So you're watching a show, or a movie or a stand up comedian and everything in your field of vision is leaving your cold. To make matters worse, everyone's laughing except you. As your eyes cast around the room, desparately trying to seek out a mate or a fellow punter who's as unimpressed as you, the cold creeping fingers of self doubt wrap themselves around you. Is it you? Are you a humourless clutchplate or the only individual in the room with any taste?

What's your comedy blindspot? Who is the act/What is the show/movie that is acclaimed by all yet you don't find it funny?

Bo! Selecta.

What. The Fuck.

How the hell is some idiot in a neck brace/spitting image mask with Craig from Big Brother 1 trussed up in the cupboard funny? How the hell did he last for more than one series? He's incomprehensible and just plain weak. And nailing celebrities was way funnier when Chris Morris was doing it.

Oooooh, huge cans of worms to open here.

I've never liked the League of Gentlemen. I've tried and tried but I just don't like it.

There, I've said it.

I think I'm one of the only ones (on this forum anyway!) who laughed at Bo Selecta. It was just so silly that I found it amusing. I didn't like A Bear's Tale though. That was just rubbish.

I don't find Eddie Izzard very funny either. Sometimes he's alright, but generally I don't laugh.

I don't find Billy Connely very funny.

I haven't ever laughed at Victoria Wood, and particularly dislike her 'comedy' songs.

I used to like Jack Dee when he first started, but it seems that the more popular he became and the more people laughed at him the more I didn't find him funny any more.

As I've probably said here before I don't find Catherine Tate funny at all. Most of what she does is pretty old hat really, and I can't see why people are still lapping it up. In fact, I saw an item on Richard and Judy (yardstick of intellect that they are) the other day and they had a group of people giving opinions on Catherine Tate. One described her as "the comedy sensation on 2005" (or similar). I was hoping that they would get round to asking Richard Herring what he thought (hoping in my heart that he would have been quite ungentlemanly and slated her) but R&J never asked him. Also, Heat magazine seem to rate her. Ah, I hate Heat anyway...

John Culshaw is rubbish. He's the new equivalent of Michael 'Motormouth Jones from Police Academy' Winslow, as in he can do about two different noises from his mouth and yet is lauded as some sort of accurate vocal mimic.

I found Meet The Parents not that funny...until the end. But no matter what, I just couldn't laugh that hard as I usually do with other movies, like Zoolander or SoTD.

Ditto , perhaps we should start a support group.

Although I seem to have agreed (at least partially) with everything listed here being overated, so I guess I'm just a miserable sod.

Oh and don't get me started on South Park (Admittedly it amused me when I was younger and it was new, but it just completely irritates me now)

I hate Bo Selecta!, A Bear's Tale, League of Gentlemen, Catherine Tate, Phoenix Nights, Dead Ringers and quite a few more that I can't think of right now.

HK - I know what you mean about Eddie Izzard. His last DVD absolutely sucked but when he's good he's very very good - I think the one show he did that was televised on US TV (not sure if it is available to buy) with the cake or death and Engelbert Humperdink and French monkeys in trees has made me laugh more than all other comedians put together.

Grahamkinz is right with you on the Victoria Wood hating - he has to walk out of the room if she is on telly. He blames his mother.

Ha - I suppose I can partially thank my Mum for putting me off of Victoria Wood. She would always say [foreign accent]"Why can that woman not wear a nice clothes. She looks like a stupid with that long shirt!"[/foreign accent]

Good shout on Catherine Tate, I'm not at all amused by her. Sometimes it's like all you need are some stereotypical characters with an easy to remember catchphrase and you've hit comedy gold. You haven't, it's boring.

The same goes for Little Britain to an extent, although I did find that funny for the first one or two of each run, before I got bored. My hatred of this has grown since people started quoting it endlessly.

I'm sorry, I'm going to have to add some more. Harry Hill, Harry Hill and Harry Hill. He makes me feel violent.

I'm with you on Harry Hill. Urgh.

League of Gents - overstepped the mark as far as I'm concerned. Just too dark.

Time Gentleman Please. And the bloke who is in it. Irritating.

The Mighty Boosh. Sorry, but I just don't get it.

Oh and the Fast Show, and anything with Steve Coogan in it. Makes me cringe.

And Brass Eye and The Day Today. Once again with the cringing.

I have had stand up rows about comedy preferences before. Mostly about Steve Coogan with my boyfriend and his brother. They don't understand why I don't think he is funny.

Dress to Kill (the blue one)

Bloody marvellous. "Glorious" is damn good, too. Ah, I'm remembering the good old days now - Izzard was the one who got me "into comedy"


I've never liked Harry Hill, really. He made me snortchuckle once or twice a few years ago. I can't remember why.

(The first series of) Bo! Selecta was funny to a degree. LoG was fantastic for the first two seasons, and the thrid just wasn't anywhere near as funny. I'm still of the opinion that Peter Kay is very funny.

Tate is bunk.

'Smell my cheese you mother' hehe sorry ella


I quite liked brass eye and the day today :S (but im not here to defend it, this is the moany thread hehe)


An I'm deffo with you guys on Catherine Tate, and have people also noticed that half the people who quote that are infact the people its mocking? (same with vicky pollard in littlebritain)


edited to remove an 'lol'

Oddly enough me and the boy don't like Phoenix Nights yet we like Road to Nowhere which everyone else seems to hate. And I quite like Peter Kay as a stand-up act.



Oh, you didn't lol did you? How embarrassing!

well, i agree with what most people have said and i shalln't defend those that i think are funny as this isn't the place to do that.



'garth merenghi's dark place' - absolute and utter fucking shit, sums up everything i hate about students.

'little britain' - unoriginal, unfunny, trying to hard to shock with cheap jokes. wank.

'the fast show' - started off funny, wore thin. catchphrase comedy is real lowest common denominator stuff. cheap.

'league of gentlemen' - half enjoyed the first series, noting new, but executed well with some great bits scattered around. series two, seems to be the one everyone loves, but again it submitted to catchphrase shitology. the third series, which everyone seems to hate, was my favourite by a country mile.

'that tate woman' - see everything i've written about unoriginal cathphrase crap and multiply it by one million.

'two pints of lager and a packet of crisps' - who gives the green light to this kind of crap? just rubbish.

'al murray - pub landlord' - how is it posible to garner such praise by repeating the same five phrases over and over and over again for the last five years?

any impressionists - just fucking stop it. you're the comedy equivalent of juggling. any talentless fuckwit can do it if they practise for long enough.

I liked Bo Selecta!, as did one of my colleagues, but I think the third series was pretty weak. Having said that, I have all three on DVD

Billy Connolly can be pretty damn funny - my girlfriend and I (and her rather straight-faced parents!) saw him in 2002 in Glasgow.

Victoria Wood should be set on fire. 'Nuff said.

Jack Dee's Sunday night show (whatever it was called) where he boiled 'celebrity' eggs was pretty funny, but apart from that....

Didn't really like Balls of Steel much.

The Mighty Boosh

I'll get me coat.

I can't stand Phoenix Nights. I really don't find Peter Kay very funny, occassionally he will make a really obvious observation that is mildly amusing but everyone can do that once in a while without being hailed as a comedy genius.

I'm really disappointed by Jack Dee. I used to find him really funny but his stand-up is really weak now. Dara O Briain absolutely put him to shame when he appeared on Dee's show.

I never ever once even chuckled at Seinfeld. People here think I'm broken.

oh, and anyone who says "garlic?... bread?... garlic?... bread?... garlic?... bread?... garlic?... bread?... garlic?... bread?... garlic?... bread?... garlic?... bread?... garlic?... bread?..." at a given opportunity and thinks they are god's gift to comedy should have sharp metal objects driven into them.

that's kay's another one who's been using the same stand-up routine for the last five years and it's worn more than a little thin...



i liked 'road to nowhere' though...

I believe I'm in the minority when I say that series 3 is my favourite (after the Christmas special, with it's terrifying ending).


I was watching Road to Nowhere and wondering if I had missed something. It was like a sit-com from the late 80's or early 90's and just seemed very tired.

I don't think I'll offend anyone if I say that Green Green Grass is possibly the worst sitcom this side of Mad About Alice. It's like a parody of a bad sitcom. I don't know why someone at some stage of the production process didn't try to aid humanity by stealing every copy destined for broadcast and blast it into the heart of the sun on a rocket ship.

Ditto My Family.

You're wrong, and you're a grotesquely ugly freak.

Thanks.


This applies to anyone who mentions the above in a negetive context.

I get why people don't like Kay, and "garlic bread" has worn thin, but he's still (or was) funny.

I love 3 out of those 4, so can I just be a freak? My self-esteem can't handle being called grotesque or ugly.

The Fast Show was very good in places, but c'mon, did you even crack a smile at Suits You Sir after you'd seen the first sketch? Whatever advertising genius thought they'd bring them back nearly ten years after they were popular is doing too much crack.

I find that the front person of any sketch based show is the least funny. As a child I would watch Harry Enfield and think that Harry was rubbish and Paul Whitehouse was the bomb. Then when Fast Show came about Paul Whitehouse was rubbish and other people seemed better. etc

So it's not a blindspot thing, it's just that they didn't keep it fresh enough. And yes, Harry Enfield was rubbish compared with Paul, but that might be because Enfield's just a bit crap.

I get what you mean about frontmen, though - Paul always seemed to be on screen in the Fast Show but I think that Charlie Higson was the real driving force behind the whole program.

Ergo; Higson > Whitehouse > Enfield - I don't really think it's a context thing, it's just the way things are.

I don't care. I know I'm right and you will be first against the wall when the revolution comes.

It is not the first time that I have been pulled up for my hatred of "obviously hilarious and intelligent" comedy.

I blame the John Smiths commericals. He was funny before he did them.

I don't like Will & Grace. Or Channel 4 comedy project - or whatever that Jimmy Carr show is called.

I just never liked the Suits You thing in particular. Most of the rest of the show I loved.



I totally agree. I think maybe it's because Charlie Higson never overplays things. Even when he's doing a character that is doing something extreme (like having a nervous breakdown because someone said 'black', or wearing hot pants and singing 'Jay-sus, Jay-sus, Jay-sus') he isn't tempted to make it too pantomime.
The Ralph and Ted stuff is really nice and Paul Whitehouse is good in it because he doesn't gimp it up too much.

There's plenty that won't make me laugh: any form of 'oh no' comedy, specifically 'Mr. Bean', slapstick without the necessary wit to back it up, like 'Bottom', overly crass humour such as 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' any anything that relies strongly on the situation to provide the humour like 'One Foot in the Grave' or some elements .'Fawlty Towers'.

Basically farce without wit. The comedy of 'humour' doesn't appeal to me.

I got into The Fast Show very very late so being bored of the sketches was never an issue for me.

I forgot about Garth Marenghi or however it's spelt.

It was another of the list of, well, I'll try to watch it more than once in case I get it, but I never did. I just thought it was rubbish.

Thanks for giving it a fitting name. And also reminding me how much I dislike Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Last of The Summer Wine.

The audience of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em sound like they are laughing so hard at some points that they are in serious danger of hurting something. Y'know, that kind of laughter where there's just no laughter left, yet there's more trying to get out. And all I can think is 'what are you people laughing at?' Every week seems to culminate in Frank destroying some shonky looking prop that falls apart much easier than it should. And then Frank pulls a face that says 'oh dear, was that my fault?' when he should say 'Slap dash workmanship's to blame. I encounter this kind of shoddiness every week y'know.'

And Last of the Summer Wine is just literally nothing happening for the first 27 mins and then four old men panicking as they ride a hastily assemebled vehicle down a hill and into a lake. And yet they die of old age? Why not kill one of them off in the ending mis-hap and give this thing some meaning.

I can't bear that kind of thing, I actually find it quite upsetting. Which is why, although I really enjoy the dialogue and performances in 'Meet the Parents' I find the 'oh no' sections really hard to watch. They make me squirm, luckily Owen Wilson as a Jesus loving, carpentering, ex fiance more than compensates.

Have we had "Only Fools And Horses" yet? That's guff.

Ah, that bit with the chandelier, and the bit where he misses the bar, and where they're dressed as Batman and Robin. As the BBC refuse to let you forget, that, my friends, is definitive English comedy.

I used to find it upsetting, as a child, to see bad things happen to cartoon characters (getting cut in half, having facial features blown off by TNT, getting a hole straight through them, etc). It wasn't until Who Framed Roger Rabbit explained that they are 'magic' and can't be hurt or killed by anything other than 'Dip' that I stopped being traumatised.

It won a nationwide poll, dontcha know?

It is totally over rated and if you compare the amount of hours worth of shows to the amount of times you'll actually laugh I think you'll find it averages less than if you just sat on your own looking into the sea with only your thoughts for company.

The Vicar of Dibley, Ab Fab, and French and Saunders generally, is a bit rubbish too.

Lets hope Kingofcomedy isn't still around the board, you'll set him off again. The first few series of Only Fools was great character driven comedy but they really did drive it into the ground by keeping it on for so long. Repeating those sight gags ad naseum hasn't helped either. The episodes with Jim Broadbent were genius though.

I agree with League of Gentlemen. Frankly it scares me- I just don't see how adults can find it funny but then I worry at the thought that little kids are watching it.


I agree. Fucking hate A Bear's Tale, though.


I thought it was.

Oh, and how can anyone dislike Harry Hill? He's so cute! And anyone who can sing 'This Charming Man' so well is brilliant in my books.

Charlie Higson is brilliant, I even found the Swiss Toni spin-off show entertaining because of him.

Putting your father in a home is like making love to a beautiful woman. It's all about getting your old man safely lodged

Class.

A Bear's Tail was about as funny as being shat on!

blimey, sacred cow slaughtering time is it? i see a little inverse snobbery in a lot of these choices - e.g only fools and horses. the arrival of cassandra and del's wife was the start of the slide, but you can't deny the humour and likeability of the early eighties series.

and as for summer wine, this is my favourite bit from a simon armitage ( northern poet ) book -



even the first series of bo selecta was hilarious - it was just a joke stretched too far for too long.

red dwarf was bobbins though.

Ah, good to see someone agrees with me about Only Fools - in the early eighties it was very funny. What does 'bobbins' mean pots, is that positive or negative?

I think 'Bobbins' is negative. Although the last two series of Red Dwarf were dire.

'red dwarf' is a cracking example of something that has dated really badly indeed...

Agreed

Bobbins means crap, the word was popularised by Mark and Lard in their early nineties 10-Midnight slot on Radio 1.

Series 4-8 I'll give you -- definitely 7-8, which should never have been made -- and maybe even 1, but 2-3 are still respectable enough for me.

The Simpsons for the last, oh, 7 or 8 years have consistently failed to amuse me. And it's not simply that they've left me unamused, but rather they've taken whatever levity remained in my soul and ripped it from me, week after sorry week that this programme remains on the air. They have deamused me. As has Saturday Night Live, since about the time Phil Hartman died and (obviously) stopped guest hosting.

Now, as for shows that I just don't get... Friends. Will & Grace. Any Adam Sandler film ever made.Any Martin Lawrence film ever made.

I think The Simpsons has been going downhill for years!



Friends went downhill, for me, when Phoebe popped her sprogs. That fucking stupid Happy Days-obsessed doctor!

Martin Lawrence is shit as a stand-alone comedy actor. With Will Smith in Bad Boys he was OK, though.

Nighty Night.

I don't know anyone who doesn't like it, but I just found it boring & annoying. Why would people put up with her shit?

Perhaps, but Bad Boys II was quite a painful experience for me. I was dragged along to the cinema, in the first place, and the audience we watched it with was the type that laughs, even applauds, at all the lamest and most-embarrassing gags! You could barely hear what relevant dialogue there was, 'cos they were all still hooting and guffawing over the mice-doing-it joke.

Laughing's fine, but there is a line which you do not cross, lest you ruin the cinema experience for your fellow viewers! And laughing like some hysterical, toked-up hyena, en masse, crosses that line. As does applauding raucously for a minute straight. On a regular and consistent basis.

Is it just me, or are movie audiences getting worse every year, etiquette-wise? Talking in a cinema is bad enough, but now (here, anyway) they're talking with impunity, and not just to their companions. It's their bloody cell phones! Can't they read the signs?

Plus, they're dropping off herds of primary-school-aged kids and leaving them, unsupervised, for hours at a time, whilst mum goes off and shops for shoes at the adjacent strip mall.

And don't get me started on the babies! They're bad enough to sit next to on an aeroplane, but try sitting next to one in a crowded screening of The Matrix Reloaded!

Phoenix Nights series one was brilliant, but then Kay became too lazy and egotistical. Everything he's done since has been a pale shadow.