CyberKwoon

Recalling the light-hearted, nostalgic and enthusiastic nature of the Monty Python thread, I'm interested in seeing the different types of humour enjoyed by kwooners. Living right in the middle of nowhere and out in the sticks I've always found comedy to be a reliable comfort zone and naturally develop favourites.

I enjoy quite a wide range of comedy, but I have to say it is usually biased towards British and American. In spite of my circus tradition background, I'm not a fan of slapstick although Jackie Chan does have his moments and Marx Brothers were genuises in this department.

It seems like quite a bland and geekish way to tackle such a subject, but I hope some of us will throw some good quotes

Here are my all time favourites and most dislikeable comedians and comedies in no particular order:

Favourites

All time greats

The Marx Brothers (Groucho in particular, still the fastest one-liner yet)
Tony Hancock (a brilliant send up of the public personality of his era)
Blackadder (the second series is my favourite)
Monty Python ('nuff said on this one already)
Bob Newhart (his stand-up method was totally original, very funny)
Dennis Leary (made rightwing humour accessible and funny)
Bill Hicks (inspirational and spoke the mind of his generation)
Bill Cosby (His stand-up showed you could do funny stand-up without swearing)
Billy Connolly (Showed the complete other side of the coin. Perhaps my favourite stand-up)
Ricky Gervais (the comic genius of our era. Very original and honest humour, sending up our pop culture to a "T.")
Steve Coogan (Gervais's forerunner in my mind. Great character comedian)
Sasha Baron Cohen (Again, of the Gervais and Coogan school, but cruder and ruder. His strength lies in the targets he picks and the members of society he sends up)
French and Saunders (I've always loved them. They are particularly accuarate with their "backstage" comedy.)
Jack Dee (Dead pan and sarcastic, much in the Blackadder and Hancock tradition.)
Mel Brooks (Some of his films I could watch forever)

Almost favourites

The Simpsons (Fantastic comedy to be enjoyed at many levels and has real strength if you'll excuse the "Lisa" episodes)
Family Guy (Goes further than The Simpsons. I hope it doesn't run out of steam or does the decent thing at the right time)
South Park (Takes the rose-tinted glasses off what American kids see. Has had some troughs, but I am back enjoying it again)
Married with Children (A brilliant idea to begin with, but a classic case of milking something so much that it starts giving blood. Should have quit LONG before the dog came from heaven episode )
Jasper Carrot (had me in fits during the early nineties)
Only Fools and Horses (I've met and had lunch with the writer and main star (David Jason) of this most loved of British franchises. It should call it a day with the last Christmas special)
The Muppets (classic entertainment, particularly the early eighties show. Could be good again, but waned a bit with the last movie)
Chris Rock (I like what I've seen, but haven't seen enough yet)
The League of Gentlemen (Creepy, quirky humour in the vein of Monty Python, but see Chris Rock)

Worst

Woody Allen (pseudo-intellectual comedy at its worst yet his imitators are often very funny. See the "Jerky Boys" character Sol Rosenburg.)
Roy Chubby Brown (just swearing for the sake of it)
Bernard Manning (see Chubby Brown)
Bo Selecta (apart from the Teddy stuff, it's offbeat comedy that completely misses the drum kit)
Friends (Sickening white teeth trash. Like Happy Days without the loveable innocence)
Sabrina (Should have stayed in the Archie comics. Now, along with Buffy, responsible for pushing the "wate-evurr!" and "Sooooo" language of the Sunny Delight generation)
President Bush and Tony Blair (could have been a great double act, but it just wasn't funny after their respective elections)

No doubt I'll add to these lists as suggestions come in and my memory is jerked.

Cheers,
Jamie

Hey you forgot Sienfeld...thats is the all time best comedy ever...pure genius!

As for the rest, I'll have to think on this and post later...

Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more, a nod's as good as a wink eh...does she like sports, eh? Is she a goer?

another realy funny one is Time Gentlemen Please! (UK I think)

Hey you forgot Sienfeld...thats is the all time best comedy ever...pure genius!

I've yet to see it. It's not anything like Fraiser is it? Then again, I haven't seen much of that either to make much of a judgement. I've gone a lot off contemporary sitcoms at the moment bar The Office, which is untouchable in my current mind.

another realy funny one is Time Gentlemen Please! (UK I think)

It is. Again, I haven't seen it, but would like to. Any idea who wrote it?
The amount of training and driving I've been doing the last few years is really telling. There's a lot of TV I haven't seen.

No Siefeld is diffenately like Frasier which by the way I dislike. Sienfeld is about absolutely nothing. I think thats what makes it so funny. There is no show that I can think of that compares except maybe the humour is a little and I mean a little bit like a mixture of Family Guy and Simpson's. I'm hooked on it as you can probably tell...hmmm...wonder if they have it on DVD?

Yeah, Seinfeld has no moral to it. Very funny!
I love Simpsons too. And M*A*S*H.
What About Bob, The Man Who Knew Too Little.

I also like Just Shoot Me and Scrubs.

The Fifth Element was exceptionally funny too, Chris Tucker takes the show though "I wonder... (where he learned to negotiate like that)" was hilarious.

Meet The Parents made me laugh so much! I really felt Ben Stiller's embarassement throughout the movie.

Jackie Chan is the man!

I like Futurama, too. Toy Stories, Ice Age, Monsters Inc., Shrek are some other of my favorite funnies.

There are so many comedies, I forgot most of them.

Shrek was very good and I also enjoyed Futurama, but didn't qualify for my own personal list.

There are a lot of brilliant animated comedies that I didn't include because although they are sort of favourites they aren't my absolute all time greats.

I loved a lot of the Warner Brothers cartoons and want to see the "Loony Toons" film perhaps more than either of my girlfriend's kids, even though it will probably be bloody awful. Nostalgia can be an awful thing The PJ's probably deserve a bit of recognition as does Eddy Murphy himself in his heyday, but they don't count as my fall over to watch/hear favourites. Beavis and Butthead were not without their charm and certainly summed up a lot of the early 90's youth culture, however, the humour was very limited "heh, heh." Nevertheless, the naive dramatic irony of Butthead still crops in my conversation from time to time, particularly when referring to the money I lost in a pro wrestling venture... "heh, heh I ran a business."

Hannah Barbara is a favourite here at the kwoon, but to be honest The Flintstones are the only ones who've weathered well for me (don't even mention their terrible film versions or Jetsons/Roman Holidays clones).

King of the Hill is funny, but I don't really see the point in it. The show might as well be a live action sit-com, as there is no advantage taken with the animation.

I loved most of the ones mentioned by Sun_Tzu (except What About Bob, The Man Who Knew Too Little, Just Shoot Me and Scrubs---> Movies that I have not seen)

Asides these I also liked South Park (I have seen all the episodes): Excellent parody, and break of taboos. No morals, no limits... I just wait for the 8th season

K'Hor wrote:Hey you forgot Sienfeld...thats is the all time best comedy ever...pure genius!

So... are you the master of your domain... and yada yada yada. Just kidding. I love the episode when they are playing the board game Risk. I can't believe that Jamie has never seen Seinfeld. I didn't see anyone mentioning The Young Ones, or Kids In The Hall either. I also liked the humor in Hogan's Heroes, but I was also much younger then. I haven't seen it in a while. The Muppet Show rocked, the 2 hecklers on the balcony and the Swedish Chef use to be my favorites. Has anyone seen the Extreme Challenge game show on Spike TV? I believe it is hosted in Japan, but has some insane people trying to overcome insane obstacles, with some very crazy commentary? One question, can we use Saturday Night Live, since they have had so many funny and talented comedians?

Jamie_Clubb wrote:President Bush and Tony Blair (could have been a great double act, but it just wasn't funny after their respective elections)

HA!

Okay, in my list the best comedy ever should probably be:

TERMINATOR III with it´s absolutely outrageous lines like Talk to the hand and I´m unable to comply.

and the worst:

ROBOCOP III. [I´m not sure if you find these movies as funny as I do but it´s definately hard to define "comedy" these days..

I could add one more opinion (differing from my previous statements)which naturally stinks from someones point of view because opinions are like buttholes - we all got one and they all stink: NO THANKS TOM HANKS.
Actually I like some of his movies. Sadly, I feel I have to share this..

-Snowdragon

LighteningFist wrote:are you the master of your domain

Hahahah...yes I am!
My 2 favourites were when Kramer had the movieline.."why don't you just tell me the name of the movie you want to see" and when Kramer had the Merv Griffen set...

I forgot about Kids in the Hall....that was good too, and lets not forget Mad TV (especially with Wil Saso), and In Living Color.

Here we are, a nice cheerful topic. I can safely say I had fun researching this one!
And in no particular order we have;

-Jackie Mason
-Chris Rock
-Julia Morris
-Dana Carvey
-Jason X (I dare someone to tell me that this movie isn't a comedy)
-Jim Carey (possibly overdone but his original stand up is amazing)
-Robin Williams (more or less the same applies)
-Tom Green can be funny, but a bit sick for me
-Ross Noble (the guy is god)
-Bill Bailey
-Reverend Obidiah Steppenwolf the Third (character on the Stand up Show)

just my lot, might think up more.
Elise


(and damn it's nice to be back!)

My problem is, I like some comedy that some guys have done, but not all. In fact, I find that the earlier the work of the comedian, the better.

I loved early Billy Connolly when he was discussing his roots, and life in tenement buildings in Glasgow. However, his rich 'windswept and interesting' comedy patter having had 20 years of the good life just irritates me.

I love Monty Python, but even that is a bit hit and miss. Some of the sketches in the original show were a bit dull, but Life of Brian and The Holy Grail were brilliant. The Meaning of Life was a bit hit and miss, although I loved the Noel Coward piss-take:

Isn't it awfully nice to have a penis.
Isn't it simply grand to have a dong.
It's swell to have a stiffy, it's divine to own a dick,
From the tiniest little tadger to the world's biggest prick...
So three cheers for your Willy or John Thomas,
Hooray for your one-eyed trouser snake.
Your piece of pork, your wife's best friend, Your Percy or your cock,
You can wrap it up in ribbons, you can slip it in your sock,
But don't take it out in public or they'll stick you in the dock,
And you won't a-come a-back.

I also loved Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmonson in The Young Ones, but found Bottom just a bit too peurile even for my childish tastes.

Frasier was pretty cool when it ran on dry humour and sly wit, instead of the more recently farcical episodes.

John Cleese wrote some excellent farce in Fawlt Towers, which in my eyes hasn't ever been surpassed, but I didn't like Clockwise. A Fish Called Wanda was good though. Here's an excerpt from one of my fave Fawlty Towers episodes:

Basil: It's a rat!
Manuel: No, no - is hamster.
Basil: Well of course it's a rat! You have rats in Spain don't you? Or did Franco have them all shot?
Manuel: No, is hamster.
Basil: Is rat.
Manuel: No, I think so too.
Basil: What?
Manuel: I say to man in shop 'is rat.' he say , 'No, no, is special kind of hamster. Is Filigree Siberian hamster.' Only one in shop. He make special price, only five pound.
Basil : (calmly) Have you ever heard of the bubonic plague Manuel? It was very popular here at one time. A lot of pedigree hamsters came over on ships from Siberia...
(takes the cage)
Manuel: What are you doing?
Basil: I'm sorry Manuel, this is a rat.
Manuel: No, no, is hamster.
Basil: Is not hamster. Hamsters are small and cuddly. Cuddle this and you'll never play the guitar again.

It's funny, but completely inaccurate. I've always found hamsters to be vicious little buggers, but I've always got on very well with rats. In memory of this episode I named my first pet rat 'Basil'.

My favourite comedian of all time was Bill Hicks. His humour is as relevant today as it was in the eighties:

How about a positive LSD story? Wouldn't that be news-worthy, just the once? To base your decision on information rather than scare tactics and superstitions and lies? I think it would be news-worthy. "Today, a young man on acid realised that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we're the imagination of ourselves." "Here's Tom with the weather."

My favourites:

Eric Bana: Before doing The Hulk and Black Hawk Down, he was best known for his impersonation of Australian News veteran Ray Martin on the comedy series Full Frontal.

Roy & H.G.: Usually seen giving commentry on the Olympic and commonwealth games. (Pray that they never do commentry on an MMA circuit!)

Jack Black: "This is the greatest song in the world... tribute."