He's so basic, just a cookie cutter panel show personality. Kicking down at working class people who don't share his politics is so liberal and edgy and amazing, all the while he cashes those Taskmaster cheques. Very boring, very safe.
Television Ricky Gervais: Armageddon
- Thread starter UnofficialDevil
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He's alright but he's nothing special or outrightly funny.
Stewart Lee, again someone who dines out on one bit eight years ago that was quite funny and relies on intellectual people pretending to get his shit and if you don't "you don't get comedy".
Nah mate, he's just not that funny.
Watched it this afternoon, I don't know why as I thought the last one was the worst thing he's been involved with. I guess I keep giving his specials a chance as I remember how much I liked his first couple of TV shows, the radio show/podcast and some of his early standup work, but I think he keeps getting worse as a standup. I don't think I laughed once at this one. It seemed like an easy pander to the 'anything I don't agree with is woke' crowd, by making variations of that joke several times.
If you have to spend half the special defining what a joke is, repeatedly, then your jokes probably aren't that good to begin with. Plenty of edgy comedians are ale to blur the lines of dark and offensive without having to remind the crowd 'it's just a joke, I'm not really a bigot'. I'd rather watch someone like Anthony Jeselnik do the edgy stuff without the constant reassurance.
If you have to spend half the special defining what a joke is, repeatedly, then your jokes probably aren't that good to begin with. Plenty of edgy comedians are ale to blur the lines of dark and offensive without having to remind the crowd 'it's just a joke, I'm not really a bigot'. I'd rather watch someone like Anthony Jeselnik do the edgy stuff without the constant reassurance.
If I was him I'd wake up every morning and phone Stephen Merchant up to thank him for giving me a career. Every solitary thing he's done without him has been utterly abysmal.
The last worldwide sensation that was as funny as Ricky Gervais, before he came along, was the Spanish Flu.
The last worldwide sensation that was as funny as Ricky Gervais, before he came along, was the Spanish Flu.
Ah shit. I think he’s funny but now you’ve told me he isn’t I’ll reevaluate…mate.
And the hot takes just keep on coming...!
No worries mate, glad to have helped.
Merry Christmas
and a happy new year to ya!Agree, take Derek. The best thing about that show is the outtakes and corpsing on YT.
Merchant was the glue that made the shows work.
His first stand up was decent but they’ve all been downhill since. Telling everyone how cool it was when you put this twitter moron in his place isn’t comedy. Even his golden globe stuff wasn’t as good as people hyped it to be.
I won't derail the thread but I disagree with this vehemently
Has he done anything good since Extras (which hasn't even aged well)? Invention of Lying, Life's Too Short, Derek, Special Correspondents, Life on The Road, Afterlife. All utter shite. Cemetery Junction was alright, but forgettable.
EDIT: If anything, I've underplayed how bad Derek and Afterlife are. Saccharine, disingenuous junk.
He's just a jaded, lazy irrelevance.
EDIT: If anything, I've underplayed how bad Derek and Afterlife are. Saccharine, disingenuous junk.
He's just a jaded, lazy irrelevance.
Gervais occasionally makes me laugh but I'm just bored by his relentless cynicism at this point. He's a bitter has-been who needs to stick to promoting animal welfare and charities as that's the only likeable aspect of him nowadays.
The Office will always be one of the greatest comedy creations ever though, he should have retired after that.
The Office will always be one of the greatest comedy creations ever though, he should have retired after that.
Stephen Merchant’s solo stuff is shite as well though
All of Stewart Lee’s stuff has clearly gone over your head.
@Murder on Zidane's Floor is such an edge lord hipster I’m surprised he’s not a Gervais fan.
His golden globe stuff was a lot better than his stand up because at least it was current and topical. In this stand up he admits he avoids topical stuff, and I have no idea why other than sheer laziness. I mean he's still trying to milk topics like cultural appropriation which has been comedic fodder since 2016. It's like he's written a standup routine for people who havent been on social media in the last decade.
An Idiot Abroad but of course the credit for that isn't his.
An IQ of atleast 130 needed to fully understand the comedy of Stewart Lee
I’m tempted to adapt the Rick and Morty copypasta, but can’t be arsed.
He’s properly brilliant. Never lazy, throws in every aspect of stand up, doesn’t go for cheap shit, each special is well crafted, he’s emotionally open, and tells lots of jokes.fecking hell
Every single one of his first four specials were great. Cold Lasagna was an all timer.
Fair go if you don’t like him though.
I've seen all of Stewart Lee's shows and I don't even know which bit you're talking about
Also, he was already considered one of the best around more than 8 years ago
I regret to inform you that you are chatting an inordinate amount of shit.
Lee isnt that difficult to get. Comfortably the best standup in the UK though.
Classic
Like his early stuff and the xfm shows but he's always been best when he's collaborating with someone.
Haven't enjoyed his stand up since Politics and because I listened to those XFM shows, all his later material comes from those conversations, he regurgitates them etc.
Derek and Afterlife outtakes are great but that kinda tells you everything if the outtakes are better than the show.
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Classic Stewart Lee fan. It's almost a cliche at this stage. Like Rick and Morty or Dr.Who fans. "You don't get it"
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty. The humour is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head. There's also Rick's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation- his personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these jokes, to realise that they're not just funny- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Rick & Morty truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the humour in Rick's existential catchphrase "Wubba Lubba Dub Dub," which itself is a cryptic reference to Turgenev's Russian epic Fathers and Sons. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Dan Harmon's genius wit unfolds itself on their television screens. What fools.. how I pity them.
And yes, by the way, i DO have a Rick & Morty tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It's for the ladies' eyes only- and even then they have to demonstrate that they're within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand. Nothin personnel kid
One thing about Stewart Lee.
He'll always give it to you straight.
He'll always give it to you straight.
I'm rewatching over The Office Christmas special and it's just perfect tbh. That and Extras Xmas specials will always be some of the best British TV made imo. Perhaps some of the best TV made worldwide.
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Yeah, I'm not quite sure where that idea comes from. I suppose he constructs jokes in a more complex way than most comedians but the content isn't that difficult to grasp.
What tells me everything is that you like Derek and Afterlife outtakes
Nah, Politics was crap and all. That was when I realised he was a prick.
I think he actually even said at one point, didn't he, "Cultural appropriation, that's the new thing isn't it" ...come on! It's 2023!!
Cool, appreciate that this response tells me everything I need to know too.