Who is funnier? Ricky Gervais vs Larry David

[Fong]

Fong, reading your posts around Urban you are already a front runner for the 2006 Grumpiest Man on Urban Award so from my perspective your subjective opinions on comedy don't really cut much ice.

However, from a technical approach to comedy - i.e. use of language, intelligence deployed in the jokes, subtlety, physical comedy, quality of writing etc - what do you think of them? (For more on this read Jonathan Miller's writing on what makes good comedy from a technical perspective ratherh than 'does it make me laugh/do I have some moral objection to the setting' type of criticism...

Its funny, cause I have a fantastic sense of humour, I just don't find much to laugh at in the misery and timidity of others.

I am a huge fan of stuff like HitchHikers, George Carlin, Bill Hicks. My sense of humour, atleast for me, is not in question. I just don't like this penchant for embarassment humour that seems to prevail so much at the moment.

 

[jodal]

CYE is pretty good, but larry david cant take all the credit for it as most of its improvised - he just plans the story. whereas the office was tightly scripted.

I think you'll find that Larry David can take most of the credit for CYE because he creates the outline which sets up all the jokes.

 

[goldenecitrone]

Gervais by a country mile. Far subtler and more naturally funny than David. Although Seinfeld was a work of genius, to be fair.

 

[kyser_soze]

I just don't find much to laugh at in the misery and timidity of others

I am a huge fan of stuff like HitchHikers, George Carlin, Bill Hicks

I'm not familar with Carlin (altho I've just looked at his site and it looks like my kinda thing), but H2G2 and Hicks certainly mock the misery of others - I'm a huge fan of both myself but to say they don't rely on a degree of cruelty for their humour (Adams basically tortures Arthur Dent all the way thru until the last one when he gets a shag...whoops, spolier there people ) and Hicks delights in mocking those he considers beneath him...the famous 'Why are you reading?' skit for one.

Fair play tho - I know the whole 'cringe comedy' thing can be a bit much (one reason I don't really like Brydon's Supernova that much)

But it's good to hear that you DO laugh mate

 

[Fong]

I'm not familar with Carlin (altho I've just looked at his site and it looks like my kinda thing), but H2G2 and Hicks certainly mock the misery of others - I'm a huge fan of both myself but to say they don't rely on a degree of cruelty for their humour (Adams basically tortures Arthur Dent all the way thru until the last one when he gets a shag...whoops, spolier there people ) and Hicks delights in mocking those he considers beneath him...the famous 'Why are you reading?' skit for one.

Fair play tho - I know the whole 'cringe comedy' thing can be a bit much (one reason I don't really like Brydon's Supernova that much)

But it's good to hear that you DO laugh mate

I can't stand Brydon, that guy is just not funny at all. i watched him live on Jack Dee for about 5 minutes and i heard people were just walking out on him.

While Hicks and Carlin take the piss out of people, they usually take the piss out of people who are far up their own ass anyway, like Christians and PR/Advertising people for Hicks and Carlin just takes the piss out of capitalists and jocks.

HH's does somewhat take the mickey out of everyone, but I never really saw it as 'cringe comedy' (thanks great descriptive term that) perhaps it is, but it is far subtler then spunk in the hair.

 

[PacificOcean]

I am the only person who doesn't find Gervais funny? I really don't get him. I hated the Office and I did really try to like it, honest.

I saw his "animals" stand up show and didn't laugh once. I realise that I am in the minority here.

 

[Fong]

I am the only person who doesn't find Gervais funny? I really don't get him. I hated the Office and I did really try to like it, honest.

I saw his "animals" stand up show and didn't laugh once. I realise that I am in the minority here.

You know what really turned me off Gervais, watching him on some american chat show crawling up the collective american asshole in an attempt to 'make it' in america.

That really pissed me off, cause up until that point, I thought he was a fairly decent guy, even if I never liked the Office.

 

[PacificOcean]

You know what really turned me off Gervais, watching him on some american chat show crawling up the collective american asshole in an attempt to 'make it' in america.

That really pissed me off, cause up until that point, I thought he was a fairly decent guy, even if I never liked the Office.

He always comes across as a bit of an arragoant egotistical twat at comedy award things.

Unless thats his act and I missing the point.

 

[andy2002]

He always comes across as a bit of an arragoant egotistical twat at comedy award things.

Quite. Seeing him in a tuxedo smoking a big fat cigar at an awards show a couple of years ago made me think he was a bit of a typical showbiz twat.

 

[kyser_soze]

Irony gland removal lads...possibly because you've only ever seen The Office and not listened to the radio stuff, but that's his comedy persona when he's in public collecting awards and on chat shows...

 

[Reno]

I am the only person who doesn't find Gervais funny? I really don't get him. I hated the Office and I did really try to like it, honest.

I saw his "animals" stand up show and didn't laugh once. I realise that I am in the minority here.

No you're not. I can't stand The Office and giving Gervais another chance I tried to watch his stand up show Politics yesterday and couldn't believe how poor the material was.

I get a bit fed up with all this British "character" comedy. It all strikes me as rather vain and contemptuous and I never quite buy the supposed accuracy of it. From the Cathrine Tate show to The Office we are all supposed to marvel at how real these characters are, but in something like The Office I never could buy into the premise that this is like a documentary because it is so clearly and obviously acted and in Gervais' case self consciously over acted.

I much prefer Larry David. He takes aspects of himself and makes us laugh at that instead of snobbishly parading around shrill caricature of a working class or lower middle class people for us to point and laugh at.

 

[goldenecitrone]

I much prefer Larry David. He takes aspects of himself and makes us laugh at that instead of snobbishly parading around shrill caricature of a working class or lower middle class people for us to point and laugh at.

So can we only laugh at the upper classes now? I bet you pissed yourself watching Brideshead Revisited.

 

[Fong]

So can we only laugh at the upper classes now? I bet you pissed yourself watching Brideshead Revisited.

I didn't get that from what he wrote.

That program that was the guy who was recently accused of having child pron, can't remember his name off hand, but that was seriously excellent 'docu-comedy' and that was to some degree 'cringe' comedy, but again I think its about subtlety

 

[kyser_soze]

I get a bit fed up with all this British "character" comedy.

So I take it you're not a fan of ' 'Til Death Us do Part', 'Fawlty Towers', 'One Foot in the Grave' and 'Only Fools and Horses' as well then? All character comedy in the same vein as The Office...all rip the piss out of aspects of lower m/c and w/c characters...

 

[Reno]

So I take it you're not a fan of ' 'Til Death Us do Part', 'Fawlty Towers', 'One Foot in the Grave' and 'Only Fools and Horses' as well then? All character comedy in the same vein as The Office...all rip the piss out of aspects of lower m/c and w/c characters...

These comedies where about considerably more than the supposed accuracy in portraing a particular type. Fawlty Towers for examply frequently strayed into absurd comedy and John Cleese gave a highly stylised performance.

 

[kyser_soze]

OK, what about the stereotyped idiot white racist w/c old man in TDUDP? Much as it was written as a satire on such people, there was and is an ongoing argument that such characters are dangerous in comedy aimed at a mass audience who share the characters views...

(BTW, I'm bein baity cos I've got a head full of cold today so I'm a bit grumpy...)

Dunno if you know this, but Fawlty Towers is based on a real life experience Clesse and Booth had while staying on the South Coast...

 

[goldenecitrone]

Dunno if you know this, but Fawlty Towers is based on a real life experience Clesse and Booth had while staying on the South Coast...

And the Brent character is based on a boss Gervais once had. And the colleagues he worked with, presumably. Shame he wasn't born into royalty so he could have taken the piss out of them and appease those offended by 'class-based' humour.

 

[May Kasahara]

I don't have an opinion on Larry David as I've seen none of CYE and only a bare sniff of Seinfeld (although that was quite enough to kill any desire I might have had to watch more). But I would like to state now for the record that IMO Ricky Gervais is not funny. He is the king of unfunny. As far as I'm concerned that cunt isn't just wearing the emperor's new clothes, he is the emperor's new clothes. From the very first time I saw him on The 11 O'Clock Show, he has come across as just a nasty, hateful twat. It shocks me that he now has such a following.

Humour eh? It's a funny old game.

 

[kyser_soze]

Exactly - how funny would a comedy about a u/c family be? Just as full of stereotypes but with the added crap factor of not being able to identify with any of the characters.

As I've said before on comedy threds - I don't mind people saying 'X isn't funny' but to say 'X is crap comedy' when X clearly isn't is bollox...IMHO

 

[Reno]

OK, what about the stereotyped idiot white racist w/c old man in TDUDP? Much as it was written as a satire on such people, there was and is an ongoing argument that such characters are dangerous in comedy aimed at a mass audience who share the characters views...

(BTW, I'm bein baity cos I've got a head full of cold today so I'm a bit grumpy...)

It's a bit before my time and I haven't really seen enough of it to comment. Anyway I'm not talking about the danger of people identifying with a character, that's a different issue alltogether.

All of the shows you mentioned are old style sitcoms in that they were script driven and based on situations, rather than being orignated by a comedic performer so they can congratule themselves on how accurately they impersonate a particular type.

 

[goldenecitrone]

Humour eh? It's a funny old game.

You're not codding.

 

[Reno]

As far as I'm concerned that cunt isn't just wearing the emperor's new clothes, he is the emperor's new clothes. From the very first time I saw him on The 11 O'Clock Show, he has come across as just a nasty, hateful twat. It shocks me that he now has such a following.

Humour eh? It's a funny old game.

...and last weeks Radio Times with Gervais in a white suit as god just made me want to puke. Someone should tell the man that irony is rarely funny when pounded flat with a sledge hammer.

 

[andy2002]

From the very first time I saw him on The 11 O'Clock Show, he has come across as just a nasty, hateful twat.

No, no, no – he was just being hilariously ironic, just like when he tells jokes about 'cripples' and 'gaylords'. He's such a card!

 

[goldenecitrone]

No, no, no – he was just being hilariously ironic, just like when he tells jokes about 'cripples' and 'gaylords'. He's such a card!

He doesn't joke about cripples. He jokes about the term 'spastics'. There is a difference.

 

[butchersapron]

Larry David is funnier but RG has made me laugh more.

 

[kyser_soze]

He doesn't joke about cripples. He jokes about the term 'spastics'. There is a difference.

My personal favourite 11 O'Clock show bit was his comment on the paralympics:

'I put money on all the runners in the 100 meters'

'Why?'

'Well, they're all winners arent they?'

Now Andy...who is he taking the piss out of here?

 

[Belushi]

'I put money on all the runners in the 100 meters'

'Why?'

'Well, they're all winners arent they?'

ROFLMAO

 

[goldenecitrone]

Now Andy...who is he taking the piss out of here?

Patronizing twats the world over.

 

[andy2002]

He doesn't joke about cripples. He jokes about the term 'spastics'. There is a difference.

I saw Politics ages ago and wasn't particularly offended by it. Can't remember much about it, really, other than that I found his 'ironic' anti-PC routines not especially funny.

 

[andy2002]

Patronizing twats the world over.

Or maybe people who are happy to excuse any old lazy reactionary bollocks by calling it 'ironic'.