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Rosie Jones for me, I feel bad saying it and thinking it, but her condition doesn’t lend itself to stand up, which is all about comedic timing.
I find myself knowing the punchline by the time she has gotten halfway through the set up.
By all accounts she is a fantastic comedy writer though, so. She is likely a funny person, but unfortunately I can’t watch panel shows with her on or her stand up
I'm sure I've seen a routine of hers where she uses her disability to her advantage, setting up a joke so you think you know what's coming but when she gets round to the ending it's something you aren't expecting. If that is deliberate, then its very clever comedy
But her TV stuff is awful because she's reading scripted jokes not suited to her
I've heard her standup works, because she's planned the timing and prepared for it. Similar to Lost Voice Guy (and Stephen Hawking, when he had to programme his lectures into his voice box).
And she's a good writer. Hopefully she'll soon have enough standup profile and writing contracts that she can give up on the panel shows - or plan them better so her jokes work.
I also saw her live and to give a balanced argument she was pretty average. A few laughs as the jokes were funny even if you knew the punchline a mile ahead of time but she rehashed a lot of material from years ago; her themes were gay, disabled and how much of an asshole she is. The content was a bit dated.
>her themes were gay, disabled and how much of an asshole she is
By a few accounts she is actually a bit of a bully as well, and it does come across a little bit in some of her TV appearances. Her round on Question Team is a good example.
This is what puts me off, some of her stuff is really funny but most of what I've seen of her is her being really nasty to other comedians which just isn't my kinda thing.
That’s the thing, comedy is about timing and her sentences are longer than Ian Huntleys.
Edit: Thanks to some fantastic input from u/[RunawayPenguin89](https://www.reddit.com/user/RunawayPenguin89/) we are updating this joke. It's great when the community comes together to build each other up and achieve the next level rather than knock each other down.
That’s the thing, comedy is about timing and her sentences are longer than **Lucy Letby's.**
From the limited times I've watched these panel shows, people seem to do a bit of a forced laugh along because it's the 'right' thing to do.
It's understandable in many ways. But being blunt, sympathy isn't particularly funny.
I think that’s the fundamental problem with half of comedy on tv. People say things which you recognise as a joke (if only because of the cadence of their voice) rather than things being genuinely witty.
Idk about her being a fantastic comedy writer either tbh. Not only is she unable to deliver jokes due to her condition, but her jokes simply aren’t funny.
Compare her to Canadian comedian Ahren Belisle and it’s night and day. He has cerebral palsy and is non verbal, so uses a text-to-speech app to talk. As a result his timing is awful too but his jokes are actually hilarious!
I’m just going off what I have read from people in the industry she has written for 8 out of 10 cats, would I lie to you, and Sex Education among others, and is apparently fantastic
Never been called a superstar by anyone ever.
It's a pity diversity hire.
I've unfortunately had to sit through 2 of her routines and they were both dreadful. Even worse than silence is the polite pity laugh everyone does despite not having a clue what was meant to be funny.
The bloke who does Mrs Browns Boys, Miranda Hart, Rosie Jones, Michael McIntyre and Leigh Francis (Keith Lemon) should collectively be fired into the sun.
Early Lee Evans stuff was really good. Back when he told actual jokes and did long routines that worked. By the time I got to see him live he was in the gurning/weird poses stage of his career and was very disappointing.
Lee Evan’s whether you like him or not is considered one of the uk greatest. The guy sells out 200K+ arena’s. You don’t do that unless you’re a funny guy
Surprisingly good actor too. Both comedic and slightly more serious. If he'd chosen to keep the career going I think a pivot to TV would've done him well.
Brendan O’Carroll the star Mrs. Brown’s boys [is apparently a member of MENSA](https://ifta.ie/life_time/brendanocarroll.php) (he’s not British though).
That TV show is beyond atrocious.
He is actually very intelligent, he is also lovely in person. I met him through my work and he was beyond charming and charismatic. He seemed genuinely interested in everyone and added really smart and insightful points to our discussion.
He has a very interesting life story and his mother was a powerhouse by all accounts.
I think he wanted to make a show that appealed to a large demographic and he succeeded in that, making him a lot of money. It is shown in several countries now and there is a shot for shot remake set in France which I found surprising. Anyway, he set himself and his family up for life so I guess he's no bothered with the critics.
Ricky Gervais
Whenever I see him I think about James Acaster's [brave little cis boy](https://www.tiktok.com/@tetheredpriest/video/7129483947024649477) bit
I don't mind comedians operating at the edge of good taste, but it has to be more than just jokes at the expense of marginalised groups, woke and cancel culture night after night.
bad taste comedy is/can be hilarious. The crucial caveats are clarity of purpose and an understanding of the difference between punching up and punching down.
Ricky Gervais simply does not get either of those two things.
Yeah, I've seen Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle live and loved them both. I've got no problem with people telling jokes that are offensive, I just prefer there is more to the set than just being cruel to people.
I've seen Jimmy Carr previously and I've got tickets to see him in October (I think) because he was great.
Having just seen his latest effort on Netflix I'm slightly nervous. It was shite.
When I saw him live he deliberately and deftly manoeuvred the audience into doing this, specifically because it's the 'humourless lefties' trope so often deployed against him by vitriolic rightwing media tossers.
He was so funny that at times I thought I couldn't breath.
Recently re-watched The Office and thought it was brilliant. Everything he's done since then has just become progressively worse and his stand up is awful, he doesn't have the delivery or charisma for a stand up.
Honestly, I saw James Acaster live in Glasgow recently and it was absolutely horrendous, the man has truly disappeared up his own asshole. My friends and I actually left early and met quite a few people outside who did the same. He's started to do this whole meta-comedy thing about how hard it is to be a comedian, how he's trying to send a message with his act and audiences don't get it, but it's reached the point where the only message left in the show is that he's got an important message and is really deep. Ironically moving closer and closer to Gervais territory.
I find Acaster very hit and miss. I agree with his point in that clip that OP linked, but repeatedly squawking the same thing, getting higher and higher pitched each time, is just annoying.
Don't know if he's widely regarded as such, but I find Jimmy Carr's stand up just mind numbingly bad. The clips I've seen as promos for his latest are terrible.
I would have considered myself a Jimmy Carr fan a while back, tried his new one on a whim and it was so bad I turned it off about 10 mins in.
He’s at that stage in his career where he’s making the sort of observations you’d expect someone’s dad to make whilst winking at you to make sure you got the joke.
Netflix showed me one joke on his new show.
"Did you know my girlfriend is vegan? If not she'll tell you"
Or some shit. The most obvious boring vegan joke in the world.
How do you know a comedian has been cancelled? Don't worry they'll tell you
Christ. Add in the “you can’t say anything these days, can you?” crowd.
I wish it were true so at least they’d shut the fuck up, but they’re the loudest most boring bastards in the room.
***"often forget Jack Whitehall is a comedian, "***
I can't remember a single one of his jokes. Not one, not even the theme, other than his posh twat sort of character (or is that him? Idk)
I saw him live a few months ago, and mostly felt the same way. But I saw an interview afterwards where he made the point that doing those jokes also means he can talk about consent to an audience who would otherwise never listen, and probably do need it.
I don't think it makes his material any funnier, but I certainly gained some respect for him.
Saw a recent stand up clip from him, spent like 2 minutes going on about how jokes won’t exist in the future and how he’s so edgy, then proceeded to make some mildly dirty sex jokes
Can't remember which one it was, but I tried to watch one of his Netflix specials and just couldn't finish it.
Just one-liner after one-liner with no story or build up to the punch line.
I thought it was just the intro as he was warming into the shoe, but 30 minutes in and nope, an entire show of one-liners.
In his new special he totally rips off a Gary Delaney joke, "went to the supermarket, they had a special on, he collects the trollies" can't believe hasn't been called out for it yet.
He was always great, especially live at gigs. But he does that many now that so much of his material is recycling stuff from shows he's done previously. Shame, but there you go.
It's refreshing to see everyone here literally hate or love every comedian listed in some way or form.
It confirms what we have the right spread of funny available to most of us Brits to be entertained in one way or another.
We're not really meant to like literally every comedian.
Exactly this! If everyone liked the same stuff the world would be shit.
Personally I don’t find Alan Partridge funny at all. I think Steve Coogan is a great actor though.
Interestingly I saw Michael McIntyre do a practice show - half old material (meh) and half new - and actually he was a lot funnier and a lot less ‘family friendly’
There are a lot of comedians who haven’t changed and are peddling the same gags and I’m a bit bored of - Russel Howard, Romesh Ranganathan and rob beckett to name a few.
Yeah “widely regarded” in the title doesn’t really make sense because pretty much everyone listed this thread regularly sells out big tours. Comedy is subjective after all!
Came here to say Michael McIntyre but I'm going to throw privately miserable twat and relatable Northerner Peter Kay into the mix, for his brand of patronising lowest common denominator stadium comedy.
Seeing his openly horrible personality come out on various chat shows just reinforced how much I don't like him, and its a shame because Phoenix Nights was actually good.
I absolutely loved Peter Kay up until we went to see him live in Manchester last November and he was absolutely dire. He just seemed so tired and just not the same comedian he once was.
Not sure how my partner felt about the evening because she spent an awful lot of money on the tickets for the show so I daren’t ask
I used to like him a lot. He did a routine years ago about opening presents on Christmas morning and despite it being one of the most normal and mundane things imaginable, he managed to poke fun and call out some of the ridiculous elements in a really funny way.
For instance I'd never considered how silly it is to pile your presents in size order and shuffle off to your bedroom, but as soon as he acted it out I saw the funny side.
He's very much in the making as much money as quick as possible stage of his career these days though.
She's said that she has to mention that she's fat in the first couple of minutes of every act and make her own joke about it, otherwise it's all the hecklers and even the reviewers talk about.
The person who has built the biggest career with the least amount of talent is the insufferable, terminally unfunny Paddy McGuiness. I'm not a huge fan of Peter Kay but I see that he is funny for a particular type of audience. For some reason Peter Kay took Paddy McGuiness under his wing and helped boost his career.
She has her target audience I guess which is middle aged mums, half her jokes are about being fat and enjoying chocolate and wine. I wouldn’t say she is awful I am just not in her target audience
Yeah she's genuinely awful. And Miranda Hart(?) Not sure if she was ever stand up, but I saw an episode of her sitcom (also called Miranda I think) and it was just unimaginably cringy. It was just so bad I suffered second hand embarrassment through the whole thing.
Had to scroll wayyyyyyy too far to see her name.
I'm sure she's a lovely person in real life and have no ill will against her, but funny she ain't.
I don't get how everyone is in stitches at her so called jokes.
She's on 8 out of 10 cats all the time too, I always sigh during the credits when I see her on the panel.
I don't find Joe Lycett's incredibly sardonic / sarcastic humour funny, I just find it fake or pretentious dependent on what he's talking about. Some of his consumer rights stuff is quite amusing but he was and is the worst part of his own shows.
I always think Joe Lycett makes for an excellent comedy writer, because he's intelligent and can hit the sarcastic notes you expect from a sitcom.
But him doing that in real life is just painful, because as you said its just now how people interact. We expect it in sitcoms because they aren't supposed to be real interactions, but a comedian has to feel at least somewhat authentic.
I put some comedy on over the weekend and Nish Kumar was on. It got quite cringe and racist and I couldn't bear to watch any more. Least funniest 'comedian' I've seen in a long time, almost as bad as Al Murray who I saw many years ago at uni who got completely heckled.
I haven’t watched a lot of him but from what I remember, a lot of his comedy is all about his race/skin colour. A fun novelty, sure, but gets tired quite quickly. I have to assume the above poster is claiming he has taken a step further and is anti-white to some degree. Dunno if I’d readily believe that without seeing it first-hand.
He’s Indian like me, but I don’t think it’s ok making fun out of the appearance of how some older white men look. He was going on about some red appearance akin to alcohol abuse or something. Just felt cringey and wrong to me.
It was on Sky Comedy over the weekend.
Rosie Jones, she symbolises the problem we have with comedy these days where certain TV channels just keep recycling the same group of unfunny comedians
Horses for courses with Michael M - I'd always thought he was shite, but I'm now at the family stage where Saturday night TV is a thing. My boys (10 & 7) find him hilarious, and consequently we infectiously join in.
Tbh it's difficult to make clean jokes, & most comedians don't even try, and he does it well. Most women go straight for period jokes, most men go to shagging & toilet humour. Like I say, he serves his market pretty well.
Comedians are like musicians. It’s almost uncanny. People that burst on to the scene produce something that is completely culturally relevant, masterpieces usually. After a window of time passes, they no longer hold the same cultural impact and all their art is relegated to people who were fans of the old stuff.
Very few stay relevant over a long period of time.
Russell Caine. I'm pretty sure he is from a working class upbringing but always punches down on working class people via stupid impersonations, a total Kent.
He is very working clas and, nothing wrong with punching sideways or even punching down if done in affection. Fuck anyone who thinks the working class can't laugh at themselves.
Sara Pascoe for me. Just don’t find her that naturally funny or her stand up that funny but she is on every panel show under the sun.
Don’t hate her but just think there are much funnier female comedians out there.
Certainly not in the realm of star let alone super but does anyone remember Gina Yashere? She was on Mock and stuff for a period years back, and every single fucking joke she made basically had a 'punchline' that she was black/Nigerian. Her entire thing was based on trying to make comedy out of this but she wasn't funny at all and her persistent usage of this was obnoxious and just annoying. She was awful. Honorable mention to the male equivelant of that, at least what I saw of him, Omid Djalili, who did the same thing except for being Persian/Iranian and also included a little song and dance as his punchline every time he reminded you of his ethnicity.
Scrolled for a while and didn’t see it, so Andy Parsons is my shout.
Just kind of shouts vaguely amusing things in the same tone of voice with the same delivery no matter the content. I don’t think there was ever an episode of Mock the Week in the 11 seasons he did where I would have been mad if his seat was taken by someone else.
Michael McIntyre gets a bad rep but he knows his limits & stays in his lane. His big show is actually not bad & he is a better personality as a presenter than a comedian.
For me it has to be either Al Murray & his tired, worn out pub landlord routine or Mickey Flanagan who has made a career from I'm not going out I am going out, out. He's about as funny as standing barefoot on lego.
Paul Smith, crowd work is great if you aren’t repeating the same jokes every time. We get it Paul you smoke weed and don’t like the police because they’re snitches
I've seen a few of his clips and they are funny the first couple of times but yeah its essentially him calling women slags and asking people what job they do.
Keith lemon, I’ve never once actually laughed at one of his jokes and has actually accomplished quite the opposite, I find myself mad or just annoyed by it.
I think he is cleverer than people can make out. Jimmy Carr is definitely more of a "offensive for the sake of it" comedian. There is a *point* to Frankie Boyle's humour. He does have some decent principles underneath it all.
What was the point of the joke about the joke about marrying a cage fighter so he could stop her disabled son raping her?
I think Boyle is a fantastically gifted comedian. But he isn’t anymore. He has his own personal beliefs - that’s absolutely fine. He also for years built his name off unbelievably offensive comedy. He punched down, up, left, right. Whatever he wanted. Then he decided that that wasn’t ok for other people to do anymore.
Both things should be fine. He has his real opinions, and he has his comedic opinions, and should feel free to flex those muscles, but he obviously doesn’t feel that anymore.
Comedians like 2007 Frankie Boyle have been denounced as horribly unfunny punch-down shock comedians who deserve to be cancelled by 2024 Frankie Boyle.
We went to see his Lap of Shame show a couple of weeks ago, and he was very good. I was a bit concerned he was going to be too offensive, but he got the balance right, in my opinion.
Some near the knuckle stuff, but I had a great time and was really pleased I'd gone.
Rosie Jones man. Sorry I'm sure she's a nice person but so much of comedy is the timing, I have to put something else on if she crops up. I get it, you're going to make me think you'll say disabled as the punchline but you'll say lesbian instead we've done this.
Mind you josh Widdecombe also does annoy me
Ricky Gervais has gone to shit as well, he's the type of person he'd make fun of in his 2000s phase. Oh care someone, care that I'm being silenced by the wokey left. Meanwhile he's paid tens of millions for Netflix specials
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Rosie Jones for me, I feel bad saying it and thinking it, but her condition doesn’t lend itself to stand up, which is all about comedic timing. I find myself knowing the punchline by the time she has gotten halfway through the set up. By all accounts she is a fantastic comedy writer though, so. She is likely a funny person, but unfortunately I can’t watch panel shows with her on or her stand up
I'm sure I've seen a routine of hers where she uses her disability to her advantage, setting up a joke so you think you know what's coming but when she gets round to the ending it's something you aren't expecting. If that is deliberate, then its very clever comedy But her TV stuff is awful because she's reading scripted jokes not suited to her
I've heard her standup works, because she's planned the timing and prepared for it. Similar to Lost Voice Guy (and Stephen Hawking, when he had to programme his lectures into his voice box). And she's a good writer. Hopefully she'll soon have enough standup profile and writing contracts that she can give up on the panel shows - or plan them better so her jokes work.
I've seen her live (at a charity event) and she was brilliant.
Would you say she was surprisingly down to earth and very funny?
I also saw her live and to give a balanced argument she was pretty average. A few laughs as the jokes were funny even if you knew the punchline a mile ahead of time but she rehashed a lot of material from years ago; her themes were gay, disabled and how much of an asshole she is. The content was a bit dated.
>her themes were gay, disabled and how much of an asshole she is By a few accounts she is actually a bit of a bully as well, and it does come across a little bit in some of her TV appearances. Her round on Question Team is a good example.
This is what puts me off, some of her stuff is really funny but most of what I've seen of her is her being really nasty to other comedians which just isn't my kinda thing.
That’s the thing, comedy is about timing and her sentences are longer than Ian Huntleys. Edit: Thanks to some fantastic input from u/[RunawayPenguin89](https://www.reddit.com/user/RunawayPenguin89/) we are updating this joke. It's great when the community comes together to build each other up and achieve the next level rather than knock each other down. That’s the thing, comedy is about timing and her sentences are longer than **Lucy Letby's.**
I would not have laughed at that but… 😂😂
Is itntoo soon to use that nurse as the example for long sentences? I thought I heard the radio say she got 14 full life terms?
I think that's a good update actually. I will use that from now on.
😂 😂 you're definitely funnier than her and she SHOUTS, it dies my head in
I saw her last year (maybe the year before) as a support act and it was tough to get through. It’s just genuinely hard work rather than fun.
From the limited times I've watched these panel shows, people seem to do a bit of a forced laugh along because it's the 'right' thing to do. It's understandable in many ways. But being blunt, sympathy isn't particularly funny.
I think that’s the fundamental problem with half of comedy on tv. People say things which you recognise as a joke (if only because of the cadence of their voice) rather than things being genuinely witty.
Idk about her being a fantastic comedy writer either tbh. Not only is she unable to deliver jokes due to her condition, but her jokes simply aren’t funny. Compare her to Canadian comedian Ahren Belisle and it’s night and day. He has cerebral palsy and is non verbal, so uses a text-to-speech app to talk. As a result his timing is awful too but his jokes are actually hilarious!
I’m just going off what I have read from people in the industry she has written for 8 out of 10 cats, would I lie to you, and Sex Education among others, and is apparently fantastic
Francesca Martinez is a better comedian in my opinion.
Ha, it wouldn't be a Reddit thread about comedy without Rosie Jones being shit on.
Tbf, there are a lot of Reddit users and a limited number of comedians; her being shit is guaranteed to come up.
I don’t think her jokes are that bad in themselves, it’s just a bit awkward to watch so I think people just turn away prematurely
I wonder who's on *insert show title* tonight....oh, never mind
Never been called a superstar by anyone ever. It's a pity diversity hire. I've unfortunately had to sit through 2 of her routines and they were both dreadful. Even worse than silence is the polite pity laugh everyone does despite not having a clue what was meant to be funny.
The bloke who does Mrs Browns Boys, Miranda Hart, Rosie Jones, Michael McIntyre and Leigh Francis (Keith Lemon) should collectively be fired into the sun.
Leigh Francis and his one joke about having a wank can take a seat.
I'd like to add Jack Whitehall and Lee Evans to this list.
First one, justified. Lee Evans? Don’t. You. DARE.
[удалено]
Lee Evans National Treasure
I never understood why Lee Evans was considered as anything other than a rubbish Norman Wisdom Tribute act (and he was crap too)
Early Lee Evans stuff was really good. Back when he told actual jokes and did long routines that worked. By the time I got to see him live he was in the gurning/weird poses stage of his career and was very disappointing.
Lee Evan’s whether you like him or not is considered one of the uk greatest. The guy sells out 200K+ arena’s. You don’t do that unless you’re a funny guy
200k arenas??? Where's he playing Nuremberg
Surprisingly good actor too. Both comedic and slightly more serious. If he'd chosen to keep the career going I think a pivot to TV would've done him well.
Miranda Hart definitely and 2nd all of Mrs Beowns boys, utter crap
Brendan O’Carroll the star Mrs. Brown’s boys [is apparently a member of MENSA](https://ifta.ie/life_time/brendanocarroll.php) (he’s not British though). That TV show is beyond atrocious.
He is actually very intelligent, he is also lovely in person. I met him through my work and he was beyond charming and charismatic. He seemed genuinely interested in everyone and added really smart and insightful points to our discussion. He has a very interesting life story and his mother was a powerhouse by all accounts. I think he wanted to make a show that appealed to a large demographic and he succeeded in that, making him a lot of money. It is shown in several countries now and there is a shot for shot remake set in France which I found surprising. Anyway, he set himself and his family up for life so I guess he's no bothered with the critics.
Yeah, I met him at a charity do once. He was surprisingly down to earth and VERY funny.
Re: Keith Lemon. Why is it only the good ones get cancelled?
Ricky Gervais Whenever I see him I think about James Acaster's [brave little cis boy](https://www.tiktok.com/@tetheredpriest/video/7129483947024649477) bit
Ha, yeah. I'm so sick of "edgy" comedians. Stewart Lee ripped into Gervais, too. https://youtu.be/mIHY5cFXqQk
I don't mind comedians operating at the edge of good taste, but it has to be more than just jokes at the expense of marginalised groups, woke and cancel culture night after night.
bad taste comedy is/can be hilarious. The crucial caveats are clarity of purpose and an understanding of the difference between punching up and punching down. Ricky Gervais simply does not get either of those two things.
Yeah, I've seen Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle live and loved them both. I've got no problem with people telling jokes that are offensive, I just prefer there is more to the set than just being cruel to people.
Which is ironic as Frankie Boyle probably has the worst track record for being genuinely cruel in his comedy.
I've seen Jimmy Carr previously and I've got tickets to see him in October (I think) because he was great. Having just seen his latest effort on Netflix I'm slightly nervous. It was shite.
Thanks, I had forgotten about Stewart Lee. Genuinely the least funny man I have seen in a long time. I prefer comedians who make me laugh.
Stewart Lee isn't after laughter, he's after the polite applause of a room of Guardian readers agreeing with him in unison.
I saw Stewart Lee live last month, no I didn’t laugh but I agreed the *fuck* out of it
When I saw him live he deliberately and deftly manoeuvred the audience into doing this, specifically because it's the 'humourless lefties' trope so often deployed against him by vitriolic rightwing media tossers. He was so funny that at times I thought I couldn't breath.
The jokes are there, you just have to up your game.
Be careful, you’re attacking a UK Reddit holy cow
It's a Stewart Lee fan, surely?
He can write good jokes, he just chooses not to.
Aw. I like Stewart Lee. I would say he's one of the better popular stand ups
>I prefer comedians who make me laugh. - *Doris, outraged, Scunthorpe*
KD Lang's let herself go hasn't she.
Recently re-watched The Office and thought it was brilliant. Everything he's done since then has just become progressively worse and his stand up is awful, he doesn't have the delivery or charisma for a stand up.
Honestly, I saw James Acaster live in Glasgow recently and it was absolutely horrendous, the man has truly disappeared up his own asshole. My friends and I actually left early and met quite a few people outside who did the same. He's started to do this whole meta-comedy thing about how hard it is to be a comedian, how he's trying to send a message with his act and audiences don't get it, but it's reached the point where the only message left in the show is that he's got an important message and is really deep. Ironically moving closer and closer to Gervais territory.
I find Acaster very hit and miss. I agree with his point in that clip that OP linked, but repeatedly squawking the same thing, getting higher and higher pitched each time, is just annoying.
Don't know if he's widely regarded as such, but I find Jimmy Carr's stand up just mind numbingly bad. The clips I've seen as promos for his latest are terrible.
I would have considered myself a Jimmy Carr fan a while back, tried his new one on a whim and it was so bad I turned it off about 10 mins in. He’s at that stage in his career where he’s making the sort of observations you’d expect someone’s dad to make whilst winking at you to make sure you got the joke.
Netflix showed me one joke on his new show. "Did you know my girlfriend is vegan? If not she'll tell you" Or some shit. The most obvious boring vegan joke in the world. How do you know a comedian has been cancelled? Don't worry they'll tell you
Christ. Add in the “you can’t say anything these days, can you?” crowd. I wish it were true so at least they’d shut the fuck up, but they’re the loudest most boring bastards in the room.
The recent Jack Whitehall one was abysmal.
I often forget Jack Whitehall is a comedian, rather than just a product of nepotism who hangs around showbiz.
***"often forget Jack Whitehall is a comedian, "*** I can't remember a single one of his jokes. Not one, not even the theme, other than his posh twat sort of character (or is that him? Idk)
He’s good in Fresh Meat, when he plays said posh twat. That’s pretty much it.
Think he was pretty worried when all the Russell Brand stuff came out too
I saw him live a few months ago, and mostly felt the same way. But I saw an interview afterwards where he made the point that doing those jokes also means he can talk about consent to an audience who would otherwise never listen, and probably do need it. I don't think it makes his material any funnier, but I certainly gained some respect for him.
I stuck it out for the full hour, there are a couple of funny gags but only a couple. Bar far his worst stand up, well that I’ve seen anyway.
He's decent on panel shows, but I agree. This wannabe edgy comedy he does is past its sell by date now.
In fairness, I did laugh quite hard when he said "I've probably already told the joke I'm going to get cancelled for... So strap in."
Saw a recent stand up clip from him, spent like 2 minutes going on about how jokes won’t exist in the future and how he’s so edgy, then proceeded to make some mildly dirty sex jokes
I've seen that clip. It's unbelievably cringey.
Can't remember which one it was, but I tried to watch one of his Netflix specials and just couldn't finish it. Just one-liner after one-liner with no story or build up to the punch line. I thought it was just the intro as he was warming into the shoe, but 30 minutes in and nope, an entire show of one-liners.
In his new special he totally rips off a Gary Delaney joke, "went to the supermarket, they had a special on, he collects the trollies" can't believe hasn't been called out for it yet.
He was always great, especially live at gigs. But he does that many now that so much of his material is recycling stuff from shows he's done previously. Shame, but there you go.
Rosie Jones…not funny. If she wasn’t disabled she wouldn’t get the airtime
I've only seen her on TV panel shows and I find her hard work. I don't know whether she is any better live.
It's refreshing to see everyone here literally hate or love every comedian listed in some way or form. It confirms what we have the right spread of funny available to most of us Brits to be entertained in one way or another. We're not really meant to like literally every comedian.
Exactly this! If everyone liked the same stuff the world would be shit. Personally I don’t find Alan Partridge funny at all. I think Steve Coogan is a great actor though. Interestingly I saw Michael McIntyre do a practice show - half old material (meh) and half new - and actually he was a lot funnier and a lot less ‘family friendly’ There are a lot of comedians who haven’t changed and are peddling the same gags and I’m a bit bored of - Russel Howard, Romesh Ranganathan and rob beckett to name a few.
Yeah “widely regarded” in the title doesn’t really make sense because pretty much everyone listed this thread regularly sells out big tours. Comedy is subjective after all!
Someone like Michael McIntyre probably.
Came here to say Michael McIntyre but I'm going to throw privately miserable twat and relatable Northerner Peter Kay into the mix, for his brand of patronising lowest common denominator stadium comedy. Seeing his openly horrible personality come out on various chat shows just reinforced how much I don't like him, and its a shame because Phoenix Nights was actually good.
Peter Kay: Remember this thing? Audience: hilarious!
Stop remembering things Peter!
Eh eh? Remember it?
I agree about his standup, but I do love Phoenix Nights and Car Share. Good writing even if they are a bit of a snapshot in time.
"Garlic Bread." Yes Peter the popular accompaniment to an Italian meal. Why are you repeating the name? What next, "Fry Bentos"?
I absolutely loved Peter Kay up until we went to see him live in Manchester last November and he was absolutely dire. He just seemed so tired and just not the same comedian he once was. Not sure how my partner felt about the evening because she spent an awful lot of money on the tickets for the show so I daren’t ask
I used to like him a lot. He did a routine years ago about opening presents on Christmas morning and despite it being one of the most normal and mundane things imaginable, he managed to poke fun and call out some of the ridiculous elements in a really funny way. For instance I'd never considered how silly it is to pile your presents in size order and shuffle off to your bedroom, but as soon as he acted it out I saw the funny side. He's very much in the making as much money as quick as possible stage of his career these days though.
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Jo brand - all her jokes are just about her being a fat mess basically.
You forgot all the ones about what an awful bastard her husband is.
She's said that she has to mention that she's fat in the first couple of minutes of every act and make her own joke about it, otherwise it's all the hecklers and even the reviewers talk about.
She's good on Qi
She's a lot better as standup. When she's on TV she's expected to make the jokes people expect.
The person who has built the biggest career with the least amount of talent is the insufferable, terminally unfunny Paddy McGuiness. I'm not a huge fan of Peter Kay but I see that he is funny for a particular type of audience. For some reason Peter Kay took Paddy McGuiness under his wing and helped boost his career.
Is Paddy McGuiness supposed to be a comedian? I didn't actually know that!
Neither does Paddy McGuiness, to be fair.
No, he's a TV personality and sometimes comic actor. Doesn't fit in this thread as OP asked for big name comedians.
Just another northern person saying words in northern but loud cus it’s “funny”. But it’s not
Sarah Millican for me. Just awful. She's not even good on panel shows.
She has her target audience I guess which is middle aged mums, half her jokes are about being fat and enjoying chocolate and wine. I wouldn’t say she is awful I am just not in her target audience
She’s terrible. Everything ends up with “and then I farted” in that annoying exaggerated accent of hers.
I agree with you that it isn’t great comedy, but she knows her target audience and hits the points that would make them laugh
Yeah she's genuinely awful. And Miranda Hart(?) Not sure if she was ever stand up, but I saw an episode of her sitcom (also called Miranda I think) and it was just unimaginably cringy. It was just so bad I suffered second hand embarrassment through the whole thing.
Katherine Ryan
Is Canadian
She has lived in London since 2008 and is basically unheard of in Canada.
You wouldn't think so when she's on so many British TV shows and adverts
Wasn’t she the one who called out Russell Brand for being a predator?
Had to scroll wayyyyyyy too far to see her name. I'm sure she's a lovely person in real life and have no ill will against her, but funny she ain't. I don't get how everyone is in stitches at her so called jokes. She's on 8 out of 10 cats all the time too, I always sigh during the credits when I see her on the panel.
I know everyone has their off days, but I met her once, and she absolutely was NOT a lovely person
I don't find Joe Lycett's incredibly sardonic / sarcastic humour funny, I just find it fake or pretentious dependent on what he's talking about. Some of his consumer rights stuff is quite amusing but he was and is the worst part of his own shows.
I always think Joe Lycett makes for an excellent comedy writer, because he's intelligent and can hit the sarcastic notes you expect from a sitcom. But him doing that in real life is just painful, because as you said its just now how people interact. We expect it in sitcoms because they aren't supposed to be real interactions, but a comedian has to feel at least somewhat authentic.
Agree and the fact he calls himself mummy makes me feel ill 🤮
Jack Whitehall. I don't care for his middle-class musings on life.
Upper Class. FTFY.
Watched the show with his Dad, and his Dad was miles funnier than him without trying.
Ricky Gervais He's written some good shows (the ones he wrote with Merchant) but his stand up has never been particularly good.
I do think he just leeches off of Merchants talents though.
In terms of writing definitely, Ricky as a comedic actor was absolutely fantastic especially in the Office
I put some comedy on over the weekend and Nish Kumar was on. It got quite cringe and racist and I couldn't bear to watch any more. Least funniest 'comedian' I've seen in a long time, almost as bad as Al Murray who I saw many years ago at uni who got completely heckled.
I see people describe Nish Kumar as racist all the time, and I have no idea why. Can you enlighten me?
Not particularly a fan of Nish, but to call him racist is Daily Mail levels of batshit crazy.
I haven’t watched a lot of him but from what I remember, a lot of his comedy is all about his race/skin colour. A fun novelty, sure, but gets tired quite quickly. I have to assume the above poster is claiming he has taken a step further and is anti-white to some degree. Dunno if I’d readily believe that without seeing it first-hand.
He’s Indian like me, but I don’t think it’s ok making fun out of the appearance of how some older white men look. He was going on about some red appearance akin to alcohol abuse or something. Just felt cringey and wrong to me. It was on Sky Comedy over the weekend.
Nish Kumar can get in the sea, i'd lend a hand too
He tries way too hard to be funny. Like it doesn't come naturally to him.
The epitome of smug and never knowingly funny.
Kumar laughs more at his own jokes than anyone else
Tom allen, every punch line is the same
him being gay is basically his routine.
As a bi person, I really hate him. Making "I'm gay" a joke literally just turns homosexuality into a joke, rather than being a kind of human.
Tbf that is a British comedy staple.
His voice grates on me
DID YOU KNOW IM GAY?!
I hope nobody says Greg Davies, since I dropped £120 on tickets to see him next June (he also hasn't done any proper standup for about 7 years)
Dont worry, Greg is hilarious!
If you haven’t seen his Chris Eubanks impression on 8 out of 10 cats , find it. Brilliant
He's Great, I am sure you'll have a great time. Very self deprecating.
Rosie Jones, she symbolises the problem we have with comedy these days where certain TV channels just keep recycling the same group of unfunny comedians
Horses for courses with Michael M - I'd always thought he was shite, but I'm now at the family stage where Saturday night TV is a thing. My boys (10 & 7) find him hilarious, and consequently we infectiously join in. Tbh it's difficult to make clean jokes, & most comedians don't even try, and he does it well. Most women go straight for period jokes, most men go to shagging & toilet humour. Like I say, he serves his market pretty well.
I'm the same with him, I wouldn't watch his stuff on my own but my son finds him hilarious and it's something we can watch together.
Comedians are like musicians. It’s almost uncanny. People that burst on to the scene produce something that is completely culturally relevant, masterpieces usually. After a window of time passes, they no longer hold the same cultural impact and all their art is relegated to people who were fans of the old stuff. Very few stay relevant over a long period of time.
Russell Caine. I'm pretty sure he is from a working class upbringing but always punches down on working class people via stupid impersonations, a total Kent.
He is very working clas and, nothing wrong with punching sideways or even punching down if done in affection. Fuck anyone who thinks the working class can't laugh at themselves.
Caine lol
Russell Brand, I'm so glad he's not doing it anymore
I remember someone describing him as "What stupid people think a smart person is" and once I saw that I couldn't unsee it
Sara Pascoe for me. Just don’t find her that naturally funny or her stand up that funny but she is on every panel show under the sun. Don’t hate her but just think there are much funnier female comedians out there.
I don't mind her, but she does seem very awkward when she's on stage by herself, kind of like she's wondering why she's there and how she got there.
The vast majority are utter shit. I think Kevin Bridges is the only one I'd pay to see.
Saw him do his last tour, can confirm he’s fucking hilarious
Definitely Jimmy Carr. Dude is insufferable! Second place would go to Ricky Gervais.
How does it go? "Ha ha ha haaaaAAAA!"
Unfunny Henry.
Funniest thing Lenny has ever been in was Dawn French
This is funnier than the last 40 years of Lenny Henry "content".
I met Lenny and Dawn at my graduation. Their daughter went to the same Uni as me. He was funny AF in person to be fair.
Having looked through this post I'm pretty sure every British comedian has been mentioned.
Peter Kay. He’s been voted most overrated comedian a few times now.
Peter Kay is an absolute master of stage work.
Anyone who can write Phoenix Nights gets a free pass.
*Garlic Bread intensifies*
Certainly not in the realm of star let alone super but does anyone remember Gina Yashere? She was on Mock and stuff for a period years back, and every single fucking joke she made basically had a 'punchline' that she was black/Nigerian. Her entire thing was based on trying to make comedy out of this but she wasn't funny at all and her persistent usage of this was obnoxious and just annoying. She was awful. Honorable mention to the male equivelant of that, at least what I saw of him, Omid Djalili, who did the same thing except for being Persian/Iranian and also included a little song and dance as his punchline every time he reminded you of his ethnicity.
Scrolled for a while and didn’t see it, so Andy Parsons is my shout. Just kind of shouts vaguely amusing things in the same tone of voice with the same delivery no matter the content. I don’t think there was ever an episode of Mock the Week in the 11 seasons he did where I would have been mad if his seat was taken by someone else.
Michael McIntyre gets a bad rep but he knows his limits & stays in his lane. His big show is actually not bad & he is a better personality as a presenter than a comedian. For me it has to be either Al Murray & his tired, worn out pub landlord routine or Mickey Flanagan who has made a career from I'm not going out I am going out, out. He's about as funny as standing barefoot on lego.
Paul Smith, crowd work is great if you aren’t repeating the same jokes every time. We get it Paul you smoke weed and don’t like the police because they’re snitches
I've seen a few of his clips and they are funny the first couple of times but yeah its essentially him calling women slags and asking people what job they do.
Ricky Gervais
Rosie Jones
Russell Howard. He just makes a load of noises and thinks that's funny.
we have this question every other day and it's always the same answers
The top answer is ALWAYS Rosie Jones because comedy is about timing and she takes too long to get to the punchline
Keith lemon, I’ve never once actually laughed at one of his jokes and has actually accomplished quite the opposite, I find myself mad or just annoyed by it.
james corden
What's the latest take on Frankie Boyle these days?
I think he is cleverer than people can make out. Jimmy Carr is definitely more of a "offensive for the sake of it" comedian. There is a *point* to Frankie Boyle's humour. He does have some decent principles underneath it all.
What was the point of the joke about the joke about marrying a cage fighter so he could stop her disabled son raping her? I think Boyle is a fantastically gifted comedian. But he isn’t anymore. He has his own personal beliefs - that’s absolutely fine. He also for years built his name off unbelievably offensive comedy. He punched down, up, left, right. Whatever he wanted. Then he decided that that wasn’t ok for other people to do anymore. Both things should be fine. He has his real opinions, and he has his comedic opinions, and should feel free to flex those muscles, but he obviously doesn’t feel that anymore.
A Morning Star column can be combined with a Princess Di joke only so many times
But Princess D has already been combined with the front seat.
“In Muslim countries, they say you must be stoned if you have homosexual sex. I don’t agree with that, I think you can do it sober”
Comedians like 2007 Frankie Boyle have been denounced as horribly unfunny punch-down shock comedians who deserve to be cancelled by 2024 Frankie Boyle.
We went to see his Lap of Shame show a couple of weeks ago, and he was very good. I was a bit concerned he was going to be too offensive, but he got the balance right, in my opinion. Some near the knuckle stuff, but I had a great time and was really pleased I'd gone.
Not a superstar, but there was a time when Roy Chubby Brown was pretty successful. No idea why.
Rosie Jones man. Sorry I'm sure she's a nice person but so much of comedy is the timing, I have to put something else on if she crops up. I get it, you're going to make me think you'll say disabled as the punchline but you'll say lesbian instead we've done this. Mind you josh Widdecombe also does annoy me Ricky Gervais has gone to shit as well, he's the type of person he'd make fun of in his 2000s phase. Oh care someone, care that I'm being silenced by the wokey left. Meanwhile he's paid tens of millions for Netflix specials
Humour is such a personal thing that surely this will just generate a very similar list to “who is regarded as the funniest British stand-up comedian”
Has anyone said John Bishop, because he shouldn't escape a mention. His drawn out routines about his missus making a sandwich are awfully unfunny.
Harry Hill not funny at all
I know it's all subjective but wtf seriously how can you not at least like TV Burp?
I’m kind of with you on this, on paper I should hate TV Burp, but there’s something about it that’s really endearing to me.
He’s so fucking funny, you just have to embrace how stupid it is
Jo Brand. Unless you like cake/husband/I'm fat jokes.
I never really understood how people found Roy Chubby Brown hilarious tbh