morcambe and wise - not funny

dd972

why are morcambe and wise regarded as giants of comedy, they've never made me laugh once

dd972

should have titled the thread - most overated comedians ?

Skid

dd972 wrote: »

why are morcambe and wise regarded as giants of comedy, they've never made me laugh once

Because making dd972 laugh is not widely regarded as a definitive measure of comedy greatness.

christmas2012

comedians are over rated (they get paid to tell jokes,anybody can tell a joke)arent there some days you just dont want to laugh ..

DEFTLEFTHAND

Humour is subjective I suppose.

paddyandy

I have never found them funny at all but humour can be regional .I never got it .

girl in the striped socks

christmas2012 wrote: »

comedians are over rated (they get paid to tell jokes,anybody can tell a joke)arent there some days you just dont want to laugh ..

Not everyone can tell a joke or relay a funny story.
I'm one of those. People have been known to age dramatically by the time I finish a "funny" story or joke that no one laughs at. Really wish I was funny.

christmas2012

christmas2012 wrote: »

arent there some days you just dont want to laugh ..

hell no

Birdnuts

Twas a different era - I'm a huge fan of 70's comedies like Open all Hours, Bless this House, Porridge, Whatever happened to the Likely lads etc.

FishBowel

Morecombe and Wise are funny but not necessarily in that order.

dirtyden

Birdnuts wrote: »

Twas a different era - I'm a huge fan of 70's comedies like Open all Hours, Bless this House, Porridge, Whatever happened to the Likely lads etc.

Porridge is class, have rarely seen any of the rest, where/what channel would one see them?

starbelgrade

Morcambe & Wise were fucking class.

Anyone who says otherwise is a dipwad.

nibtrix

Birdnuts wrote: »

Twas a different era

This. They were funny at the time, but by nowadays standards it's a struggle to understand why they're funny.

Same way as horrors such as The Exorcist are considered overrated by a lot of people, I saw the exorcist a couple of years ago for the first time, having seen loads of modern horror films, and I was really disappointed, didn't find it scary at all.

What's funny/scary/interesting changes over time, it's not really surprising.

Chucken

starbelgrade wrote: »

Morcambe & Wise were fucking class.

Anyone who says otherwise is a dipwad.

.....or not old...like you



















and me

The King of Moo

Phew! I realised this was actually about Morecambe and Wise, not Reeves and Mortimer, just as I was about to post in defence of the latter.
I have to stop mixing them up.

Boring but sensible post to follow:

Humour is subjective: just because you don't find something funny doesn't mean others don't.

Yamanoto

Eric was damned funny, but the scripts were eclipsed by The Two Ronnies imo.

Not too surprising when Cleese, Milligan, Palin, John Sullivan & Terry Jones all contributed.

cml387

The genius behind M&W was Eddie Braben, who wrote most of their scripts for their golden age in the 1970's on BBC.

Rothko

The King of Moo wrote: »

Phew! I realised this was actually about Morecambe and Wise, not Reeves and Mortimer

I'm sorry but Reeves and Mortimer are completely unfunny. I don't know how they made it as a comedy act.

CodyJarrett

They were of their time and I have great memories of watching them with my family when a kid (as we only had one TV and there being only four channels, most likely would have watched it anyway).

This sketch sticks out for me as being one of the reasons I thought they were funny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGIA-RKaS9I

My name is URL

They're no Abbott and Costello

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLprXHbn19I

Nothing dates like comedy

The King of Moo

Suas11 wrote: »

I'm sorry but Reeves and Mortimer are completely unfunny. I don't know how they made it as a comedy act.

I generally like them, but sometimes I'm just not in form for them and think they're silly.

Yamanoto

My name is URL wrote: »

They're no Abbott and Costello

Or Bob Carolgees and Spit

Capt'n Midnight

Skid wrote: »

Because making dd972 laugh is not widely regarded as a definitive measure of comedy greatness.

dd972 - were you born in 1972 ?

It was a different time back them - stuff like 'Love Thy Neighbour' just couldn't be shown now. Steptoe and Son was so so , but the episode where they split everything 50:50 is a classic.


The Phil Silvers is excellent.

Hancock's Half Hour - totally unfunny.

Capt'n Midnight

Deleted User wrote: »

Nothing dates like comedy

The really, really good stuff stands the test of time

token101

dd972 wrote: »

why are morcambe and wise regarded as giants of comedy, they've never made me laugh once

They had 28 million viewers for one TV show. Almost every great British comedian since lists them as an influence on their work. Isn't that enough?

sunflower27

girl in the striped socks wrote: »

Not everyone can tell a joke or relay a funny story.
I'm one of those. People have been known to age dramatically by the time I finish a "funny" story or joke that no one laughs at. Really wish I was funny.

That was funny to me

dj jarvis

OP your showing your age i think , as a kid watching them in the 70's the were funny as fu2k , but you are talking nearly 40 year old comedy - doubt you will be as funny in 40 years

all about context - shows back then were a mix of light entertainment and innuendo jokes , mixed with song and and slap stick , funny for it time

the fact that you are even talking about them or know of them says enough to answer your question - they are and were funny to most

maybe you just dont get it ? poor you im afraid

along with kenny everett - the pythons - dave allen , i could go on but with out these you would not have today's comics - who in my humble opinion are very formulaic - not many cutting edge comics on the box at the moment

Rothko

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

The really, really good stuff stands the test of time

Yep, like the Marx Brothers. I think they were hilarious.

py2006

These guys were great. There Christmas shows drew huge audiences. Different era but they are still funny today.

This is one of the classics. You would have to know the conductor to really get this..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7yb-JncKow

Eric Morcombe's comic timing was absolute genius

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3GqaQkhuYw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFgdhZGLJrY

BostonB

dd972 wrote: »

why are morcambe and wise regarded as giants of comedy, they've never made me laugh once

If someone has to explain why something is funny you'll never get it.

PickledLime

dd972 wrote: »

why are morcambe and wise regarded as giants of comedy, they've never made me laugh once

We need context here - what does make you laugh?

Archeron

I know i'll be hated for this but i never once laughed at only fool and horses, and anytime i saw Basil Fawlty, my only thoughts were 'dangerous mental illness'

I dont think i got british humour, though some mothers do ave em was and still is very funny.

py2006

Archeron wrote: »

I know i'll be hated for this but i never once laughed at only fool and horses, and anytime i saw Basil Fawlty, my only thoughts were 'dangerous mental illness'

I dont think i got british humour, though some mothers do ave em was and still is very funny.

I can understand 'Fools but Fawlty Towers???? Have you no soul????????

admiralofthefleet

each to their own, i thought they were very funny

dd972

PickledLime wrote: »

We need context here - what does make you laugh?

Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Jack Dee, Harry Hill, to name but a few, find Johnny Vegas funny but that would be an acquired taste as well

People on nostalgia shows wax lyrical about M&W's 1976 xmas show, horses for courses and all that but I'm still amazed that anyone can think they're funny

Birdnuts

dirtyden wrote: »

Porridge is class, have rarely seen any of the rest, where/what channel would one see them?

Comedy Gold on Sky Channel 110

Cicero

py2006 wrote: »

I can understand 'Fools but Fawlty Towers???? Have you no soul????????

Can't understand Fools and Towers not being funny and Some Mothers being funny....

It's all subjective I guess.

M&W were a variety act. This is quite old style entertainment in itself- there are many "Classic" moments but in terms of making people laugh today, you could probably condense these moments into a few hours of tape.

PickledLime

dd972 wrote: »

Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Jack Dee, Harry Hill, to name but a few, find Johnny Vegas funny but that would be an acquired taste as well

People on nostalgia shows wax lyrical about M&W's 1976 xmas show, horses for courses and all that but I'm still amazed that anyone can think they're funny

An interesting mix - i find M&W hilarious, but i'd count Bill Hicks as my all time favourite comedian. Carlin would also be pretty high on my list, i think Hill's pretty funny, but i think Dee and Vegas are only slightly more enjoyable than a dental appointment.

Guess it just goes to show that it really does take all sorts.

Venom

dd972 wrote: »

Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Jack Dee, Harry Hill, to name but a few, find Johnny Vegas funny but that would be an acquired taste as well

People on nostalgia shows wax lyrical about M&W's 1976 xmas show, horses for courses and all that but I'm still amazed that anyone can think they're funny

Things that horrify or shock or make people laugh change over time. It's really not that hard to grasp!

Hell, at one time people thought the world was flat.

Smidge

py2006 wrote: »

These guys were great. There Christmas shows drew huge audiences. Different era but they are still funny today.

This is one of the classics. You would have to know the conductor to really get this..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7yb-JncKow

Eric Morcombe's comic timing was absolute genius

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3GqaQkhuYw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFgdhZGLJrY

Three genius and original sketches.

Still make me laugh.

As for Jack Dee, Jonny Vegas et al?

Bluurrghhhg

mrsdewinter

dd972 wrote: »

Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Jack Dee, Harry Hill, to name but a few, find Johnny Vegas funny

Whoah. Bill Hicks found Johnny Vegas funny? :-P

dd972

:pac:

like that sort of humour

K-9

Explains why I found Shooting Stars pretty boring, barring a few odd moments, apparently got their inspiration from Morecambe and Wise.

Now the 2 Ronnies..........

BostonB

Cicero wrote: »

Can't understand Fools and Towers not being funny and Some Mothers being funny....

It's all subjective I guess. ....

Some Mothers was much more slapstick. The UK/Irish dry wit, in fools and towers doesn't travel that well. Many other countries much prefer slapstick.

Brokentime

dd972 wrote: »

why are morcambe and wise regarded as giants of comedy, they've never made me laugh once

Ditto Only Fools and Horses - never laughed at this; no idea why people did

K-9

BostonB wrote: »

Some Mothers was much more slapstick. The UK/Irish dry wit, in fools and towers doesn't travel that well. Many other countries much prefer slapstick.

Fawltey Towers is very well scripted, there is actually a plot running through each episode. Some Mothers just seemed based on his character but hilarious nonetheless. I like Only Fools an Horses but not a patch on Fawltey Towers, pure comedy perfection.

dd972

Liked Blackadder goes Fourth as well, especially when Rowan Atkinson was being sarcastic

K-9

LETHAL LADY wrote: »

Anyone mentioned four candles?

Yep, Fork handles was definitely mentioned.

LETHAL LADY

K-9 wrote: »

Yep, Fork handles was definitely mentioned.

thinking of the two ronnies, in my defence its late.

K-9

LETHAL LADY wrote: »

thinking of the two ronnies, in my defence its late.

Perfectly understandable.

After all the parrot was definitely alive, not dead, probably stunned or pining.