The Adam Buxton Podcast Thread II: You're MAI WAIF now

[Icehaven]

I've heard of Alex Horn but I've never seen him in anything, and if the excerpt of that fuck awful song (can't remember what it was called) is anything to go by I'll be avoiding him like the Black death.

Weirdly I had a bit of the Wheelie-Bag song of Adam's that he said bombed stuck in my head for ages afterwards. Not that it was particularly hilarious but it was catchy.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I take it you haven't watched Taskmaster then. You should do so at the earliest possible opportunity.

[Icehaven]

I've seen ads for it but thought it looked a bit panel-show-regulars heavy, and although I don't mind a lot of the participants individually generally that whole thing just isn't for me, however I've seen it get a lot of praise here which tbh I was surprised by so maybe I'll give it a go.

[Magnum Valentino]

Does Tim Key at all come across as a bit of a bully in this as he sometimes does? Happy to punch down at Herring but maybe not the more credible/successful Buckles?

[The Ombudsman]

I've seen ads for it but thought it looked a bit panel-show-regulars heavy, and although I don't mind a lot of the participants individually generally that whole thing just isn't for me, however I've seen it get a lot of praise here which tbh I was surprised by so maybe I'll give it a go.

It's not my cup of tea either, but the daughter loves it so I've seen a few bits she's shown me of the bits she likes.

On another note, on an interview recently with Davies and Horne they were asked their favourite contestant and they said  (rightly) they couldn't answer that but they do know who the worst was. Anyone any ideas on who that could be? I wondered if the boards favourite Baddiel might be in with a chance?

[lb99]

Does Tim Key at all come across as a bit of a bully in this as he sometimes does? Happy to punch down at Herring but maybe not the more credible/successful Buckles?

I think it's more that he's performing for an audience on RHLSTP whereas the Buxton podcast is more of a intimate chat between two mates.

[Magnum Valentino]

Fair point, but I think considering that it's also his go-to 'status' on his BBC series, it feels like too comfortable a fit on him. Hard to articulate without examples, I admit, but I get a bad feeling about Tim.

[phantom_power]

I think his comedy persona is of a thin-skinned passive aggressive bully. It is how he behaves on his Poetry Corner show and a more toned-down, less bullying version with Alan Partridge. It makes sense that on Herring he plays that public persona whereas on Buxton he is more "himself"

[amateur]

He came across really well on the Off Menu podcast, I thought. And he's a delight on No More Jockeys.

TIM KEY: GOOD EGG STATUS CONFIRMED

[Scrapey Fish]

In his stand up show he plays the bitter, D-list celeb who aspires to be A-list, and to be honest I found it hard to buy into because I'm convinced of his good egg status.

He also made some fairly cutting jokes about audience members but IMO all in good humour

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

On another note, on an interview recently with Davies and Horne they were asked their favourite contestant and they said  (rightly) they couldn't answer that but they do know who the worst was. Anyone any ideas on who that could be? I wondered if the boards favourite Baddiel might be in with a chance?

[The Ombudsman]

I'll look for that video. Is the person in the screenshot the worst contestant in question?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I doubt they'd say it outright, but I'd be very surprised if it was anyone else.

[amateur]

Russell Howard was by far a bigger prick than Stirling, who did at least show some contrition throughout.

He did the whole playing to the audience thing, like it was a stand up show, and was super competitive. I'd put money on it being him

[thelittlemango]

Greg Davies is mates with Russell Howard so I doubt it would be him...

[selectivememory]

Just listening to the Tim Key episode now. He really is an effortlessly funny cunt. Love him.

[superthunderstingcar]

Greg Davies is mates with Russell Howard so I doubt it would be him...

Also probably not the ultra-competitive Ed Gamble for the same reason.

If not Iain Stirling then maybe Richard Herring, who also really, really wanted to win his series?

[somersetchris]

Tim Key's good on this. The chat features quite a few samples of his poetry which I'm not always keen on. The examples on here sounded okay though.

I'm not really a Tim Key fan, within ten minutes they were talking about what their favourite biscuits are, which was like hearing a Twitter poll from 15 years ago being read out. But maybe biscuit chat is top tier content for Key fans, I don't know.

[somersetchris]

Does Tim Key at all come across as a bit of a bully in this as he sometimes does? Happy to punch down at Herring but maybe not the more credible/successful Buckles?

He made quite a few snide jabs, but even though I am not a Tim Key fan I got the impression that was for bants rather than anything meant personally. Although his persona does seem a bit like it could be used as a cover to say the awful things that he feels he can't say when he's not in character. I've worked with a few people like that. Say awful passive-aggressive shit about other people, but then at the end add 'only joking, what can't you take a bit of banter?!' type stuff, when all they are doing is saying what they really feel but in a slightly different tone.

[Magnum Valentino]

He made quite a few snide jabs, but even though I am not a Tim Key fan I got the impression that was for bants rather than anything meant personally. Although his persona does seem a bit like it could be used as a cover to say the awful things that he feels he can't say when he's not in character. I've worked with a few people like that. Say awful passive-aggressive shit about other people, but then at the end add 'only joking, what can't you take a bit of banter?!' type stuff, when all they are doing is saying what they really feel but in a slightly different tone.

Gervaising.

No, that's how I feel about it as well, the cloak of bants is too easily employed to mask being called a cunt. I'm glad at least someone else has noticed it (albeit more forgivingly maybe?) as I was starting to feel like a weirdo developing a grudge against a performer who's never wronged me personally.

I do love him on Brooker's shows back in the day and I like his poetry a lot but his own series quickly soured me on him (I hate the go-to 'bully' character as a comic template) and I felt really uneasy when he was talking to Rich Herring.

Just get a feeling, very strongly, that he may not be a nice man. Really, why make jabs at all? If you're doing it every chance you get, something's up.

[Virgo76]

Does Tim Key at all come across as a bit of a bully in this as he sometimes does? Happy to punch down at Herring but maybe not the more credible/successful Buckles?

Is Adam Buxton really that much more successful than Richard Herring? Both are a similar age, similarly famous etc ?

[Magnum Valentino]

I think Buxton's podcast has gone from strength to strength whereas RHLSTP feels like it's in the doldrums, and I think you'd be more likely to find Adam on telly than Rich (which is Rich's sole token of success). Similarly, Adam just talks to people, level to level, whereas Rich always casts himself as an underdog, which I think undermines his credibility.

In a situation like that, where you're complaining you can't get TV work or about being slighted in various ways, someone like Tim Key will flourish in a way he hasn't the same volume of opportunity with Buxton.

[Virgo76]

I think Buxton's podcast has gone from strength to strength whereas RHLSTP feels like it's in the doldrums, and I think you'd be more likely to find Adam on telly than Rich (which is Rich's sole token of success). Similarly, Adam just talks to people, level to level, whereas Rich always casts himself as an underdog, which I think undermines his credibility.

In a situation like that, where you're complaining you can't get TV work or about being slighted in various ways, someone like Tim Key will flourish in a way he hasn't the same volume of opportunity with Buxton.

I agree with most of this. Apart from the TV bit. I've definitely seen a lot more more of Herring on TV in recent years than I have Buxton.

[Magnum Valentino]

Yeah right enough actually. I think I'm sort of conflating the period where Adam had a sitcom with the present, I totally forgot about Pointless and Taskmaster although even with those it always felt like Rich was begging to be on.

"Being on TV isn't as important to Adam as a measure of success as it is to Richard Herring" is a better way to put it.

[Virgo76]

You are right.

[Sonny_Jim]

whereas Rich always casts himself as an underdog,

Case in point

[AllisonSays]

I think, based on intensively watching No More Jockeys, that Tim Key isn't a bully. I also didn't think he acted like that on the Herring podcast, where they both did their shtick, basically - in fact I thought it was the most engaged Herring's seemed in years, haha.

He has a veneer of pomposity and touchiness which he plays up for laughs but my impression is that there's a sensitivity and a thoughtfulness behind it. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know!

[lb99]

He's one of the good ones!

[boinks]

Agreed! He seems lovely to me. And a 'comedian's comedian', lots of friends - don't think so many would speak in fond terms/highly of him if he was an arsehole. And with his radio show, that's a bit of a long-standing Key/Basden dynamic in their shows (e.g. Freeze!). Basden can definitely hold his own.

[Ron Superior]

Key doesn't seem like a bully whatsoever to me. I'd imagine to Key, the idea of him being the one punching down between him and Herring would be preposterous. Also in interviews I've heard of him with people that are undeniably lower status than him, he's always been incredibly amiable and not roasty at all.

Also, almost all RHLSTPS that have been fun at all, have been ones where the guests have had fun digging at him, Greg Davies, Miles Jupp, Richard Osman etc.