Who do you think will win?

The winner is bound to be someone like Ronnie Barker. All the usual comedians will place highly, but since it's not voted for by the public there might be a couple of suprises high up.

I reckon Jim Davidson will be up their somewhere....on merit alone

Morcombe or Wise?

hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks hicks

and chris morris

I didn't know Rowan Atkinson had a stutter.


Bob.

Chaplin is crap WTF is going on there!!!

Dagnammit. I want the complete Blackadder.

Vic and Bob?! Vic and Bob?!!! They are funny but not that funny!

I think the mistake was in allowing American comedians to vote. Still any chance of Simon Pegg in the top 3 anyone? Maybe not.

I love John Cleese. But Michael Palin will always be my favourite python.

Peter cook! Didn't see that one coming especially with the next programme thats on! Channel 4 to predictable

so....peter cook... wasnt really expecting that

bob monkhouse should have been higher

'course they are!
Thank god they were in the top 10. The nineties would have been completely different (comedy wise, like) without them.

was ronnie barker in this one at all . i watched it but i dont remember seeing him. he won the britain's favourite comedian one didnt he?

yeah he was in it..
i dont remember where he came..
but he was in it.

Ronnie Barker was 16th.

The full list was:

1. Peter Cook
2. John Cleese
3. Woody Allen
4. Eric Morecambe
5. Groucho Marx
6. Tommy Cooper
7. Laurel and Hardy
8. Billy Connolly
9. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer
10. Richard Pryor
11. Chris Morris
12. Tony Hancock
13. Bill Hicks
14. Peter Sellers
15. Steve Martin
16. Ronnie Barker
17. Steve Coogan
18. Charlie Chaplin
19. Eddie Izzard
20. Paul Merton
21. Eric Idle
22. Peter Kay
23. Larry David
24. Rowan Atkinson
25. Bob Hope
26. Harry Hill
27. Victoria Wood
28. Spike Milligan
29. Christopher Guest
30. Michael Palin
31. French and Saunders
32. Eddie Murphy
33. Bob Monkhouse
34. Rik Mayall
35. Steven Wright
36. Ken Dodd
37. Les Dawson
38. Chic Murray
39. Stephen Fry
40. Joan Rivers
41. Joyce Grenfell
42. Phil Silvers
43. Jackie Mason
44. Eric Sykes
45. Robin Williams
46. Paul Whitehouse
47. Bill Cosby
48. Mike Myers
49. Ricky Gervais
50. Mel Brooks


Another pointless poll. I'd love to know who they asked. Peter Kay higher than Spike Milligan ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. That's enough.

The only problem I have with this poll is the difference between a comedian and a comedic actor....John cleese is funny on camera, but is he a comedian? And if so, why no place for David Jason?

Not that I'd include Dell boy, but you get my point.

Gene Wilder is another example..he admits to being dull as shite without a funny script.

Although I suppose John Cleese is a poor example because he writes a great deal of his material....

Well. Did you agree with the results?

Of course Cleese counts. The man is a legend. Great writer and brilliant actor. It's interesting about what counts though - Bob Hope was in it for example and he had his material written by others and in my opinion he didn't even have a good delivery. Rubbish.

I second that notion:P

Sorry, you missed my point...I was contradicting myself here, my choice of John Cleese was a bad one.


And did I agree with the final decision?...well sort of perhaps, but I'll admit I've not seen a great deal of Peter Cooks work....except Supergirl.

There was a programme about the Secret Policeman's Ball a few days earlier and it came across then how all the other comedians respected Cook and the Pythons. So I think that the result was pretty fair since it was actually comedians and comedy writers voting.

I'm glad that they had Laurel and Hardy and Chaplin in, although I would have preferred Buster Keaton to Chaplin. There's often too much "recentness" in these polls and it was good to see that they are still counted as major influences, it's how it should be.

These 'top 50' lists are always dodgy and highly debatable... I mean Victoria Wood at 27 ahead of Spike Milligan at 28????

And is Paul Whitehouse really funnier than Mike Myers and Ricky Gervais?

Yes.

No.

Easily funnier than Mike Myers. Not sure about Gervais. I like the sheer cheek and arrogance of the man. Whitehouse is a great comedy actor though, no question.

Peter Cook was deserved

Milligan should have been higher

Where was Buster Keaton and Kenneth Williams!

Was glad to see it was voted by people in the "business" otherwise it would have been a Top 10 with David Jason, Jim Davidson, Chubby Brown and Joe Pasquale!!!

Perhaps it would have just been better not as a top 50 in running order, but just 50 favourites in no particular order, thereby being a celebration of great comedians instead of just a popularity contest amongst comedians...

In my opinion Idle and Palin should have been ahead of Cleese... but then again... Its all a metter of opinion really isn't it.

Glad to see Laural and Hardy in the top ten though... thats always a good sign!

??????????

Charlie Chaplin is the greatest comic of all time. He achieved more than most men without the use of his voice (yeah i'm paraphrasing the big lebowski), the man was a genius! wrote, directed, starred in and scored his own films, and they're fantastic.



I have thought long and hard about who I prefer, and for a while I preferred Keaton because he is capable of more physically than Chaplin, and deserves some sort of award for surviving as long as he did...but Chaplin made films that mattered socially and politcally as well, but hey...they're both good. Chaplin no.1, Keaton no.2.

I prefer Harold Lloyd, then Keaton, then Chaplin. If we're making a list of black & white people who didn't talk much.

And I remember reading something about Keaton a while ago and apparently he was a big fan of Chaplin. Chaplin influenced him enormously. So no Chaplin no Keaton (well not strictly true). I know that doesn't necessarily make him better.

Well Laurel and Hardy did some good silent films.

Harold Lloyd's good, Keaton a true comic genius, Harry Langdon also raised a smile, Larry Semon, also quite good, Charley Chase had some nice ideas, Max Linder was good, I guess even the Keystone Kops have made me laugh in a "shouldn't be laughing at this" way.

Chaplin? Too many continuity errors for my liking. And don't get me started on that bloody Christmas cracker routine in The Gold Rush.

Bill bailey! brilliant comedian, we got his part troll tour on dvd for christmas, and is soooo funny!!

Harold Lloyd does seem to be the "forgotten man" of silent films..but then a lot of his films were talkies, the dialogue just wasn't used in the "Hooray For Harold lloyd" programmes that used to show. Also I went off him a bit when I found out that a lot of his famous stunts (like hanging off the clocktower) were actually only about 10 feet off the ground and filmed using false perspective.

That poll is null and void for the simple fact that Doug Stanhope doesn't feature anywhere in it.

Wwwhhhhhoooooooooooo?

Doug Stanhope.

Hmm yes, you're a comedian aren't you.



Anyway it was a fun programme, a programme about comedians in which Peter Cook won has got to be a good thing. Personally I'd have had Graham Chapman as pretty high as well as he was a great writer and comedy actor when he could stay off the booze and is pretty central to two of the best comedy films of all time. Palin and Ripping Yarns getting credit is bloody excellent. I'd recommend people get the Ripping Yarns DVDs from Virgin at 12.99 at the moment, they're very funny indeed and something we don't seem to see any more.

No Jasper Carrott?

Nor Dave Allen either?

I agree on all points ... but i think its a shame that Terry Jones and Chapman got missed out. i like Cleese but i prefer other Pythons. But then again, he was basil fawlty too ...

Peter Cook - more to him than Supergirl - OH YES!!!! I am currently going thru a Cook renaissance fuelled by Chris Morris and Rhys Ifans and so far, i'm liking very much what i find. I haven't seen the Pete/Dud original of Bedazzled yet but i have been told its one of the funniest British films ever so i look forward to it ... pity it isn't on DVD yet.

Sefi x

You can get Bedazzled on ebay but have to pay through the nose for a UK version. The US tape would work out cheaper and should play on your VCR. I have to make do with an old TV recording. Hopefully the whole re-appreciation of Cook will prompt a DVD release

i'm hoping too - cheers for that Sostie

Sefi x

No probs. You might want to also try and track down the excellent "Wrong Box"..if I remember correctly Pete & Dud play Michael Caine's evil brothers (or cousins) in a hunt for a family fortune. One of those "groovy" 60's films set in Victorian times.
And how about this for a supporting cast...Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock, Nicholas Parsons, Ralph Richardson, Irene Handel, John LeMesurier & John Mills!!

Pete & Dud are also quite good in Monty Carlo Or Bust.

And Peter Cook is pretty good (and co-wrote) "Yellowbeard"...again worth it for the cast alone...Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Cheech & Chong, James Mason, John Cleese, Beryl Reid, Spike Milligan, Michael Hordern....and David Bowie as a shark!!!!

Peter and Dud.

Well they were certainly right about the dud bit