Shelf-life of comedians...

Pogue Mahone

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Was just thinking about the "Life's Too Short" series and how much Ricky Gervais has started to annoy me. I used to think he was really funny. The Office is one of my all-time favourite comedy shows. I liked Extras. I down-loaded dozens of hours of his podcasts. I was a big fan. Now he just pisses me off. I know he's playing up, being deliberately irritating but the crucial element which used to let him get away with this is gone. I just don't find him funny any more.

Which got me thinking about a broader issue. Every comedian I can think of that I was a fan of at one point has had a certain shelf-life before they stop making me laugh. Eddie Izzard, Billy Connelly, Eddie Murphy, Frank Skinner, Steve Martin; once hilarious, now shite. To me, anyway.

The only comedian I still find as funny now as when I first heard him is Bill Hicks. Which is probably because he died young.

Is it just me? Or has anyone else noticed this?

If so, do you think it's because they reach a certain age where they can't pull it off any more? Is comedy a young man's game?

Or do comics have a finite amount of material? After the third or fourth tour have they used all their best jokes and start to recycle the same gags - with ever diminishing results.

Discuss.
 
I think it's over exposure to a degree. Somebody gets famous and starts appearing more and more frequently on television and then we get bored of them and/or find out that they were a comedic one trick pony, like Frankie Boyle.
 
Most probably because they simply run out of funny material. It's probably why a lot move on from stand up and do the panel shows or presenting stuff because in that environment they still have something to offer with their natural whit but don't have to come up with an hour plus of material.

The best stand up experiences come from the small amateur clubs IMO.
 
Yeah, there has to be something in it. Very few of them remain relevant, let alone as funny as they were after a few years at the top. The Gervais thing is odd because as the years pass he seems to be spreading himself more and more thinly to the point where a lot of what he does just seems to be based around half an idea with the audience expected to do the rest. And similar to you I've seen everything he does, listened to every podcast/radio show etc. Then again, much of his humour now derives from how rich/famous he is and that joke grates quite quickly.

The only comic I can think of who still seems to nail it every time I see him is Dylan Moran. He's quite brilliant at what he does without ever being in danger of being given his own vanity vehicle. He stands apart from the ever-growing breed of chat show/panel comedians who seem to be so over-exposed as to leave very little for their audiences.
 
I've always thought this. First noticed it with Lee Evans. Still find him funny every now and then but used to be in stitches at his stand up. People are funnier when they bring something new to the table and after a while tend to go stale and predictable. Peter Kay did the right thing by disappearing off the radar when he started to go that way but it's bound to happen eventually.
 
VeevaVee said:
I've always thought this. First noticed it with Lee Evans. Still find him funny every now and then but used to be in stitches at his stand up. People are funnier when they bring something new to the table and after a while tend to go stale and predictable. Peter Kay did the right thing by disappearing off the radar when he started to go that way but it's bound to happen eventually.
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The only good Evans bit I've seen was the jazz band bit.
 
It's very difficult for a well known standup comedian to reinvent thier persona that's the problem, they find a style/character that works and then dine off that. No different to most actors really, they have their image and then work with it for as long as they can.

I prefer watching classic stuff (Secret policeman's ball) and visiting comedy clubs.
 
Frankie Boyle is one for me, I used to find him utterly hilarious on Mock The Week, now whenever I see repeats on TV I don't find him funny in the slightest.
 
He's still selling out and doing a good job at the Golden Globes. I think it's more you. It's not like he's doing hell of a lot. Only features a bit in Lifes too Short and An Idiot Abroad. Not enough to annoy you, surely. That must be grumpyness or something because so little of a person I don't like doesn't annoy me that much.

Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy took the easy route. Started making shit movies and got a lot of money for it. If you look at the top 50 box office flops of all time I think Murphy is in at least 10 of them.

I don't mind Izzard or Carlin or Gervais. So I don't feel the same way as you do.
 
I don't think comedy is a young man's game, half the trouble in British comedy anyway is we find young comedians on TV before they have even had a chance to evolve their persona/stance/material, very few comics have the talent to come out of the box fully formed.

I think Gervais has some time to go before he is totally finished, one bad tv show and a few shit hollywood films doesn't end a career anymore. I do agree though that the "new" Gervais is now becoming far removed from what once made him as good as he was in The Office/Animals/Politics, as Barry off Eastenders once said "Fame is a mask that eats into the face."
 
cinc said:
Jon Stewart is still good. So is Colbert.
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I catch the Daily Show occasionally and I do not find it or the host funny in the slightest. It's embarrassing, dreadful stuff. Pull a funny face and shout, that'll show em.
 
Jon Bishop is one of my favourite comedians at the moment, and I feel it's only a matter of time before he goes down this wretched road. His last show was this summer, after which he announced he planned to go on hiatus for a few years to be a family man. That didn't last long though as he's got a new all-arena tour announced for next year. Right now I'm delighted to see another of his shows, I just hope he doesn't overdo it like everyone else. Guess his next show will be a good indicator of how long he'll last...

Edit: When I say show I mean tour, not TV program
 
Stand-up comedy died a death in the 70s - no one wanted to hear some cnut telling old jokes any more. In the 80s it made a big comeback with relevant/alternative comics but that's been over for about 20 fecking years.
 
decorativeed said:
Well, to be fair most of them are no longer on the air.
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Spitting Image during the Thatcher years was probably the only satirical show worth it's salt I can think of. Also Drop the Dead Donkey had it's moments.

Not really comprable to The Daily Show though, both satircal news based but you could not get more different formats.

The Uk has/had (not sure if it got cancelled) the 10 O'clock show with Charlie Brooker and the bird from Kenikie, but that was shit.
 
peterstorey said:
Stand-up comedy died a death in the 70s - no one wanted to hear some cnut telling old jokes any more. In the 80s it made a big comeback with relevant/alternative comics but that's been over for about 20 fecking years.
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Seriously? There are seem to be about 10 different variants of the Michael Macintyre stand up thingys on all the main channels at the moment.
 
duffer said:
Spitting Image during the Thatcher years was probably the only satirical show worth it's salt I can think of. Also Drop the Dead Donkey had it's moments.

Not really comprable to The Daily Show though, both satircal news based but you could not get more different formats.

The Uk has/had (not sure if it got cancelled) the 10 O'clock show with Charlie Brooker and the bird from Kenikie, but that was shit.
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Yes, that was essentially the UK version of the Daily Show. Crap.

The other shows you mention I also agree on. Add anything Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris have been involved with, everything Stewart Lee has done and Charlie Brookers' other programmes (screenwipe, newswipe etc) to that list too.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
If so, do you think it's because they reach a certain age where they can't pull it off any more? Is comedy a young man's game?

Or do comics have a finite amount of material? After the third or fourth tour have they used all their best jokes and start to recycle the same gags - with ever diminishing results.

Discuss.
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The answer to all your questions lie with George Carlin. Fourteen HBO Specials in 20 odd years. Changed comedy forever and was as funny and insightful before he died as he was when he started out... and he kept working right to the very end.

From his most famous bit '7 dirty words' for which he was arrested in the 70s



Attacking materialism in the 80s



Tackling America's love of war in the 90s



Putting down America in his final special




He definitely got angrier as he aged but the quality of his material never suffered. An absolute expert, he was capable of creating a ridiculous amount of perfectly honed comedy.
 
Micky Flannigan always makes me laugh at the mo. And he's not over doing it (it's mainly panel shows to be fair) so hopefully loads left to see.
 
I would say that comedy is one of those really hard things to maintain over a lonf period of time. Even if you can keep the jokes fresh and constantly innovate new ones, people will eventually become used to your comedy style, and will be bored of you. For me, the trick is to constantly change what you do as a comedian. Move from tours, to panel shows, etc. Keep it fresh, so that you're doing something different and can appeal to a different audience once you start to go stale.
 
One guy that never gets old for me. Like the way he has Wossy on edge here, much too quick for him...





 
cheesy said:
I would say that comedy is one of those really hard things to maintain over a lonf period of time. Even if you can keep the jokes fresh and constantly innovate new ones, people will eventually become used to your comedy style, and will be bored of you. For me, the trick is to constantly change what you do as a comedian. Move from tours, to panel shows, etc. Keep it fresh, so that you're doing something different and can appeal to a different audience once you start to go stale.
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The whole idea of packaged comedy has died on its feet (again). People want to see bands or films or dance not listen to this recycled old crap.
 
decorativeed said:
Yes, that was essentially the UK version of the Daily Show. Crap.

The other shows you mention I also agree on. Add anything Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris have been involved with, everything Stewart Lee has done and Charlie Brookers' other programmes (screenwipe, newswipe etc) to that list too.
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Problem is that no comedy is truely prepared to push the boat because of our overly sensitive society that complains to OFCOM the moment anyone says anything even slightly rude or controversial.
 
I had tears in my eyes watching that. I think Moran is one the most underrated comics around. He's just naturally funny. His views on the world and people in general are so abstract and random at times, it's just hillarious. Nothing he says ever seems scripted.

Brilliant, brilliant comedian.
 
Yeah, I like Dylan Moran as well.

There's no affectation there, I think. It's him on stage. And his jokes and delivery are quality.
 
De Selby said:
Yeah, I like Dylan Moran as well.

There's no affectation there, I think. It's him on stage. And his jokes and delivery are quality.
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That's the thing about him though. I doesn't even seem like they are jokes, just random musings from inside a mildly strange mind.

It's almost like he doesn't even prepare a 'set'. He just turns up says whatever's in his head and goes home not giving a feck if anyone liked it or not. :lol:
 
Dylan Moran and Robin Williams are the only stand up comedians I have never got bored of.
 
Dylan's brilliant.
 
@Tdon69: I don't know about that. I saw him in Vicar St. in Dublin a year or so ago and his set was pretty tight, despite coming across as if it was off the cuff.

Not that his slightly drunk, rambling way is a put-on, it's just that I reckon he knows his set well enough to blather on the way he does.
 
Tommy Tiernan is another strange one. Used to be funny and then tried to break America which apparently broke him.
 
De Selby said:
@Tdon69: I don't know about that. I saw him in Vicar St. in Dublin a year or so ago and his set was pretty tight, despite coming across as if it was off the cuff.

Not that his slightly drunk, rambling way is a put-on, it's just that I reckon he knows his set well enough to blather on the way he does.
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I'd say part of what he does on stage is loosely based on a script/set but he seems to deviate so much from one line of thought to another that he end's up just winging it most of the time.

I mean this line, "when you're 20 or 25 you can dream about whatever you want, you can dream you are a swan, made of honey, burping out little Barry Manilows, who stab each other in the leg with compases"

Who in their right mind would write that down as a possible gag/joke?
Yet when you see it in context, it's fecking hillarious.
 
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I don't listen to his stuff a ton, but it nearly always makes me laugh. I remember lying in a friend's floor listening to one of his performances with a huge migraine and was still laughing. Even though it hurt like hell.
 
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