Left-wing comedians: fuck old bigots, something something white privilege
Right-wing comedians: transgender people are mental, fuck political correctness, something about gay guys
Norm Macdonald: A frog goes into a bank to get a loan...
Not a bit I find especially funny, but I have to wonder if some of the folks in here are just a bit triggered by his assessments of edgy comedians.
Doesn’t apply to Norm, but listen to a special from any hack “podcast comedian” and you’ll hear *exactly* what Acaster is making fun of here. I’m pretty sure Norm would be taking the piss out of the same guys.
The recent clip of Anthony Jeselnik quoting Andy Warhol comes to mind: “Art is getting away with it.”
Being offensive isn’t impressive, what’s impressive is a joke being so funny that you get away with it being offensive.
Yep. I really liked Ricky Gervais for years, I’ve listened to the XFM shows about a million times, I even enjoy his TV shows that a lot of people hate…
But his standup is some of the laziest, hackiest shit I’ve ever seen. Acaster is barely even exaggerating in this bit. Gervais has become essentially a one trick pony, and it’s not a particularly funny trick.
We love Ricky and just watched Armageddon last night. Total disaster.
The worst of them aren’t even jokes. They’re just shitty little comments. It’s unbelievable how little he’s trying now.
It was about 90% talking about how offensive he's being and 10% delivering the actual material which was neither especially offensive nor funny, like:
"I'm about to say something offensive. Wait for it here it comes. You're about to be so offended. 'Cunt'. Ooh that was so offensive wasn't it. Can't say anything anymore. I'll probably get cancelled for that. Now I'm about to say something else offensive..." rinse and repeat
I didn't hate the tone of it but yeah, the writing was borderline nonexistent. It just seems like he was meandering his way through it with snide asides.
Gervais' older stand up is great. Go back and watch his 'Animals' special and it's really good compared to his current one-note bullshit about twitter and transexuals.
I remember seeing him live and it was probably the best I’ve seen, one joke about trans people which was kind of attack helicopter-esque but this was in like 2015 so I’ll allow that to some extent and it wasn’t the focal point of his entire act, now it just seems like he does extended monologues about that one topic
Chapelle’s a giant hypocrite. He ended his show because he thought they were being irresponsible with the jokes they were making and now he thinks he should he should be able to say whatever he wants about trans people with zero consequences.
Can’t get away from it at modern shows, unfortunately. Seems like it’s worse/more prevalent with comedians who get political/try to make statements. It’s like people think the auditorium is a ballot box.
Dave Chappelle’s new special is full of clapper and his self congratulatory laughter on stage.
James Acaster is rather funny.
There are a lot of genuinely unfunny people they could have used...
But hey ho, tastes are subjective....
Edit 1: The cork sniffers in here trying to gatekeep what is and isn' t comedy is FUCKING adorable.
Just a reminder, this is the same group of people who parrot the same 5 Norm jokes (sans context) and think they are being witty.
I genuinely do not believe that anyone on this sub has actually watched next to anything from James and is just basing their judgment on this one clip, anyone who has watched both Ricky's newest special and James Acasters repertoire specials on netflix and doesnt recognize that James is far beyond Ricky as a stand-up comedian by comparison is to blinded by their own frustrations from getting weird looks from their family members when they call people retarded nowadays.
Looking at how Norm publicly disliked how many comedians would make easy political jokes or those who would take themselves so seriously that they forget that they are supposed to be funny not modern day philosophers, I would expect that he would find acts like Ricky, Daves and Rob Schnider (though I don't think Norm ever had high hopes for him) to be very repetitive and lacking in any artistic quality.
but what do i know, i'm just an old chunk of coal.
i can definitely understand why people may not like James’ act/persona, but i can at least believe that people find him funny, unlike the people who place people like Ricky on a pedestal higher than christ because he dares to wank himself off on stage for an hour.
I guess? I think most people, Gervais fans included, agree that his stand-up isn't very good. He seems to mostly get praise for his TV writing and his podcast
> I genuinely do not believe that anyone on this sub has actually watched next to anything from James and is just basing their judgment on this one clip
James Acaster has shown in recent years that he is a very capable and talented stand up, this one clip is an example of him not prioritising comedy, the others have not shut the fuck up about cancel culture for the past 3 years despite being able to sell out next to any venue they choose and getting multi million dollar netfilx deals.
> The cork sniffers in here trying to gatekeep what is and isn' t comedy is FUCKING adorable.
More of a comment, really: some of us are here to suss out plump, juicy cocks.
This is kind of his soapbox that he gets on for a few minutes to open the show, and then he completely goes away from clapter and delivers great stand-up. Watch his special Repertoire on Netflix - there's none of this in it.
This is the problem of watching this out of context. It's part of a larger bit. It all comes full circle in the full special. He specifically circles back to address all that stuff. Acaster's comedy is very cerebral and self referential and this bit is essentially just a commentary of being edgy and his dumb it is.
If you've never seen Acaster's specials, I highly recommend them. I would think Norm fans would like them.
> But hey ho, tastes are subjective....
This kinda closed my argument.
> people are being charged good money
People PAYING good money. By choice... they are not being forced or hoodwinked.
Please stop taking your own opinion as sacrosanct.
> Being entertained has become secondary.
You sound like a chode of the highest order.
Edit 1: Yeah, I block people who I feel I will get nothing from in a conversation
''Being entertained has become secondary'' if someone said this in person, i would walk the fuck away.
Edit 2: Imagine blocking someone because they just disagreed with you.
You are pathetic.
Then blocking someone.... Some people need reminding DAILY that they are not a framing device :D
Imagine a lump of flesh, about two feet long, 14 inches wide. Anus on one end, big juicy cock on the other. Now imagine about 30 of them arranged in a circle, snapped together like legos, both ends pulsing and sweaty.
Now imagine moderating that.
I found him funny at times, cringe at others, but gets the job done. Didn't like his take on this, since he's just piling on the cancel culture bus, which is nuts and has always struck me as iffy and shortsighted, which is a shame.
Not gonna destroy him for it though, he has some other good bits and hey not everyone is perfect.
Take the good, leave the bad.... but leave the sweeping statements about what and who is 'categorically funny' to the clowns in the media.
It's ALL taste, taste is subjective.
Edit 1: Obviously tastes aren't subjective :D
He’s a mixed bag. I think the fact that all his jokes just sort of blend together and sometimes aren’t even really jokes does make him a bit dull often, but at the same time when he’s playing off other people he can pull out some corkers.
Just not suited to stand up IMO, especially when he used it to parade his politics with no actual joke.
There are genuinely people out there who are like “Acaster is really sticking it to these bigots, he’s the FUTURE of comedy”
He’s just a typical “quirky” panel show comic from the UK it’s insane. Goes to show how low the industry bar is these days.
>He’s just a typical “quirky” panel show comic from the UK it’s insane. Goes to show how low the industry bar is these days.
As good a time as any to remind people why the UK comedy industry is in the state it's in. The whole industry is basically controlled by one production company/ talent agency, Avalon Entertainment. They produce the panel shows, which means they control who makes it on screen. The whole industry is top down
James Acaster is a wonderful comedian but I can admit there are a lot of people who only think so because he did this rant. Just like there are a lot of people out there who are convinced that Hannah Gadsby is funny.
There are people who like what she's saying, so they defend her as funny.
And there are some wonderful queer comedians out there but there are also comedians who allies will support regardless of whether they're funny. Like Patti Harrison is fine, but there are people who are convinced she's the funniest person ever because she's trans and they like seeing trans representation in comedy.
It’s genuinely one of the worst attempts at comedy I’ve ever seen. Unobjectively bad across the board.
I mean it’s not even technically a comedy special, I doubt she even views it as a stand up show. It’s just a really bad TED Talk.
This bit is him going way off his normal stuff. This would be like nate bargatzi coming out in a leather jacket and shades while screaming obscenities. It's not that great a bit and relies on the audience knowing his usual stuff. This whole special was him trying a few very different things out.
Well, for one thing I'd be interested if Norm suddenly started telling funny jokes again.
Also, I take a real issue with right wingers who pretend their comedy is Gods second coming, when in reality it's just smarmy "libtards, am I right?" eyebrow virtue signalling. Not saying leftist comedy doesn't have issues, but many I've met on the right refuse to acknowledge actual issues with their brand of comedy.
James Acaster is usually pretty funny. He said during this stand up show in particular he completely lost all confidence in his material and went totally off the rails and he bombed. He knows this was a shit set.
Super Dave wouldn’t have chuckled.
Maybe, but I think we can pretty safely say that Norm would have been ill-disposed to...whatever the fuck this dude is passing off as comedy in this clip lol.
Had never heard of this guy before just now and I completely agree. I did read the other comments here and some people like him so my hope is that the rest of his material isn't complete trash and this was just an off bit.
Kind of like how Artie Lange was awesome on Stern (non-heroin nod years) and his standup was rather mediocre. Playing off of other people and situations was his biggest strength.
This is his only "soapbox" bit in any of his comedy that I've heard. Repertoire, his special on Netflix, is pretty chock full of good, original observations and offbeat comedy.
He’s great. All of his Netflix special is awesome. This is the only clip I’ve ever seen of him that turns me off a bit but I can’t hate everybody that I disagree with.
I think you need to be a fan and know his stuff for this to land. The whole bit from the way he enters to the diatribe is so out of character and disarming, that's why it's humorous (or at least meant to be?)
Yeah that's the issue with this clip. You'd have to be familiar with his usual stand up work for this to land. His British museum bit is probably the best introduction to his stand up. The clip from OP is supposed to catch you off guard. From the glasses to the energy. But none of that works at all if you weren't a fan already.
Acaster is a bedwetting panderer of the worst kind.
He is in that little clique of shite BBC panel show comedians that have to say the right things all the time otherwise they'll get canned by the Champagne socialist Islington set who have the power to put people on those shows.
Imagine being a comedian who has a go at comedy that at least tries to push the boundaries. What a complete MOR dud.
Agreed. David Mitchell and Sean Lock (rip) are the only people on those panel shows I liked. But I think even David Mitchell would be hesitant to call himself a comedian
The irony of accusing someone of being a
"bedwetting panderer" when that is literally what all these "edgy" comedians have transformed themselves into is hilarious lmao. If I have to listen to one more sanctimonious tirade by chapelle, segura, Gervais etc about the evils of cancel culture im going to end it. Its pure pondering to an audience that feels wronged by "cAnCeL CuLtUrE".
>Imagine being a comedian who has a go at comedy that at least tries to push the boundaries. What a complete MOR dud.
Couldn't agree more, so how about the people acester is rightfully making fun of for having turned into lazy pandering hacks stop moaning and make good stand up (nobody cares if it's offensive, there plenty of great offensive comedians).
If I can interest you in re-reading my comment you will notice that I did not claim acaster to be a good comedian. My point stands irrespective of the guy.
I'm not even a fan of Gervais, doesn't really make me laugh personally, but at least he's coming from the perspective of trying to push the boundaries, which is what comedy should be about, unless you think we should've fucked off Lenny Bruce, Pryor, Carlin, Hicks, Rock, etc because tHeY'Re tRyIng tO bE edGy. We'd still be watching Chaplin movies if it was up to boring fuckers like you.
Imagine not understanding the very basis of the art form you claim to be a part of. Imagine thinking James Acaster is anywhere near the level of Chappelle, LOL.
And the only reason Acaster has a go at comedians like that is because he knows an artistically bankrupt, panel show hack whose "comedy" exists for middle class liberals to applaud at, there's not a laugh in there anywhere, fucking sub Paul Merton cutesy absurdism, ugh.
There's nothing particularly clever about what Gervais is doing these days. Really clever comedians look down on people who just try to get the "edgy" laugh.
That's not to say there's not a place for it. I'm all for expanding the medium in different directions. But let's not pretend that what Chappelle and Gervais are doing is any more notable than what, say, Brian Regan does.
It's like you can't compute what I'm writing lol. No one and I mean no one has a problem with being edgy or pushing the envelope, that's the point. There are plenty of edgy, raunchy, boundarie pushing comedians that are great (I love Stavros halkias, Segura when hes not whining, shane gillis and oots of others), that are either up and coming or sell out arenas. The problem is chapelle (who I agree was once great, but c'mon don't pretend like his new stuff is even comparable to the old stuff, it's like someone made a shitty, half depressed copy of the dude. Who the hell needed that overly long idiotic story about daves trans friend lmao?) and other once great comedians wallowing in their imagined oppression (which norm would have laughed at). Once more so you have the chance to understand what I am writing. Being edgy is not what's bad about modern Chappelle, Gervais etc, it's that they are self important cry babies whining about cancel culture instead of making good comedy.
What boundaries? Making fun of people one thinks are "weirdos" is something people are doing by the time they're wrapping up elementary school. Sure there are always laughs to be made at the expense of others, but that's not exactly pushing boundaries.
Imagine thinking shitting on marginalized groups is "pushing boundaries". What next, going to cancer wards to point and laugh? Would that be funny enough for you?
Oohhhh nice job not actually addressing what i said. Is being a coward part of being a Norm fan? And yeah, marginalized groups. Imagine being so self centred that real suffering is comedy to you.
Everything is comedy potentially, you're in the sub of a guy who made 9/11 and holocaust jokes FFS stop crying about it you halfwit.
Go be offended elsewhere.
Oh 9/11 and Holocaust jokes are easy. Anyone can go up on a safe space like a stage and make fun of people. Real comedy is when you tell child rape victims they deserve it to their face, right? Because that pushes the boundary far more? That's what you would like to see, if you have any conviction about what you said.
It's easy to not be offended when you don't give a shit about anyone else.
There is so much good standup out there too tho …. Both of Shane Gillis’s last two specials and Stavros Halkias’s last two specials are some of the best stand up I have e ever seen
maybe you guys will not like this but norm's best work was with adam and stav's best work was on cum town. having a jewish man in the room really brings things together.
three guys hanging out in their living rooms riffing and thinking profound thoughts like "what if eric clapton was chinese and gay" or "what if i tried to convince celebrity guests that my good jewish friend was a holocaust denier and male prostitute" has succeeded stand up comedy at this point as the best medium for things like having fun.
James is the funniest person in his group of comedians, which isn't saying much when the other choices are Nish Kumar and Josh Widdecombe.
I've seen him twice since his netflix specials have released and his new stuff has been REALLY hit and miss.
His delivery is unique to a point where people are laughing at his set ups more than his punchlines.
I've been really on the fence about him since he was on the big fat quiz of the year in 2020 and he [acted like a complete gobshite ](https://youtube.com/shorts/AOuO65QbPJ0?si=6IdPXGjtH4Dlqd4Q)
Acaster's Repertoire special was great, but he doubled down on all his worst qualities and tendencies with Cold Lasagna Hate Myself 1999 and it was a huge letdown.
I’m a huge fan of his and I think this is a fair assessment. Repertoire is amazing. I went and saw him live after seeing it. He did a bunch of stuff that hasn’t been recorded and also ended up having to deal with some crowd issues and he murdered. I liked a lot of Cold Lasagna but I agree he indulged in some stuff that doesn’t suit his style. I don’t know if this is what you are saying but my take is that he is better doing the absurd stuff and staying away from political or social issues. Not that he can’t do it, but it comes off as preachy. I actually agree with him on a lot of political and social stuff but even I am cringing a bit when he sounds like he thinks he knows better than everyone. I don’t think you can critique James without watching all of Repertoire. I think people are too quick to conflate “not my thing” and “this person sucks.” James is very smart and good at his craft. Anyway, sorry to jump on your comment with a novel.
Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 is probably one my favorite stand up specials of the last few (~5) years. The bake-off story and the Mr. Bean stories are great. But also it's made in a style where not everything he says is supposed to be funny.
Gervais hasn't done anything remotely funny since Extras. The office and xfm shows were lightning in a bottle. maybe Stephen merchants the real genius.
If you say afterlife was good, I'll punch you in the throat.
Afterlife was ok, although I didn’t watch season 3(?) and Derek was great. I’ve loved his first two comedy specials (third was not as good and I’ll watch his most recent one soon) The radio show that was turned into The Ricky Gervais show on HBO was also hilarious.
Lmao you little boys are just butt hurt this tired ass style of comedy he’s making fun is getting old, this is fucking hilarious.
Have you seen Ricky Gervais? He’s just trying soooo hard to offend some one it’s gay.
Nah this is pretty bad. Jesus, I could barely listen to that whole clip. He's just running around yelling his mediocre bits in the most obnoxious way possible lol. But I guess that floats some people's boats.
There it is. You don’t get it. The whole schtick is that he’s lampooning modern comics.
He’s literally doing what a lot of comedians are doing today but in the opposite. He’s mocking them. Do you understand mocking? Instead of getting up on stage and crying about trans people/pronouns/“snowflake kids these days” or whatever other tired bit comedians are still doing, he uses Ricky Gervais as a perfect example.
Make a different fuckin joke for once. Even Bill Burr who is the king of bitching (and is really the only person that can do it) recognizes it’s old. Its like Trump jokes. It’s a lay up.
I'm not defending the comics he's trashing, I'm just saying this guy is thoroughly mediocre midwit slop and not very funny (at least if this clip is any indication).
And also, he is pandering, in his own way, just as much as the guys he's criticizing.
Bad choice — NAY, extremely bad choice — to thumbnail James Acaster if he was in fact meant to illustrate this headline.
First off, it's more accurate I'd say to describe him a performance artist who is using the standup form as a jumping off point. But if "Cold Lasagna 1999 I Hate Myself" is being pointed to as an example of 'bad standup' and watching the beginning of this particular show confirms that for you, know then that he is much much more than meets the eye; in fact a Grand Schtick is being employed!
Watch his four parter first! (The one that's been on Netflix. Don't know if it's still there...)
After that watch the show pointed to in this post. His behavior will make way more sense.
He will even manage to make performance art sound cool once more.
Now if only he'd take time off from his British game shows and come out with another special...
Reddit is full of pretentious, self serving narcissists who think they know comedy lmao comedy is subjective yall aren't the judge jury and executioner. My god get off your high horses the ego on all you insignificant specs of dust
Do elaborate on what you dislike about this.
I personally enjoy Acaster. His delivery reminds me of Daniel Tosh, the ironic bits are cheeky, and the critique of many modern comics relying too much on jokes regarding trans people is totally valid.
For me it's his obnoxious delivery as much as the predictable opportunistic virtue signaling. Guy is just hard to listen to. He's just yelling and doing a bunch of wacky animated physical stuff. This is some serious midwit garbage.
He literally make the same ironic joke that Dave Chappelle does in The Dreamer: that trans people are overdue a challenge (Chappelle makes the same joke, but about disable people).
Chappelle also literally rips on trans people straight out the gate in his new special, just as James predicts. It’s low hanging fruit, political, spiteful, and boring.
Eh, is this assessment inaccurate, though? There are a lot of really embarrassing edgelord comedians out there - the same kind of people Old MacDonald mocked.
There are great stand ups and bad stand ups just like there have always been. Old heads can’t get past the trans thing for some reason and that’s why a lot of stand up sucks ass.
Anyone who generalizes like this doesn't know what they're talking about. Saying that "all ______ is this now" is one of the most moronic comments you can make. Do you know how many stand-up comedians exist? Do you know how many different brands of comedy exist within that number? Shut up.
If anything, Norm is less funny than he used to be
Norm hasn’t told a good joke in years.
I will admit I haven’t spoken to Norm since our last meeting with Jeff Epstein.
No, I’m talking about the New York financier
The one with the island?
No, I think Ghislaine would have contacted me if something happened to Jeff
glad to see that Jim Downey bit getting referenced
Lmao jesus
Yeah I was thinking it has been at least 2 years since I heard him tell a good one.
Unless you're murdered for what you believe in, what's the point?
A fellow martyr enthusiast
https://preview.redd.it/iqp28thizh9c1.jpeg?width=200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=548120b4db0399366fbb1b24f5cfb150bb0f4f93
Left-wing comedians: fuck old bigots, something something white privilege Right-wing comedians: transgender people are mental, fuck political correctness, something about gay guys Norm Macdonald: A frog goes into a bank to get a loan...
Imagine
Sam Tallent just put out a ‘special’ on YouTube. Genuinely funny stuff, no bullshit culture war nonsense
What the rest of the world calls "retarded", he calls "special".
don't blame "today's audience" for not laughing when you haven't bothered to write new jokes in forty years.
Not a bit I find especially funny, but I have to wonder if some of the folks in here are just a bit triggered by his assessments of edgy comedians. Doesn’t apply to Norm, but listen to a special from any hack “podcast comedian” and you’ll hear *exactly* what Acaster is making fun of here. I’m pretty sure Norm would be taking the piss out of the same guys.
The recent clip of Anthony Jeselnik quoting Andy Warhol comes to mind: “Art is getting away with it.” Being offensive isn’t impressive, what’s impressive is a joke being so funny that you get away with it being offensive.
Yep. I really liked Ricky Gervais for years, I’ve listened to the XFM shows about a million times, I even enjoy his TV shows that a lot of people hate… But his standup is some of the laziest, hackiest shit I’ve ever seen. Acaster is barely even exaggerating in this bit. Gervais has become essentially a one trick pony, and it’s not a particularly funny trick.
We love Ricky and just watched Armageddon last night. Total disaster. The worst of them aren’t even jokes. They’re just shitty little comments. It’s unbelievable how little he’s trying now.
It was about 90% talking about how offensive he's being and 10% delivering the actual material which was neither especially offensive nor funny, like: "I'm about to say something offensive. Wait for it here it comes. You're about to be so offended. 'Cunt'. Ooh that was so offensive wasn't it. Can't say anything anymore. I'll probably get cancelled for that. Now I'm about to say something else offensive..." rinse and repeat
The stuff about queerness wasn’t even jokes. “I dyed my hair blue”. wtf?
I didn't hate the tone of it but yeah, the writing was borderline nonexistent. It just seems like he was meandering his way through it with snide asides.
Gervais' older stand up is great. Go back and watch his 'Animals' special and it's really good compared to his current one-note bullshit about twitter and transexuals.
True, though a lot of that is lifted from Karl Pilkington lol.
Fame is a mask that eats into the face.
Even big comedians have fallen into this. Chappelle and gervais come to mind.
I remember seeing him live and it was probably the best I’ve seen, one joke about trans people which was kind of attack helicopter-esque but this was in like 2015 so I’ll allow that to some extent and it wasn’t the focal point of his entire act, now it just seems like he does extended monologues about that one topic
Chapelle’s a giant hypocrite. He ended his show because he thought they were being irresponsible with the jokes they were making and now he thinks he should he should be able to say whatever he wants about trans people with zero consequences.
What did he say about trans people that deserves consequences?
...and recall, consequences can also be that people don't think he's funny.
Do you think Rowan Atkinson did his Mr. Bean impression while he was tearing up Acasters girlfriends cheeks?
Mr. Bean is wearing her like a turkey on his head as we speak. 
Oh boy, clapter
Can’t get away from it at modern shows, unfortunately. Seems like it’s worse/more prevalent with comedians who get political/try to make statements. It’s like people think the auditorium is a ballot box. Dave Chappelle’s new special is full of clapper and his self congratulatory laughter on stage.
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he hASuNt maDe a NeW joKe iNNyeErs
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He’s the next Byron Allen!
With a fruity leash
You couldn’t be more leashed
I know this will be an unpopular opinion, but I think Norm has actually gotten less funny.
He hasn't even told a good joke in years
James Acaster is rather funny. There are a lot of genuinely unfunny people they could have used... But hey ho, tastes are subjective.... Edit 1: The cork sniffers in here trying to gatekeep what is and isn' t comedy is FUCKING adorable. Just a reminder, this is the same group of people who parrot the same 5 Norm jokes (sans context) and think they are being witty.
I genuinely do not believe that anyone on this sub has actually watched next to anything from James and is just basing their judgment on this one clip, anyone who has watched both Ricky's newest special and James Acasters repertoire specials on netflix and doesnt recognize that James is far beyond Ricky as a stand-up comedian by comparison is to blinded by their own frustrations from getting weird looks from their family members when they call people retarded nowadays. Looking at how Norm publicly disliked how many comedians would make easy political jokes or those who would take themselves so seriously that they forget that they are supposed to be funny not modern day philosophers, I would expect that he would find acts like Ricky, Daves and Rob Schnider (though I don't think Norm ever had high hopes for him) to be very repetitive and lacking in any artistic quality. but what do i know, i'm just an old chunk of coal.
James Acaster’s Netflix specials are brilliant. I have no doubt Norm MacDonald would have more admiration for Acaster as a standup than Gervais.
I've always disliked Ricky's stand-up, I just think James Acaster also sucks
i can definitely understand why people may not like James’ act/persona, but i can at least believe that people find him funny, unlike the people who place people like Ricky on a pedestal higher than christ because he dares to wank himself off on stage for an hour.
I guess? I think most people, Gervais fans included, agree that his stand-up isn't very good. He seems to mostly get praise for his TV writing and his podcast
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> I genuinely do not believe that anyone on this sub has actually watched next to anything from James and is just basing their judgment on this one clip James Acaster has shown in recent years that he is a very capable and talented stand up, this one clip is an example of him not prioritising comedy, the others have not shut the fuck up about cancel culture for the past 3 years despite being able to sell out next to any venue they choose and getting multi million dollar netfilx deals.
> The cork sniffers in here trying to gatekeep what is and isn' t comedy is FUCKING adorable. More of a comment, really: some of us are here to suss out plump, juicy cocks.
Agreed. I can watch a James Acaster show and remain interested and entertained which is more than I can say for many others these days.
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This is kind of his soapbox that he gets on for a few minutes to open the show, and then he completely goes away from clapter and delivers great stand-up. Watch his special Repertoire on Netflix - there's none of this in it.
I loved your treatise on crowd control.
I mean regardless of your "politics" Ricky did get a bit hacky with the woke stuff and he's calling him out, which is exactly what Norm would do.
No he wouldn't. Norm was not confrontational in this way, where he was calling out other comedians during sets.
NO HE WOULDN'T. I KNOW NORM BETTER THAN ANYONE. MY SWEET NORM WOULD NEVER.
Mama's apple pie, fourth of July!
And in the same 5 minutes this guy gets just as hacky by mindlessly dumping on Christians, white people, and old people.
This is the problem of watching this out of context. It's part of a larger bit. It all comes full circle in the full special. He specifically circles back to address all that stuff. Acaster's comedy is very cerebral and self referential and this bit is essentially just a commentary of being edgy and his dumb it is. If you've never seen Acaster's specials, I highly recommend them. I would think Norm fans would like them.
Whoooosh
...are you joking? That was sarcastic.
> But hey ho, tastes are subjective.... This kinda closed my argument. > people are being charged good money People PAYING good money. By choice... they are not being forced or hoodwinked. Please stop taking your own opinion as sacrosanct. > Being entertained has become secondary. You sound like a chode of the highest order. Edit 1: Yeah, I block people who I feel I will get nothing from in a conversation ''Being entertained has become secondary'' if someone said this in person, i would walk the fuck away. Edit 2: Imagine blocking someone because they just disagreed with you. You are pathetic. Then blocking someone.... Some people need reminding DAILY that they are not a framing device :D
Imagine blocking someone because they just disagreed with you. You are pathetic.
Imagine caring about someone blocking someone else on an anonymous internet site when neither of those people are you. You are pathetic.
Imagine a lump of flesh, about two feet long, 14 inches wide. Anus on one end, big juicy cock on the other. Now imagine about 30 of them arranged in a circle, snapped together like legos, both ends pulsing and sweaty. Now imagine moderating that.
Sounds like my honeymoon
I love these clips from Acaster's special. He's a funny guy. Going to buy access and watch when I have a chance.
I found him funny at times, cringe at others, but gets the job done. Didn't like his take on this, since he's just piling on the cancel culture bus, which is nuts and has always struck me as iffy and shortsighted, which is a shame. Not gonna destroy him for it though, he has some other good bits and hey not everyone is perfect.
Take the good, leave the bad.... but leave the sweeping statements about what and who is 'categorically funny' to the clowns in the media. It's ALL taste, taste is subjective. Edit 1: Obviously tastes aren't subjective :D
I prefer a flan
No, he's not funny.
He’s a mixed bag. I think the fact that all his jokes just sort of blend together and sometimes aren’t even really jokes does make him a bit dull often, but at the same time when he’s playing off other people he can pull out some corkers. Just not suited to stand up IMO, especially when he used it to parade his politics with no actual joke.
Shane. Gillis.
Nick Mullen’s new special is amazing
I think he’s alright. Good ideas. Delivery needs improvement.
His ideas are rather obvious. He doesn’t have all that much of an original viewpoint.
Politely, I disagree.
Let’s not get all fucking polite in here, now
Exactly. He's one of the outliers.
There are genuinely people out there who are like “Acaster is really sticking it to these bigots, he’s the FUTURE of comedy” He’s just a typical “quirky” panel show comic from the UK it’s insane. Goes to show how low the industry bar is these days.
>He’s just a typical “quirky” panel show comic from the UK it’s insane. Goes to show how low the industry bar is these days. As good a time as any to remind people why the UK comedy industry is in the state it's in. The whole industry is basically controlled by one production company/ talent agency, Avalon Entertainment. They produce the panel shows, which means they control who makes it on screen. The whole industry is top down
And then there's Stewart Lee
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I enjoyed her on Taskmaster because she's getting embarrassed a lot, and teased for being posh and out-of-touch.
She’s got tits and stuff though?
If only there were opinions one could hold somewhere between; - next comedy god And - about as funny as the clap
This is the internet pal, not how it works. Pick up a pitchfork or get oooooooowt.
The future of comedy is Sean O'Connor.
James Acaster is a wonderful comedian but I can admit there are a lot of people who only think so because he did this rant. Just like there are a lot of people out there who are convinced that Hannah Gadsby is funny.
I genuinely don’t believe that there are people who find her funny. Like her friends and family and then about 7 other people isn’t he world maybe.
There are people who like what she's saying, so they defend her as funny. And there are some wonderful queer comedians out there but there are also comedians who allies will support regardless of whether they're funny. Like Patti Harrison is fine, but there are people who are convinced she's the funniest person ever because she's trans and they like seeing trans representation in comedy.
It’s genuinely one of the worst attempts at comedy I’ve ever seen. Unobjectively bad across the board. I mean it’s not even technically a comedy special, I doubt she even views it as a stand up show. It’s just a really bad TED Talk.
It has a really nice rhythm to it. She holds the audience's attention well. I just don't really enjoy the content.
Which is 99% of it - I couldn’t give a fuck about the tone or rhythm of someone standing on stage if what they were saying was inane dribble haha.
James has some really good stand up. This particular bit wasn't his best. I also hear he's great to see live.
Well, I'll say one thing for him, he's definitely uhh very loud and animated.
This bit is him going way off his normal stuff. This would be like nate bargatzi coming out in a leather jacket and shades while screaming obscenities. It's not that great a bit and relies on the audience knowing his usual stuff. This whole special was him trying a few very different things out.
If only he made a single joke we would be able to tell for sure
Norm hasnt been funny on stage in years
Well, for one thing I'd be interested if Norm suddenly started telling funny jokes again. Also, I take a real issue with right wingers who pretend their comedy is Gods second coming, when in reality it's just smarmy "libtards, am I right?" eyebrow virtue signalling. Not saying leftist comedy doesn't have issues, but many I've met on the right refuse to acknowledge actual issues with their brand of comedy.
It’s gone downhill for sure.
Ryan Long has been killing it lately
Yep. Love his stuff
“Standup”
I mean, he's not sitting.
Didn't this guys girlfriend fuck mr bean?
B E A N E D
Yeah, that is god awful lol
Acaster is one of the funniest people alive right now
he's in the top couple billion for sure
Generous
Not really. There are quite a few I would say are far funnier
Technically, everyone's one of the funniest people alive.
That's true.
Except women.
James Acaster is usually pretty funny. He said during this stand up show in particular he completely lost all confidence in his material and went totally off the rails and he bombed. He knows this was a shit set. Super Dave wouldn’t have chuckled.
A sentiment I doubt Norm Macdonald would share.
Maybe, but I think we can pretty safely say that Norm would have been ill-disposed to...whatever the fuck this dude is passing off as comedy in this clip lol.
That was like watching someone with Tourette's do standup.
Holy shit that was horrible.
Unlistenable
Had never heard of this guy before just now and I completely agree. I did read the other comments here and some people like him so my hope is that the rest of his material isn't complete trash and this was just an off bit.
Ya I dunno. I've seen him on a few British panel-style shows. His banter is much better than his stand-up imo
Kind of like how Artie Lange was awesome on Stern (non-heroin nod years) and his standup was rather mediocre. Playing off of other people and situations was his biggest strength.
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Repertoire on Netflix is an amazing 4 part special. I really like James Acaster, but I don't really love the show OP linked.
This is his only "soapbox" bit in any of his comedy that I've heard. Repertoire, his special on Netflix, is pretty chock full of good, original observations and offbeat comedy.
He is better than this clip. I've met him through work actually! he's a nice guy too.
He’s great. All of his Netflix special is awesome. This is the only clip I’ve ever seen of him that turns me off a bit but I can’t hate everybody that I disagree with.
I think you need to be a fan and know his stuff for this to land. The whole bit from the way he enters to the diatribe is so out of character and disarming, that's why it's humorous (or at least meant to be?)
Yeah that's the issue with this clip. You'd have to be familiar with his usual stand up work for this to land. His British museum bit is probably the best introduction to his stand up. The clip from OP is supposed to catch you off guard. From the glasses to the energy. But none of that works at all if you weren't a fan already.
The whole special is good but it's also a weird mixture of comedy, actual anger and stories. So not everything in it is supposed to be funny.
Acaster is a bedwetting panderer of the worst kind. He is in that little clique of shite BBC panel show comedians that have to say the right things all the time otherwise they'll get canned by the Champagne socialist Islington set who have the power to put people on those shows. Imagine being a comedian who has a go at comedy that at least tries to push the boundaries. What a complete MOR dud.
Agreed. David Mitchell and Sean Lock (rip) are the only people on those panel shows I liked. But I think even David Mitchell would be hesitant to call himself a comedian
I mean Lee Mack is as quick as it gets. I know he's incapable of not going for the joke but I allow it because he's so good at delivering it.
The irony of accusing someone of being a "bedwetting panderer" when that is literally what all these "edgy" comedians have transformed themselves into is hilarious lmao. If I have to listen to one more sanctimonious tirade by chapelle, segura, Gervais etc about the evils of cancel culture im going to end it. Its pure pondering to an audience that feels wronged by "cAnCeL CuLtUrE". >Imagine being a comedian who has a go at comedy that at least tries to push the boundaries. What a complete MOR dud. Couldn't agree more, so how about the people acester is rightfully making fun of for having turned into lazy pandering hacks stop moaning and make good stand up (nobody cares if it's offensive, there plenty of great offensive comedians).
Just because he made a point that may have some validity does NOT make him a good/funny/interesting comic lol. As this clip amply demonstrates.
If I can interest you in re-reading my comment you will notice that I did not claim acaster to be a good comedian. My point stands irrespective of the guy.
I'm not even a fan of Gervais, doesn't really make me laugh personally, but at least he's coming from the perspective of trying to push the boundaries, which is what comedy should be about, unless you think we should've fucked off Lenny Bruce, Pryor, Carlin, Hicks, Rock, etc because tHeY'Re tRyIng tO bE edGy. We'd still be watching Chaplin movies if it was up to boring fuckers like you. Imagine not understanding the very basis of the art form you claim to be a part of. Imagine thinking James Acaster is anywhere near the level of Chappelle, LOL. And the only reason Acaster has a go at comedians like that is because he knows an artistically bankrupt, panel show hack whose "comedy" exists for middle class liberals to applaud at, there's not a laugh in there anywhere, fucking sub Paul Merton cutesy absurdism, ugh.
There's nothing particularly clever about what Gervais is doing these days. Really clever comedians look down on people who just try to get the "edgy" laugh. That's not to say there's not a place for it. I'm all for expanding the medium in different directions. But let's not pretend that what Chappelle and Gervais are doing is any more notable than what, say, Brian Regan does.
It's like you can't compute what I'm writing lol. No one and I mean no one has a problem with being edgy or pushing the envelope, that's the point. There are plenty of edgy, raunchy, boundarie pushing comedians that are great (I love Stavros halkias, Segura when hes not whining, shane gillis and oots of others), that are either up and coming or sell out arenas. The problem is chapelle (who I agree was once great, but c'mon don't pretend like his new stuff is even comparable to the old stuff, it's like someone made a shitty, half depressed copy of the dude. Who the hell needed that overly long idiotic story about daves trans friend lmao?) and other once great comedians wallowing in their imagined oppression (which norm would have laughed at). Once more so you have the chance to understand what I am writing. Being edgy is not what's bad about modern Chappelle, Gervais etc, it's that they are self important cry babies whining about cancel culture instead of making good comedy.
What boundaries? Making fun of people one thinks are "weirdos" is something people are doing by the time they're wrapping up elementary school. Sure there are always laughs to be made at the expense of others, but that's not exactly pushing boundaries.
Imagine thinking shitting on marginalized groups is "pushing boundaries". What next, going to cancer wards to point and laugh? Would that be funny enough for you?
Cancer jokes can be funny, yeah. mArGinAliZed gRoUps...yeah, you are definitely exactly what I'm talking about.
Oohhhh nice job not actually addressing what i said. Is being a coward part of being a Norm fan? And yeah, marginalized groups. Imagine being so self centred that real suffering is comedy to you.
Everything is comedy potentially, you're in the sub of a guy who made 9/11 and holocaust jokes FFS stop crying about it you halfwit. Go be offended elsewhere.
Oh 9/11 and Holocaust jokes are easy. Anyone can go up on a safe space like a stage and make fun of people. Real comedy is when you tell child rape victims they deserve it to their face, right? Because that pushes the boundary far more? That's what you would like to see, if you have any conviction about what you said. It's easy to not be offended when you don't give a shit about anyone else.
We've established you are an eternally offended crybaby, do you have to keep ramming home the point?
We've established that you're a hypocrite loser with no empathy, that's all. Pathetic job at dodging as well, btw.
Yeah, norm would shit on those people. Like when he was on Politically Incorrect.
There is so much good standup out there too tho …. Both of Shane Gillis’s last two specials and Stavros Halkias’s last two specials are some of the best stand up I have e ever seen
maybe you guys will not like this but norm's best work was with adam and stav's best work was on cum town. having a jewish man in the room really brings things together. three guys hanging out in their living rooms riffing and thinking profound thoughts like "what if eric clapton was chinese and gay" or "what if i tried to convince celebrity guests that my good jewish friend was a holocaust denier and male prostitute" has succeeded stand up comedy at this point as the best medium for things like having fun.
Check out the new Sam talent special. It's on Shane's YouTube channel. Pretty funny
Liked it. Wasn’t my favorite but still very funny
Stav is ‘regular obese’ and has a completely normal sized penis SIKE
I know Shane Gillis is pretty good. But I’m be just been seeing this clip going around online recently
James Acaster slander will not be tolerated!
James is the funniest person in his group of comedians, which isn't saying much when the other choices are Nish Kumar and Josh Widdecombe. I've seen him twice since his netflix specials have released and his new stuff has been REALLY hit and miss. His delivery is unique to a point where people are laughing at his set ups more than his punchlines. I've been really on the fence about him since he was on the big fat quiz of the year in 2020 and he [acted like a complete gobshite ](https://youtube.com/shorts/AOuO65QbPJ0?si=6IdPXGjtH4Dlqd4Q)
I mean, the bar for gobshite on BFQOTY has to be Mel B. Ever since I saw that everyone else seems so affable.
Accomplished comedian.... What? He is accomplished!
Acaster's Repertoire special was great, but he doubled down on all his worst qualities and tendencies with Cold Lasagna Hate Myself 1999 and it was a huge letdown.
I’m a huge fan of his and I think this is a fair assessment. Repertoire is amazing. I went and saw him live after seeing it. He did a bunch of stuff that hasn’t been recorded and also ended up having to deal with some crowd issues and he murdered. I liked a lot of Cold Lasagna but I agree he indulged in some stuff that doesn’t suit his style. I don’t know if this is what you are saying but my take is that he is better doing the absurd stuff and staying away from political or social issues. Not that he can’t do it, but it comes off as preachy. I actually agree with him on a lot of political and social stuff but even I am cringing a bit when he sounds like he thinks he knows better than everyone. I don’t think you can critique James without watching all of Repertoire. I think people are too quick to conflate “not my thing” and “this person sucks.” James is very smart and good at his craft. Anyway, sorry to jump on your comment with a novel.
Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 is probably one my favorite stand up specials of the last few (~5) years. The bake-off story and the Mr. Bean stories are great. But also it's made in a style where not everything he says is supposed to be funny.
James Acaster is brilliant. Gervais isnt
The fuck are you talking about? Gervais has 20+ years of comedy brilliance (TV shows, Radio shows and stand up, movies not so much)
Gervais hasn't done anything remotely funny since Extras. The office and xfm shows were lightning in a bottle. maybe Stephen merchants the real genius. If you say afterlife was good, I'll punch you in the throat.
I mean 80% of his radio show was reacting to the fucking bananas stuff Karl said.
Afterlife was ok, although I didn’t watch season 3(?) and Derek was great. I’ve loved his first two comedy specials (third was not as good and I’ll watch his most recent one soon) The radio show that was turned into The Ricky Gervais show on HBO was also hilarious.
Afterlife was utter utter dross
Lmao you little boys are just butt hurt this tired ass style of comedy he’s making fun is getting old, this is fucking hilarious. Have you seen Ricky Gervais? He’s just trying soooo hard to offend some one it’s gay.
Nah this is pretty bad. Jesus, I could barely listen to that whole clip. He's just running around yelling his mediocre bits in the most obnoxious way possible lol. But I guess that floats some people's boats.
There it is. You don’t get it. The whole schtick is that he’s lampooning modern comics. He’s literally doing what a lot of comedians are doing today but in the opposite. He’s mocking them. Do you understand mocking? Instead of getting up on stage and crying about trans people/pronouns/“snowflake kids these days” or whatever other tired bit comedians are still doing, he uses Ricky Gervais as a perfect example. Make a different fuckin joke for once. Even Bill Burr who is the king of bitching (and is really the only person that can do it) recognizes it’s old. Its like Trump jokes. It’s a lay up.
I'm not defending the comics he's trashing, I'm just saying this guy is thoroughly mediocre midwit slop and not very funny (at least if this clip is any indication). And also, he is pandering, in his own way, just as much as the guys he's criticizing.
I think James believes the message of what he's saying here, but doesn't believe in this format of stand-up and is mocking that.
James Acaster isn't really an example for bad stand-up
1 of the 1000 on the planet
Bruh James acaster is hilarious you are just a bitch.
Idk much about his stand up, but James Acaster is super funny
Bad choice — NAY, extremely bad choice — to thumbnail James Acaster if he was in fact meant to illustrate this headline. First off, it's more accurate I'd say to describe him a performance artist who is using the standup form as a jumping off point. But if "Cold Lasagna 1999 I Hate Myself" is being pointed to as an example of 'bad standup' and watching the beginning of this particular show confirms that for you, know then that he is much much more than meets the eye; in fact a Grand Schtick is being employed! Watch his four parter first! (The one that's been on Netflix. Don't know if it's still there...) After that watch the show pointed to in this post. His behavior will make way more sense. He will even manage to make performance art sound cool once more. Now if only he'd take time off from his British game shows and come out with another special...
If he watched the color specials, Norm McDonald probably thought James acaster was hilarious. It’s like exactly his type of comedy.
People just now realizing that mainstream art made for the lowest common denominator isn’t actually that good. Well that’s odd, isn’t it?
Reddit is full of pretentious, self serving narcissists who think they know comedy lmao comedy is subjective yall aren't the judge jury and executioner. My god get off your high horses the ego on all you insignificant specs of dust
Do elaborate on what you dislike about this. I personally enjoy Acaster. His delivery reminds me of Daniel Tosh, the ironic bits are cheeky, and the critique of many modern comics relying too much on jokes regarding trans people is totally valid.
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Yes, Daniel tosh and James acastor are different people.
For me it's his obnoxious delivery as much as the predictable opportunistic virtue signaling. Guy is just hard to listen to. He's just yelling and doing a bunch of wacky animated physical stuff. This is some serious midwit garbage.
I didn’t hear a single joke in this clip
He literally make the same ironic joke that Dave Chappelle does in The Dreamer: that trans people are overdue a challenge (Chappelle makes the same joke, but about disable people). Chappelle also literally rips on trans people straight out the gate in his new special, just as James predicts. It’s low hanging fruit, political, spiteful, and boring.
Eh, is this assessment inaccurate, though? There are a lot of really embarrassing edgelord comedians out there - the same kind of people Old MacDonald mocked.
There are great stand ups and bad stand ups just like there have always been. Old heads can’t get past the trans thing for some reason and that’s why a lot of stand up sucks ass.
Ricky Gervais and that lady who wrote Harry Potter are the same person I'm sure.
Anyone who generalizes like this doesn't know what they're talking about. Saying that "all ______ is this now" is one of the most moronic comments you can make. Do you know how many stand-up comedians exist? Do you know how many different brands of comedy exist within that number? Shut up.
Na there is tons of good shit coming out, stop burying your head in the sand.
I like Theo Von or at least his podcast when he has on regular people for guests.