Backstage... At The Cambridge Footlights

[Bert Thung]

Here's the live link to Mark Watson's 36 hour stand up marathon

http://live.chortle.co.uk:8000/listen.pls

[neveragain]

The sad thing is that in twenty years' time, Richard Ayoade will be presenting documentaries about the halcyon days of British comedy.

AYOADE: (V/O) But what was it like living in the days when Ricky Gervais and Little Britain were just starting out? I spoke to Matthew Holness.

Cut to Matthew Holness, residing in his luxury twelve-storey penthouse.

HOLNESS: What- what was it like? Phew. Hurr... It was mental, just absolutely... You couldn't move for groundbreaking innovative comedy and if you tried to you, well, y-you, it was... just as we were reeling from The Office, Little Britain came up and wowed us again! I used to go round my mate's house every morning, early, and just stand outside the door and say, 'God!', y'know, 'How much further can they push the envelope? Will there be nothing left for us to DO?' But, y'know, luckily... there was!

Cut to a clip of 'Deano and Garth's KMKY' that lasts five hours.

[Sheldon Finklestein]

That is twelve times more upsetting a view of the future than 1984 was.

[rudi]

"People come to see Footlights with the attitude "Go on - make me laugh" and that sometimes works against you".

Mmm, how dare one approach so called comedians with such an attitude!

[rudi]

Ah - I see someone's commented exactly that.

Oops...

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

I reckon that farmer wishes he hadn't warned them about the meat after all.

[The Duck Man]

From a feature on Mark Watson in The Guardian

The oddest thing about Watson's act is that he delivers it all in a Welsh accent. He isn't Welsh, although his family is. He's from Bristol, and talks, by his own admission, like a "middle-class, well-educated, nicely spoken white boy". But a Welsh accent, he argues, makes an instant impression in comedy clubs. And a positive impression, too - because it wrongfoots a British audience's inverse snobbery.

Bizarre. When I saw Mark Watson the most off-putting thing about him was his accent. Not that I have anything against the Welsh, but his fast delivery combined with his accent made him rather difficult to understand.

[Bert Thung]

His accent doesn't sound Welsh to me at all.  It's much more West Country.