Television Ricky Gervais: Armageddon

Wing Attack Plan R said:
Is he popular? Never heard of him before seeing a special on Netflix. Watched about 10 minutes.
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He's co host of one of the best podcasts around for anyone who likes comedy and food: Off Menu. Highly recommended. I'm a big fan of the podcast and find him very funny in that context. Not a fan of his stand up though. Just doesn't land for me, personally.
 
Herman Toothrot said:
He's dog dirt.
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You see, it's because he aligns with a certain type of politics so people will oversee his boring routines and stan for him.

Same way MAGA people like Joe Rogan, guy can't tell a joke to save his life but they'll swear he's a great stand up and watch all of his shit.

It's smacks of teamification.
 
Repertoire is outstanding but none of his other routines are on the same level. He's also funnier than 90% of the usual panel show guests, but it's a very low bar.
 
Murder on Zidane's Floor said:
You see, it's because he aligns with a certain type of politics so people will oversee his boring routines and stan for him.

Same way MAGA people like Joe Rogan, guy can't tell a joke to save his life but they'll swear he's a great stand up and watch all of his shit.

It's smacks of teamification.
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It's possible to take the piss out of wokeness and still be funny. Even as a vegetarian, Green Party voting, cycle to work wanker, I can still laugh at myself. The trick is being funny. Armageddon was not funny and its attempts to be controversial were desperate. It was badly written clichés presented with an odd stench of smug bitterness. Very few manage to be creative into their 50s and 60s and losing a step or two is understandable, but resulting to a tired repertoire of punching down feels more sad than it does mean.
 
Herman Toothrot said:
It's possible to take the piss out of wokeness and still be funny. Even as a vegetarian, Green Party voting, cycle to work wanker, I can still laugh at myself. The trick is being funny. Armageddon was not funny and its attempts to be controversial were desperate. It was badly written clichés presented with an odd stench of smug bitterness. Very few manage to be creative into their 50s and 60s and losing a step or two is understandable, but resulting to a tired repertoire of punching down feels more sad than it does mean.
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Yeah, it's a classic route tbh. Mostly due to cynicism and cash grabs. Gervais did well but anything post 08 is forgettable.

I don't blame him tbh, syndicated The Office and made hundreds of millions. He's bored and was never a stand up, he's searching for meaning in a career that's over.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
He's co host of one of the best podcasts around for anyone who likes comedy and food: Off Menu. Highly recommended. I'm a big fan of the podcast and find him very funny in that context. Not a fan of his stand up though. Just doesn't land for me, personally.
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I didn’t like his stand up set at all, couldn’t figure out if his style was just too different from what the “hip” comedians are doing here (USA). I’ve seen specials of UK comedians in huge arenas and they are just fecking terrible (according to my tastes). Comedy is even more taste oriented than music. As for Ricky Gervais, I loved that special where he had the animals boarding Noah’s ark, but everything after that has not been worth the time spent waiting for a laugh.
Herman Toothrot said:
It's possible to take the piss out of wokeness and still be funny. Even as a vegetarian, Green Party voting, cycle to work wanker, I can still laugh at myself. The trick is being funny. Armageddon was not funny and its attempts to be controversial were desperate. It was badly written clichés presented with an odd stench of smug bitterness. Very few manage to be creative into their 50s and 60s and losing a step or two is understandable, but resulting to a tired repertoire of punching down feels more sad than it does mean.
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Greetings, fellow traveler.
 
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Wing Attack Plan R said:
I didn’t like his stand up set at all, couldn’t figure out if his style was just too different from what the “hip” comedians are doing here (USA). I’ve seen specials of UK comedians in huge arenas and they are just fecking terrible. Comedy is even more taste oriented than music. As for Ricky Gervais, I loved that special where he had the animals boarding Noah’s ark, but everything after that has been. It worth the time spent waiting for a laugh.

Greetings, fellow traveler.
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We should get together and knit some yoghurts.
 
Wing Attack Plan R said:
I didn’t like his stand up set at all, couldn’t figure out if his style was just too different from what the “hip” comedians are doing here (USA). I’ve seen specials of UK comedians in huge arenas and they are just fecking terrible. Comedy is even more taste oriented than music. As for Ricky Gervais, I loved that special where he had the animals boarding Noah’s ark, but everything after that has been. It worth the time spent waiting for a laugh.

Greetings, fellow traveler.
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UK comedians are great, but often the ones who do big arena tours aren't the best. It's usually the comedians who are quite family friendly, or who do sort of cheap laughs/"low brow" stuff who do arena tours (not the best explanation but I'm tired). The only really well acclaimed stand up I can think of who does arenas and has Netflix specials is Jimmy Carr, and even he is divisive in his style and character. Gervais is an outlier because he was famous before ever doing stand up.

There's definitely less of a priority/culture in UK comedy about specials than in the US generally. In the UK most well regarded comedians tend to gravitate towards panel shows or sitcoms instead. Or, they focus on stand up and are revered amongst the people who really like stand up but don't get the big audiences.
 
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Trequarista10 said:
UK comedians are great, but often the ones who do big arena tours aren't the best. It's usually the comedians who are quite family friendly, or who do sort of cheap laughs/"low brow" stuff who do arena tours (not the best explanation but I'm tired).

There's definitely less priority in UK comedy about specials than the US generally. In the UK most well regarded comedians tend to gravitate towards panel shows or sitcoms instead. Or, they focus on stand up and are revered amongst the people who really like stand up but don't get the big audiences.
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That makes a lot of sense. I can’t remember the comedian’s name, but he was performing at a football ground , I think in Australia, and there had to have been 40,000 people there, and he told a couple of really weak gay jokes, and overall was like Howie Mandel or Jay Leno, just tired. Maybe he was Aussie.

I am sure most of the issue is with me, though. A lot of stand up shows just aren’t funny to me anymore, Chapelle, Bill Burr, Patton Oswalt, Sarah Silverman, Maria Bamford, Iliza Schlesinger, Mike Birbiglia, Jimmy Carr, et al. The material that is more absurdist and bizarre is still working, though! I can watch Limmy, or I Think You Should Go Now, or Aunty Donna, and it’s hilarious.
 
Wing Attack Plan R said:
That makes a lot of sense. I can’t remember the comedian’s name, but he was performing at a football ground , I think in Australia, and there had to have been 40,000 people there, and he told a couple of really weak gay jokes, and overall was like Howie Mandel or Jay Leno, just tired. Maybe he was Aussie.

I am sure most of the issue is with me, though. A lot of stand up shows just aren’t funny to me anymore, Chapelle, Bill Burr, Patton Oswalt, Sarah Silverman, Maria Bamford, Iliza Schlesinger, Mike Birbiglia, Jimmy Carr, et al. The material that is more absurdist and bizarre is still working, though! I can watch Limmy, or I Think You Should Go Now, or Aunty Donna, and it’s hilarious.
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Yeah I'm pretty much the same. I do like most of those high profile comedians you listed, but I think once you've seen one of their specials you've essentially seen them all. Especially as there's now such an abundance of comedians doing the same kind of thing. 90 minutes of observational comedy about society, very similiar to the 90 minutes of observational comedy they did a couple years ago, and making the same references to the controversial topic of the moment that all the other comedians have incorporated into their set. Jimmy Carr's a bit different because its just quick fire one liners, but again it's repetitive after a while.
 
Having Donald Trump as both the US president and the funniest stand up comedian for 4 years really killed comedy.
 
I’ve always been a fan of RG, some of his stuff is excellent but he does seem to be running out of fresh material. I only watched Armageddon for about 15 - 20 mins and I felt tired of it. Same. Spent.
 
Trequarista10 said:
Yeah I'm pretty much the same. I do like most of those high profile comedians you listed, but I think once you've seen one of their specials you've essentially seen them all. Especially as there's now such an abundance of comedians doing the same kind of thing. 90 minutes of observational comedy about society, very similiar to the 90 minutes of observational comedy they did a couple years ago, and making the same references to the controversial topic of the moment that all the other comedians have incorporated into their set. Jimmy Carr's a bit different because its just quick fire one liners, but again it's repetitive after a while.
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I used to watch high, not anymore, that’s probably half of it!
 
Watched the first 15 minutes and it’s utterly dreadful. The ‘jokes’ are too on the nose and forced with zero wit, with some of them not even making any sense, and it sounds like he's reading the lines off a piece of paper in front of him.
 
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