Author Topic: Stand up comedians  (Read 790 times)

Offline Diane CBPFC

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Stand up comedians
« on: June 06, 2021, 05:17:27 PM »
Who are your favourite stand up comedians - either doing stand up or quiz shows or road trip shows etc?

I have so many that I like but only two that have almost made me choke because I was laughing so much.

I won't say who they are in case it skews the survey.
People will come from strange lands to hear me speak my words of wisdom. They will ask me the secret of life and I will tell them. Then maybe I'll finish off with a song. The Nomad

Offline Roger Kettle

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Re: Stand up comedians
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2021, 06:07:03 PM »
Oo, I'll have to have a think about that one and get back to you.

Offline Roger Kettle

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Re: Stand up comedians
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2021, 08:05:46 PM »
Okay, as far as quiz shows  go, I don't think there's anyone better than David Mitchell.
With stand-up comedians, my taste goes back a few years. I used to love Bob Newhart's delivery. (He was still brilliant as a guest star in The Big Bang Theory a couple of years ago). Another American comedian I loved was the surreal Steven Wright---some truly off-the-wall stuff. The early years of Billy Connolly were incredible.
Today, I really enjoy the daftness of Canadian, Stewart Francis. My fellow countryman, Kevin Bishop, can be very funny and there's probably half-a-dozen more that have slipped my mind. I may come back to this yet again!

Offline Diane CBPFC

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Re: Stand up comedians
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2021, 09:22:43 PM »
Some of those I have not heard of, will have to do some You-tubing :-)
People will come from strange lands to hear me speak my words of wisdom. They will ask me the secret of life and I will tell them. Then maybe I'll finish off with a song. The Nomad

Offline Tarquin Thunderthighs lll

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Re: Stand up comedian
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2021, 08:00:18 PM »
The Big Yin, without question. Funniest man on the planet, in my (limited) view. And Victor Borge, although he sat down a lot. I’ve been privileged enough to have seen both live (Connolly three times), and both reduced me to tears of helpless laughter.

I remember actually shutting down at least once during Connolly’s gigs because my cheek bones hurt too much. Had he spotted me in the crowd staring blankly into space it could easily have been a devastating moment. I like to think I saved his career.

Borge was simply unique (as was the Big Yin). His routines were pure genius and his delivery and timing second to none. I’d watched him avidly as a kid any time he appeared on telly, and seeing him live at the Caird Hall in Dundee as an adult was awesome. He was still doing many of the routines I’d seen years before on the box, but even though I knew much of what was coming, it was still hilarious.

I took my second wife to see Frank Carson at Llandudno Theatre on our honeymoon (yes, I know…). He was also awesome, and it definitely was ‘the way he told him’, as there were jokes in that act I used to tell during my school days. But it was the sheer volume of jokes, relentlessly delivered one after the other, seemingly clutched out of thin air, and the fact he had to be dragged off the stage as people were checking their watches for the last bus home. He’d have done those gigs for nothing (something he actually admitted to once when I saw him being interviewed). Not one of my particular favourites before that night, but a tour de force with an addiction to making people laugh. There are far worse addictions.
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Offline Max

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Re: Stand up comedians
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2021, 11:18:24 PM »
Connolly is without doubt the master.
The other guys who make me laugh are Peter Kay observational humour is excellent, Dylan Moran gets really manic, best droll comedian is Steven Wright the Canadian.
Going back, Chick Murray, so funny that Billy Connolly rates him as the best.
Actually the more I think about it the more people come to mind, Bing Hitler (Craig Ferguson) at the Tron was hilarious, I even bought the LP.

Now I'm off to Youtube to watch some of these guys.