown?

He gave up the comedy biz to become something fairly dull if memory serves.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

Other way round, surely?

[LeboviciAB84]

The Ted Chippington career plan?

[Hoogstraten'sSmilingUlcer]

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten wrote:

I do wonder about comedians who aren't stand-ups/live performers. Chris Morris being the obvious one. How did he make money between the end of his R1 series (Dec '94) and Brass Eye?

And apparently (according to, er, Ben Thompson) he takes considerable pay cuts. His partner Jo Unwin must earn a bit from doing voiceovers, and she does quite a few. As loathed as I am to say this, Morris must come from a fairly well off family (professional parents who had enough money to put three, closely-aged boys through public school). But I doubt he goes back to mummy and daddy with his cap in his hand and apologising for not becoming a doctor. I think it's incredibly naive to believe that just because he's middle class, he's got a trust fund or frequent access to the Bank of Mum & Dad. He probably has shares in Zimbabwe or something, or is actually the puppet master behind Nicholas van Hoogstraten.

[Marv Orange]

Maybe he gets a small fortune from 'never the twain' repeats.

(Dunno if thats true buts his imdb page said he was in it)

[The Mumbler]

After being in The Two Marks, we all know what Mark Heap went on to do.  The other one, Mark Saban, became a psychotherapist.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

Then I think of Simon Munnery, who apparently couldn't get any bookings for love nor money a few years back, and still appears to do very few spots. How does he support *himself*, let alone his family?

We saw him last night at an Edinburgh preview. He made a few references to being poor, such as

You want to live in London, you have two choices. Either somewhere small in a crap area with no view, or, to fuck off.

Maybe his wife/partner is the main earner? Dunno.