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James Acaster: where do I start?

Started by Ferris, May 24, 2022, 08:10:09 PM

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pigamus

To be honest he had me at "I got left for Mr Bean"

MigraineBoy

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on May 26, 2022, 06:48:57 PMI think he's a smart comic. Did anyone see his sitcom at the time? Top cast.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/we_the_jury/

Didn't see it at the time & never been able to find it since.  I recall him saying the rights were bought by a US network to make a pilot.

Ferris

Watched the first two - first one had considerable chuckles from me and the second one less so, but I was fading and bought some corduroys on my phone that were similar to the ones he had on so you can't exactly argue with it.

All in all, very solid. Looking forward to the next 2.

notjosh

Quote from: BritishHobo on May 25, 2022, 06:28:54 PMOn the note of the Classic Scrapes, I do think the clips on the Josh Widdecombe show are the best version - with the exception of the longer ones taken from live shows, where poor James takes ten or fifteen minutes to tell a scrape because loads of other comedians keep interjecting with shit zingers. I think the shorter ones benefit from Josh's reactions though. The scrapes are a nice specific thing that you don't tend to hear often, and which I find really relatable; a shambling bloke getting into stupid situations that don't usually end in great punchlines or payoffs, just him feeling like a mess.

Funnily enough there's a much better version of the terrible festival story from the live show on the Sirius episode he did with Gervais:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGd5qgHhT7U

He also tells the stories of his three car crashes on that, which demonstrate that his chaotic energy is very much not an act.

Not wanting to cross threads here, but I think that is the only one of the Gervais Sirius shows I heard and it's probably the most likeable he's come across in years. Just seems like a decent bloke who's interested in comedy, and seems to have more of a healthy respect for other stand ups, and humility about his own work, than comes across in things like Talking Funny.

Jackson K Pollock

So glad I found this thread!

I first saw him on an ep of HIGNFY back in what must have been 2015, and unfairly wrote him off on the back of it, as a bit of a too-cool-for-school slacker.

His ubiquity on all of the Dave panel shows (which admittedly, I don't watch) did nothing to endear me to him in the interim.

But the "edgy comic" clip shared above was enough for me to realise he may be worth exploring more (didn't find it funny in isolation but good to hear a new comic voice taking a pop at sacred cows like Gervais and also supporting the trans community, etc)

So I watched the first of the four Netflix specials last night and I really enjoyed it.

Considering that I think I'm really hard to please stand-up wise, he had me chuckling from the off, and I was almost disappointed when he
Spoiler alert
stood up.
[close]

Looking forward to checking out the other parts over the next week or so and seeing where we go from there, but I honestly haven't been this excited about discovering a new comedian since Kitson.

Thanks, CaB!

(Thcab).

Mobbd

Just wanted to say thanks to the OP and for all the replies. I watched Repertoir and fucking loved it. Hope others did too. Honed, clever, funny. Just fab.

Plus, because of all his panel show appearences I can reccomend this to my lowbrow idiot family who will watch it and have to choke on the anti-Brexit stuff secreted in the middle like a lovely jelly filling. Yum! That'll learn 'em.

Like many others here, I'd written Acaster off as one of those young sausage factory comics I can't stand the sight of. Can't remember when I first saw him but I remember alighting on Hyperthetical on a hotel telly, seeing him come out all cocky like Bruce Forsythe or something and immediately switching it off, "no thanks."

He's earned his success. No lucky table boy at all. Four really good shows. As people gave said, he's very much a next-gen Stewart Lee or Frank Skinner.

This has all reminded me that I don't like not liking people/things. It's better to like people/things. It ain't always easy but a thread like this fucking helps.

superthunderstingcar

Thanks for this thread. I watched Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 yesterday, and loved it.

Although Vimeo is a piece of shit.

Ferris

Quote from: superthunderstingcar on June 08, 2022, 09:06:12 PMAlthough Vimeo is a piece of shit.

Just bought CLHM1999 because everyone is raving about it and you're not kidding; Vimeo is awful.

It's almost impressively bad (on mobile anyway) for a streaming site in 2022.

Inspector Norse

Is there anywhere to watch it legally that isn't Vimeo? Would one have to buy one of those DVDs they have now?

Tokyo van Ramming

Quote from: Inspector Norse on June 09, 2022, 08:04:44 AMIs there anywhere to watch it legally that isn't Vimeo? Would one have to buy one of those DVDs they have now?

Sadly not, and no dvd release. You could say it went straight to vimeo.

madhair60

I was unable to finish CLHM, quite a lot of British Bake Off talk which I just tuned out of. Sorry

Scrapey Fish

The criticism of Acaster doing panel shows is interesting because how many comedians are there that choose not to do them but would be good on them if they did?

1) Kitson

Not many others I can think of

Ferris

Not sure about that. Panel shows reduce an act to a one-note pastiche of themselves (from recollection, I haven't watched one since 2009).

Kitson would instantly become "shambling northern weirdo one" in the edit, so unless he was heavily leaning into that character (with a load of specially-prepared gags) I don't see him coming across well.

Ferris

Quote from: madhair60 on June 09, 2022, 09:02:37 AMI was unable to finish CLHM, quite a lot of British Bake Off talk which I just tuned out of. Sorry

I liked that section, the length of the routine felt like an intentional extension of his own neuroses.

Though to be fair I did switch it off at that point because it's a long show and I was tired.

Memorex MP3

Quote from: Replies From View on May 25, 2022, 07:33:22 AMIs it possible your friend got the wrong end of the stick?  I'm not defending a show being dreadful, but some people are staggeringly dull when it comes to perceiving irony, and will always claim "it wasn't ironic" when it wasn't accompanied by obvious indications from the performer.
At the wip I saw a few weeks ago with him he seemed to be quite sincerely saying that the  implosions he occasionally had on stage were becoming so bad that the the primary focus of his this side of the pandemic had to be on learning to get past them or just giving up standup entirely.


Quote from: Ferris on June 09, 2022, 10:56:50 AMI liked that section

Me too, never seen bake off, but it wasn't really about that so it didn't matter.
The bit where he mimed the camera man "really letting himself go" got me :D
It's an excellent show.

Vimeo seemed fine to me when I watched it (on desktop).
It can't handle lots of people watching together though, the on cinema oscar special always has to jump ship to youtube when it goes to shit and people are complaining.

I got bored of those panel shows like 15 years ago or something and haven't watched one since, so it doesn't bother me. If he's making money, go for it.
The only issue would be if he gets lazy and just ends up coasting on panel shows and doing nothing else, which might happen as he gets older and loses his drive.

rude soil

https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=83547.msg4487297#msg4487297

QuoteWhat was the Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke bit, since it was in neither special?

Anyone know what this bit was that didn't make it into Cold Lasagna or the leftover material special?

Gurke and Hare

Just rhapsodising about that goal at the Nou Camp for about 20 minutes probably.

Replies From View

Quote from: Scrapey Fish on June 09, 2022, 09:19:11 AMThe criticism of Acaster doing panel shows is interesting because how many comedians are there that choose not to do them but would be good on them if they did?

1) Kitson

Not many others I can think of

Simon Munnery?  Maybe not.  Hard to tell whether his vibe would work on them.

Replies From View

Quote from: Ferris on June 09, 2022, 10:49:24 AMNot sure about that. Panel shows reduce an act to a one-note pastiche of themselves (from recollection, I haven't watched one since 2009).

Kitson would instantly become "shambling northern weirdo one" in the edit, so unless he was heavily leaning into that character (with a load of specially-prepared gags) I don't see him coming across well.

Good points

Replies From View

For the record, the only good panel shows are Taskmaster and Would I Lie To You.

The rest of them - every last scrap - are lanyards of deepest pan wankist (in a bad sense)

The end.

Martin Van Buren Stan

Quote from: Scrapey Fish on June 09, 2022, 09:19:11 AMThe criticism of Acaster doing panel shows is interesting because how many comedians are there that choose not to do them but would be good on them if they did?

1) Kitson

Not many others I can think of

There's so much resentment of comedians who are great on panel shows from people like Stewart Lee and his fans take that baton and run with it. Lee went on every panel show that would have him, failed miserably, and now pretends he's above it and doesn't want easy commercial and popular success. Like the kid who applies for Oxford, then Cambridge the next year and spends the rest of his life calling Oxbridge elitist and snobbish.

Replies From View

I've never heard of that kid.  Is he proverbial?

Scrapey Fish

Quote from: Ferris on June 09, 2022, 10:49:24 AMNot sure about that. Panel shows reduce an act to a one-note pastiche of themselves (from recollection, I haven't watched one since 2009).

Kitson would instantly become "shambling northern weirdo one" in the edit, so unless he was heavily leaning into that character (with a load of specially-prepared gags) I don't see him coming across well.

I'm undecided but it's a fair argument.

He was good on Blockbusters anyway

Memorex MP3

Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on June 09, 2022, 01:28:39 PMThere's so much resentment of comedians who are great on panel shows from people like Stewart Lee and his fans take that baton and run with it. Lee went on every panel show that would have him, failed miserably, and now pretends he's above it and doesn't want easy commercial and popular success. Like the kid who applies for Oxford, then Cambridge the next year and spends the rest of his life calling Oxbridge elitist and snobbish.

I thing he's always been pretty open that he felt like he'd be bad at it, was talked into it because of the potential publicity, turned out he was exactly as bad as he expected and the publicity wasn't worth anything because he just looked shit.


He's def a bit of a pseud at times but your read of it stems from some of his fans making assumptions totally at odds with what he's actually said.

Ferris

Quote from: Scrapey Fish on June 09, 2022, 01:51:55 PMI'm undecided but it's a fair argument.

He was good on Blockbusters anyway

Yeah I don't doubt it, he's made a career of it and fair play. He has the ability to do both, and more power to him.

That said, I think doing panel shows is a very different skill set to stand up, and I'm not even convinced there's much crossover tbh.

Stewart Lee did hignfy and hated it and he's a generational live comic talent. David Mitchell is always pressing buzzers and yukking it up with Dara O'Briain, but I don't think he has any intention of working the circuit. They're broadly the same category of comic entertainment but with very different rules. Anyway that's my boring unified theory of panel shows that no one asked for.

Ferris

Quote from: Martin Van Buren Stan on June 09, 2022, 01:28:39 PMThere's so much resentment of comedians who are great on panel shows from people like Stewart Lee and his fans take that baton and run with it. Lee went on every panel show that would have him, failed miserably, and now pretends he's above it and doesn't want easy commercial and popular success. Like the kid who applies for Oxford, then Cambridge the next year and spends the rest of his life calling Oxbridge elitist and snobbish.

Lee was talked into hignfy by [management company name redacted] to plug live shows, he didn't have the skill set and dropped it pretty quick.

It was around the time he refined his business model to be more of a one-man band and cultivate his own audience which, to be fair, has worked out very well for him.

Edit: ah, what @Memorex MP3 said (including the bit about Stew being a bit of a pseud at times).

phantom_power

Quote from: Scrapey Fish on June 09, 2022, 01:51:55 PMI'm undecided but it's a fair argument.

He was good on Blockbusters anyway

Is that Kitson or Acaster?

I would recommend watching Acaster on Blockbusters. He is a destructive force of nature, and funny with it


Scrapey Fish

#88
Quote from: phantom_power on June 09, 2022, 04:37:00 PMIs that Kitson or Acaster?

I would recommend watching Acaster on Blockbusters. He is a destructive force of nature, and funny with it



I was talking about Kitson, largely in jest, although he was quite funny on it.



I will watch that Acaster one though, thanks

Martin Van Buren Stan

Quote from: Ferris on June 09, 2022, 03:46:05 PMLee was talked into hignfy by [management company name redacted] to plug live shows, he didn't have the skill set and dropped it pretty quick.


Is there a particular reason you believe this explanation? Of course Lee would say that rather than admit the truth. He did NMTB and 8oo10c too. While I don't have a dog in this particular fight, for his own sake, I really hope that one day Lee can summon up the balls to admit to himself that, like I said, he was desperate to break the easy, lucrative panel show circuit but lacked the skills and abilities to do so.