26 replies to this topic

[bigred]

I cannot believe they are stretching this garbage out to six episodes! It was painfully unfunny viewing and quite a lot of the sketches were very weak to say the least. Maybe it's just me, but I did find Little Britain quite entertaining, this however was an affront to the notion of comedy!

[Johnoco]

Disagree, I thought it was pretty good. Not incredible by any means but not bad. It basically is LB though.

[Padge]

Another repetitive catch phrase excuse for a comedy show on the way.

Repeating the same bad joke over and over again will not make it funny.

[bendyas]

Another repetitive catch phrase excuse for a comedy show on the way.

Repeating the same bad joke over and over again will not make it funny.

Agreed. Walliams and Dawes are darlings of the BBC but they're garbage.

[Johnoco]

Agreed. Walliams and Dawes are darlings of the BBC but they're garbage.

No they aren't. They have done a lot of really good stuff.

[Padge]

No they aren't. They have done a lot of really good stuff.

Such as?

They find one mildly funny gag and then repeat it for a whole series, repeating the same joke 12 times doesn't make 12 funny jokes, it used to be called repeats.

They're garbage.

[bigred]

No they aren't. They have done a lot of really good stuff.

Agreed, they have done some good stuff, this however is not!

[Johnoco]

Such as?

They find one mildly funny gag and then repeat it for a whole series, repeating the same joke 12 times doesn't make 12 funny jokes, it used to be called repeats.

They're garbage.

Such as? Funny characters such as Mr Man, Lou & Andy, The guy who said 'If you were to ask me on a Monday, I'd say yesssss' 'Computer Says No'.

Maybe you don't like them but don't pretend they only have one joke. Name me a single comedian that doesn't have an element of repetition? It's inevitable. Then again, you do have a beard.

[Amber Avenger]

Such as? Funny characters such as Mr Man, Lou & Andy, The guy who said 'If you were to ask me on a Monday, I'd say yesssss' 'Computer Says No'.

Maybe you don't like them but don't pretend they only have one joke. Name me a single comedian that doesn't have an element of repetition? It's inevitable. Then again, you do have a beard.

They don't have just one joke, but in almost all of those sketches you mention above it is the same joke about that character repeated numerous times.

I say almost, because the Mr. Man character is actually really standout for me, although it's the same setup every episode, it is still enough variety and is one of the properly funny sketches for me in Little Britain.

Not seen this yet, but Lucas and Walliams are best when doing characters just once or twice IMO.

[Johnoco]

They don't have just one joke, but in almost all of those sketches you mention above it is the same joke about that character repeated numerous times.

I say almost, because the Mr. Man character is actually really standout for me, although it's the same setup every episode, it is still enough variety and is one of the properly funny sketches for me in Little Britain.

Not seen this yet, but Lucas and Walliams are best when doing characters just once or twice IMO.

You watch any comedian, any. The first time you see them (and assuming you like them) you will laugh your #### off. And the second..and possibly the third. But eventually it wears off and it's never quite as good. It's why comedy will never be the new Rock n Roll, you just can't keep laughing at the same joke for that long.

So yes, there is a big element of repetition and not everything they do is great but IMO they have done some top notch stuff.....just like a lot of comedians. Not most, because most are terrible.

[GURNER]

Certainly no Little Britain fan but I loved this. Very funny (not all of it) I thought

[Amber Avenger]

You watch any comedian, any. The first time you see them (and assuming you like them) you will laugh your #### off. And the second..and possibly the third. But eventually it wears off and it's never quite as good. It's why comedy will never be the new Rock n Roll, you just can't keep laughing at the same joke for that long.

And that analogy is fine, if you are working under the same pretense that you are watching the same set from the same tour of the same comedian multiple times. But if you look at any two or three episodes from the same series of Little Britain you will see the same joke coming up (for the same characters) multiple times in different episodes but with the scinario very slightly changed.

The difference is with "any" comedian is whilst these days you might see the same sets multiple times due to Live at the apollo, comedy roadshow, dvds, live tours, chat shows and various repeats, they all come under the umberella of one tour, so I'd be peed off if on the next tour they did they were pushing the exact same set with very minor changes. Very few standups do that, and in fact it's slighty unfair to make that analogy at all because although stand up (presuming that is what you meant by any comedian, and apologies if you weren't) comes under the banner of comedy, comedy itself is a very broad church and you can't really compare it to sketch as it is written, structered and consumed in entirely different ways.

The law of deminishing returns is certainly a symptom of sketch comedy (when you are using the same characters for four years), and they are perhaps more guilty of it than most, but it's neccesarily a symptom of all comedy in the way it is with Little Britain particularly.

Like I say, I do like them, but they don't half know how to milk a concept to death.

Edited by Amber Avenger, 28 December 2010 - 05:18 PM.

[Severus]

Amber Avenger is spot on, with the exception of Peter Kaye, any comedian who repeats the same material will soon lose their audience. The delivery style may be similar but the material must be original.

[Bulletproof]

Amber Avenger is spot on, with the exception of Peter Kaye, any comedian who repeats the same material will soon lose their audience. The delivery style may be similar but the material must be original.

"Jethro".

It depends on the comedian and the style. Not to mention the audience. The problem with little britain was, whilst it excelled in building up quirky characters a lot of the sketches were simply shock comedy. These were the worst characters because there is only so many times you can see an old woman being sick and build a gag around it and where do you go from there? When you've shocked people so many times they just become desensitised to it and what do you do then? That's why it ran out of steam.

This series has started off by concentrating on the quirky characters. Not every one worked but it should be worth watching for the check in girls and the husband and wife pilot.

[Johnoco]

Amber Avenger is spot on, with the exception of Peter Kaye, any comedian who repeats the same material will soon lose their audience. The delivery style may be similar but the material must be original.

I assume you are being ironic about Peter Kay because he is the prime example. You saw his routine a few years ago and it was really funny. Several years later, he's doing the same thing....not that funny.

ALL Comedians repeat their act, it's just a matter of which wears off the quickest.

Edited by Johnoco, 28 December 2010 - 11:56 PM.

[Amber Avenger]

I assume you are being ironic about Peter Kay because he is the prime example. You saw his routine a few years ago and it was really funny. Several years later, he's doing the same thing....not that funny.

ALL Comedians repeat their act, it's just a matter of which wears off the quickest.

He's not saying Peter Kay doesn't repeat his jokes he's saying he's the only person to blatantly do this and NOT lose his audience.

Also interesting to see you've slightly changed the phrase from "same jokes" to "same act" which evolves the debate slightly. People's complaints with Little Britain are the same jokes repeatidly, not they havent changed their act, as there is a difference (IMO anyway). For example Jack Dee's act is that he is a grumpy beggar, but he's not doing the exact same jokes every time he tours. But then I suppose that having the same "act", however you choose to analyse it, is rarely changed by 90% of people involved in any cultural output ever. Very rare is it to go under a complete artistic reinvention.

Edited by Amber Avenger, 29 December 2010 - 12:40 AM.

[Johnoco]

AA, I aren't LB's agents or something, I know they have flaws like all other comics. Can you give me a few examples of your favoured comedians?

[Johnoco]

Not to mention the 'gubbbins' couple from Little Britain USA. Still, don't let me derail the 'they aren't funny anymore' bandwagon lads, it wouldn't be the same otherwise.

Tell you what, that Jim 'On The Buses' Davidson isn't as good as they make out either.

[Amber Avenger]

AA, I aren't LB's agents or something, I know they have flaws like all other comics. Can you give me a few examples of your favoured comedians?

Never said you were! Just thought it would stimulate a bit of interesting debate regarding how people percieve comedy.

I would list comedians I do like, but to save you the time, I'm not doubting the essential way people deliver jokes rarely changes over time as I admitted above. I only kept referring back to Lucas/Walliams as that's what started this blasted nonsense in the first place.

[Johnoco]

Never said you were! Just thought it would stimulate a bit of interesting debate regarding how people percieve comedy.

I would list comedians I do like, but to save you the time, I'm not doubting the essential way people deliver jokes rarely changes over time as I admitted above. I only kept referring back to Lucas/Walliams as that's what started this blasted nonsense in the first place.

No rush mate, just name some comics you find funny.