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TITLE REDUNDANT, MISLEADING

The Melbourne Comedy Festival needs a new name.

Posted by Tim B. on 03/13/2008 at 01:54 PM
  1. Melbourne Comedy Festival: Seriously Boring

    Posted by Ash_ on 2008 03 13 at 02:07 PM • permalink

  2. "Comedy...can be used to highlight the problems. At the moment it’s hard to stand up there and talk about trivial matters when there’s so many serious issues going on. I thought if I could shed some light on those serious issues and get people talking about them, that would be good."

    This guy sounds like a larf-a-minute. A real knee-slapper.

    How about “The Melbourne Funny-Bone-Tickling, Wrist-Slitting Comedy Despair-O-Rama”.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2008 03 13 at 02:12 PM • permalink

  3. THINGS have changed. If you’d asked someone 30 years ago what the future would hold, their list might have included: A) Personal hoverpacks; B) Roast dinner and vanilla ice-cream flavoured protein pills; and C) Silver unisex body-suits. If you ask someone today, the list is A) Global warming; B) Massive species extinction including the hideous drowning of all polar bears; and C) Violent, desperate, escalating wars over oil and water.

    Actually, at VRWC HQ we’re using personal hoverpacks, protein pills, and those gawd awful body suits.  Whoever came up with the latter should be shot.  SHOT, I SAY.  Talking about not keeping anything hidden.  If it wasn’t for wearing my Masonic apron, or holding my clip board in front all day, I’d be walking around red face.*

    As far as the latter three goes, we don’t give a shit.
    ______________________________

    * not intended as a racist remark with respect to our noble Native American brothers

    Posted by wronwright on 2008 03 13 at 02:12 PM • permalink

  4. Mark Watson: “I’m trying to ensure there is a future...”

    Um, Mark? There WILL be a future. The question is whether you’ll be in it…

    Posted by mojo on 2008 03 13 at 02:16 PM • permalink

  5. A message to actors, singers, and comedians:

    You are entertainers. Entertain us. Leave the heavy intellectual lifting to the pros. Please.

    You wouldn’t want an organ grinder’s monkey to perform your bladder surgery, right? Right. So knock it off and learn your place before jugglers start lecturing about female genital mutilation while spinning chainsaws.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2008 03 13 at 02:16 PM • permalink

  6. Laugh if you must, but at least someone is thinking about the Polar Bears.

    Posted by Go Canucks on 2008 03 13 at 02:44 PM • permalink

  7. How about the Melbourne Festival of Pretentious Political Posturing Laced with Profanity and Gross Sexual Jokes? And top it off with a Wet Che T-Shirt Night!

    That ought to get people thinking about the future (or at least, a future free of Melbourne festivals).

    Posted by paco on 2008 03 13 at 02:55 PM • permalink

  8. #7 Paco, take it from a Melbournite Uni Student: You’ve just described every Uni sponsored student event… and most that aren’t.

    Posted by Ash_ on 2008 03 13 at 02:58 PM • permalink

  9. THINGS have changed. If you’d asked someone 30 years ago what the future would hold, their list might have included: A) Personal hoverpacks; B) Roast dinner and vanilla ice-cream flavoured protein pills; and C) Silver unisex body-suits. If you ask someone today, the list is A) Global warming; B) Massive species extinction including the hideous drowning of all polar bears; and C) Violent, desperate, escalating wars over oil and water.

    Yeah, cuz 30 years ago everything was sunshine, unicorns and rainbows and that was reflected in the movies they made where the future was all blue skies and gumdrops.
    Well, except for Dr. Strangelove, The Road Warrior, Fail Safe, Night of the Comet, Earthquake, On the Beach, every movie Charlton Heston was in that didn’t involve the Bible, etc., etc., et fricking cetera. 

    Nope, nothing but sunshine and rainbows as far as the eye can see.

    Posted by Veeshir on 2008 03 13 at 03:04 PM • permalink

  10. How about : Melbourne: a bundle of laughs

    Posted by Big Arnie on 2008 03 13 at 03:13 PM • permalink

  11. Taking off from Dave in #5, comedy is about laughter.  If I wanted some twit pushing their social, economic, and political agendas on me, I’d listen to Billary and The Messiah™ rantings on TV.  Or read Phat Phil, John The Jerk, or HuffPo. 

    That’s the left for ya, sucking the life and laugter out of everything, like some sort of metaphysical vampire.  I just wish I could drive a stake through its virtual heart, and stop this endless drivel from dreary dweebs.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 03 13 at 03:26 PM • permalink

  12. Shame about the silver bodysuits, though.

    Posted by mojo on 2008 03 13 at 03:27 PM • permalink

  13. I blame Mort Sahl and the Flying Nun for this.

    Posted by Gary from Jersey on 2008 03 13 at 03:33 PM • permalink

  14. Callan has based his show on the philosophical “Doomsday Clock”, maintained since 1947 by the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago. The clock hands move ahead or back depending on the seriousness of humanity’s threat to itself. It’s now set at five minutes to midnight.

    It used to be set according to the proximity to nuclear annihilation, but then the West won the Cold War and knocked the clock back to, like 2 p.m. or so.
    So now it’s set according to “humanity’s threat to itself” which, you have to admit, is a loosey-goosey metric if ever there was one. Especially when you can move the minute hand closer to midnight just because some polar bear slipped in the bathtub and drowned.

    Posted by Merlin on 2008 03 13 at 04:18 PM • permalink

  15. That could be just the forum to feature Paris Hilton critiqueing deconstructionism.

    Posted by Henry boy on 2008 03 13 at 04:32 PM • permalink

  16. If you’d asked someone 30 years ago what the future would hold, their list might have included: A) Personal hoverpacks; B) Roast dinner and vanilla ice-cream flavoured protein pills; and C) Silver unisex body-suits

    The author of this article must be awfully young.  Thirty years ago the future was all about overpopulation, running out of fossil fuels and the Japanese taking over the United States one company purchase at a time. In short, the future looked like the present, writ large - just as it does now. 

    Wronwright, who’s your silver-bodysuit supplier?  And do they make them in larger women’s sizes?

    Posted by Sonetka's Mom on 2008 03 13 at 04:34 PM • permalink

  17. How about just winding the thing down and spending the money on one helluva party instead?

    Posted by JJM Ballantyne on 2008 03 13 at 04:54 PM • permalink

  18. Shut up and be funny!

    Posted by AlburyShifton on 2008 03 13 at 05:05 PM • permalink

  19. THINGS have changed. If you’d asked someone 30 years ago what the future would hold, their list might have included: A) Personal hoverpacks; B) Roast dinner and vanilla ice-cream flavoured protein pills; and C) Silver unisex body-suits. If you ask someone today, the list is A) Global warming; B) Massive species extinction including the hideous drowning of all polar bears; and C) Violent, desperate, escalating wars over oil and water.

    Crap. If you’d asked the equivalent of this crowd 30 years ago what the future holds it would have been silent spring, the total depletion of the earth’s natural resources (including no oil) and the inevitable collapse of capitalism due to its internal contradictions.

    Posted by Imre on 2008 03 13 at 05:10 PM • permalink

  20. 1978? Luckily my family escaped in a balloon during the Carter Administration.

    In the US, I remember the Cold War and the very real threat of Nuclear annihilation. Where are those worries now?

    Oh yeah, Reagan vanquished them in the 1980s.  AND turned the economy around. AND got the hostages released from Iran after 444 days, just by taking office.

    1978 was the shits.

    Posted by Big Dan on 2008 03 13 at 05:29 PM • permalink

  21. And aren’t Violent wars just the worstest kind evar??/?

    Posted by Big Dan on 2008 03 13 at 05:31 PM • permalink

  22. Has this been reported to the Department of Redundancy Department?

    Posted by ErnieG on 2008 03 13 at 05:37 PM • permalink

  23. 1978 was the shits.

    Amen, brother.

    Posted by Merlin on 2008 03 13 at 05:40 PM • permalink

  24. Has the Melbourne Choadmonkey Festival ever been funny?

    Ever?

    The same unfunny acts appear every year, year in-year out, and then go on to ‘star’ in the talent vacuum that is breakfast radio.

    Posted by Jay Santos on 2008 03 13 at 05:49 PM • permalink

  25. This year’s gloomanddoomfest may be prophetically accurate. I predict the venerable Festival’s WORST year ever. I wonder if Melbourne Comedy will join the Melbourne Yarts in having to be bailed out by taxpayers?

    Posted by AlburyShifton on 2008 03 13 at 05:55 PM • permalink

  26. The Comedy Channel needs renaming, too. Even the re-runs of Please Sir are funnier than their usual offerings. If it weren’t for South park, no-one would watch it.

    BTW, they moved the Comedy Channel’s HQ to Melbourne. ‘Nuff said?

    Posted by AlburyShifton on 2008 03 13 at 05:58 PM • permalink

  27. Ho fucking hum.
    Yes Virginia there is a future. It’s the place where you busily edit from the historical record all the crap you’re spouting now.

    Posted by ooh honey honey on 2008 03 13 at 06:04 PM • permalink

  28. But I thought with the elevation of The Great Helmsman, it was all going to be lantern jawed sons and sturdy ankled daughters of the proletariat striding forward confidently into broad, sunlit uplands of peace and harmony, replete with unicorns and rainbows.
    Did I misunderstand the advertising?

    Posted by lotocoti on 2008 03 13 at 06:17 PM • permalink

  29. Would it actually be in bad taste to laugh during a Melbourne Comedy Festival gig? I mean, would you be asked to leave if you started giggling during Mark Watson’s routine.

    Posted by Contrail on 2008 03 13 at 06:28 PM • permalink

  30. Comedy these days, particularly Austrailan comedy, is really, really hard to find.

    You certainly won’t find it at the “Melbourne Comedy Festival”.

    (Or breakfast radio.)

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 13 at 06:29 PM • permalink

  31. Re-runs of Please Sir? Excuse me while I run to the kitchen and lock up the knives.
    As for the new name, could they fit The Melbourne Predictably Leftist And Boring Yawnathon on to the marquee?

    Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 03 13 at 06:33 PM • permalink

  32. One thing about the future is pretty certain - Rod Quantock, Dave Callan and their dreadfully dull comic crew will still be second rate acts struggling for social relevance.

    Posted by larrikin on 2008 03 13 at 06:33 PM • permalink

  33. Quantock has been on the slide since that awful day years ago when the rubber chook up and gave him the arse.

    Poor Rod, he still hasn’t worked out that the chook was the funny one and he was just the tragic side kick.

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 03 13 at 06:37 PM • permalink

  34. Fortunately for me, I find all lefties hilarious when they spout politics. Yeah, yeah, I know....it’s cruel to laugh at the stupid. I just can’t help it.

    Posted by Penguin on 2008 03 13 at 06:39 PM • permalink

  35. Ahh. Quantock, the rubber chook’s monkey.

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 13 at 06:43 PM • permalink

  36. Oh Christ, you people are joking, aren’t you? Rod Quantock is still loose on the streets?

    Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 03 13 at 06:45 PM • permalink

  37. So there is a show called “A Bolt Short of Climate Change”? It sounds very much like a reference to Andrew Bolt. Well at least they are listening, which will make Andrew’s “I told you so” that little bit more satisfying.

    Posted by Zoidberg on 2008 03 13 at 06:48 PM • permalink

  38. Yet another reason to do something else during April.  At least the football’s back on.

    I’ve been burnt once this year.  Having immensely enjoyed David Cross’ “Shut Up You Fucking Baby” CD, I got his follow-up “It’s Not Funny”.  Never was a title more honest.

    Posted by Craig Mc on 2008 03 13 at 07:15 PM • permalink

  39. Quantock: I used to do shows about Kennett and people would walk away depressed.

    And all those years ago even this didn’t give rise to self examination ?

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 03 13 at 07:20 PM • permalink

  40. How about Obama’s pastor as a special guest star at Melbourne’s Moron Invitational? He could handle the clown acts all by himself (Rachel Lucas runs a great blog, incidentally; especially if you like your leftists cooked well done and covered in hot sauce).

    Posted by paco on 2008 03 13 at 07:27 PM • permalink

  41. A small mercy: Rod Quantock and Wendy Harmer are not appearing. That makes it funnier.

    These po-faced youths could learn something from the pros. Rarely is funny, classy stand-up about topical issues. These boring idiots could use lessons from Jerry Seinfeld, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Bob Newhart, Emo Philips, &c.

    Posted by walterplinge on 2008 03 13 at 07:45 PM • permalink

  42. I take it back. Apparently Quantock is featured. The humour quotient just fell 10 points to minus-15.

    Posted by walterplinge on 2008 03 13 at 07:46 PM • permalink

  43. I’d laugh if the theatre caught fire.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 03 13 at 07:48 PM • permalink

  44. Talking of Quantock, some Melbournites might remember Laugh Radio, a pilot AM station that regrettably never got a full license.  It was great fun while it lasted—I still have my free CDs for joining (remainders, but what the heck).  Back-to-back world class comedy 24 hours a day.  The only low point was when Quantock was on.  I switched to the ABC for better laughs.

    Posted by walterplinge on 2008 03 13 at 07:51 PM • permalink

  45. True comedy is about the universal human condition.  That means, the absurd crap we have to deal with in our day to day lives.  You can insert rare laugh-inducing headlines into a comedy act for laughs, but that’s about it.  Anything else is just a lecture, and it’s boring.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 03 13 at 07:55 PM • permalink

  46. Calling Rodney

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 03 13 at 08:09 PM • permalink

  47. ...the performers at this year’s Comedy Festival are striving for social relevance

    Oh dear, it seems that Oz is immitating Blighty.

    If you should ever be in London and go to a “Comedian’s show” expect a American HateFest, just like in 1984. It is pathetic.

    Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 03 13 at 08:25 PM • permalink

  48. #6 Bugger the Polar Bears ... if you dare!

    Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 03 13 at 08:28 PM • permalink

  49. @#9 Veeshir,

    Those hippies just never die, they just tie-die:

    <sarc>
    Sunshine and rainbows are precious. We must preserve them before they are all gone.
    </sarc>

    Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 03 13 at 08:31 PM • permalink

  50. Obviously, Dave hasn’t grasp the notion that people seek comedy to escape.

    Hey Paco! Can that pastry guy you know send a Plantain Ala Creme Order for Dave. Luv ya, babe!

    Posted by Deborah Leigh on 2008 03 13 at 08:32 PM • permalink

  51. I saw that Mark Watson character in the linked Age article in an interview in UK lefty rag New Statesman some weeks ago. Stand-up Marcus Brigstock also has a regular - dull - column in the mag. Also Julian Clary, who adds to the diversity of the magazine by being their token gay person (though Clary can still be funny).

    By contrast, UK right-wing magazine The Spectator features no stand ups, but its writers are far wittier and better, among them Boris Johnson, Jeremy Clark (Low Life), Charles Moore, and Deborah Ross.

    How can this be? It’s almost like the Melbourne comedy festival is deliberately featuring second-listers!

    Posted by TimT on 2008 03 13 at 08:32 PM • permalink

  52. I have bad news for them regarding The Future. It’s about ageing, experience, learning from it, and changing perspectives.
    I’ll keep it brief:
    David Mamet, Nic Cohen, Christopher Hitchens. How about that!

    On a more serious note, this quote really struck home -
    The show is basically about desire, how in the West we’re manipulated to buy more.
    It’s true. I am a victim! That 106cm plasma TV I’ve always wanted has now, after only 8 years, been manipulated down from around $A20k to below $A1500. They are relentless, and I am surrendering to this cruel manipulation!
    Damn you, capitalist monsters!

    Posted by blogstrop on 2008 03 13 at 08:34 PM • permalink

  53. Looks like Watson associates with some of the best comics in the biz ...

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 08:39 PM • permalink

  54. Let’s face it, if the future were a holiday destination, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would have issued a high-alert travel warning.

    Wokka wokka wokka! But seriously, take my wife… please!

    Posted by blandwagon on 2008 03 13 at 08:45 PM • permalink

  55. If it wasn’t for wearing my Masonic apron, or holding my clip board in front all day, I’d be walking around red face.*

    Not for nothing is his nickname in the steno pool “Captain Concave...”

    As for the Melbourne thingummy, neither festive nor comic.  Don’t you people have truth in advertising laws down there?  At least tell me it’s in Melbourne…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 03 13 at 08:45 PM • permalink

  56. I’m trying to be optimistic here, but western society is absolutely fucked. It’s dead. I no longer even yearn for beer. I throw myself at the mercy of gaia. Do your worst, you sad, patchouli soaked harlot.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 03 13 at 08:51 PM • permalink

  57. Memo to Comedians:

    Cut UP the arm - NOT across the wrists.

    And remember - a blunt knife is dangerous knife, so make sure whatever you use is really sharp.  I recommend a surgical scalpel as they are designed for the job and easily procurable.

    And make sure the doors are locked so you aren’t interupted.

    Posted by Razor on 2008 03 13 at 08:51 PM • permalink

  58. #26
    The Comedy Channel needs renaming, too ... they moved the Comedy Channel’s HQ to Melbourne. ‘Nuff said?

    Even the promos seem to have gotten duller ... what’s happened to Melbourne?
    Is it a Brackistan thing or summit? Wet blankets Tracee/Devenee, et al ...

    ... even the studio audience ambience for Stand Up Australia! seems duller than Sydney’s was ...

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 08:55 PM • permalink

  59. #56 IT

    There there, a ditty from The People’s Poet will cheer you up

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 03 13 at 08:58 PM • permalink

  60. Serious Q for Ozzies.

    I’ve been to some parts of your great country. I understand that Melbourne is left central, as it were. Which is rightiest? Darwin, Cairnes, Sydney, Newcastle, Perth, Broome?

    Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 03 13 at 09:00 PM • permalink

  61. #59 holy crap Pickles. That should be [played in Melbourne.

    Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 03 13 at 09:06 PM • permalink

  62. #60
    Like an inverted US (Southern Hemisphere) ...

    IMHO:
    Melbourne is akin to New England,
    Sydney - L.A.,
    Queensland - Florida,
    W.A. - Texas
    &c

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 09:11 PM • permalink

  63. Wimpy.

    The Real Kev has even got one for you

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 03 13 at 09:13 PM • permalink

  64. #46 #59
    Great stuff, Pickles.
    Captures the irreverent Aussie spirit, as opposed to the ultra-Left pommie try-hards featured at the (Melbourne) International Comedy Festival

    Go back home and moan about the weather, FFS!

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 09:19 PM • permalink

  65. I actually enjoy live theatre and comedy. But I live in Canada and so go very little to see such shows. Why? Because theatre and comedy have become dominated by leftist group-think.

    It just isn’t funny or compelling anymore.

    The comedian is simply a hate-fest compere. The play director is an agit-prop artist.

    Why even bother to go to the comedy clubs or theatres? To receive your monthly quota of propaganda? I do not attend. Those who do are lefties wanting to be “in the trend” or, rather, to pick up on the latest politico-speak so that they can show who is in and who is out, just to be sure that they remain “in”. After all, they are stalinists.

    Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 03 13 at 09:23 PM • permalink

  66. #63
    And Kev’s priceless Xmas song

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 09:27 PM • permalink

  67. #63 Thankyou Pickles. Great one! This bloke should be given the order of Quebec Bloke

    Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2008 03 13 at 09:30 PM • permalink

  68. #66
    Very NSFW

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 09:34 PM • permalink

  69. #51 Tim T. And Taki.

    Posted by mehaul on 2008 03 13 at 09:36 PM • permalink

  70. From this day forth I am committed to raising awareness- awareness of comedic collussi such as The Real Kev and Rodney Rude.

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 03 13 at 09:36 PM • permalink

  71. I have recovered from my hissy fit. I jut remembered that i]Achewood is very funny. Suck my nuts, Gaia.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 03 13 at 09:41 PM • permalink

  72. The Melbourne Comedy Festival is just a way of showing all normal people that the ‘collective’ has a sense of humour. Mind you, with a few exceptions, I find most Australian ‘comedy’ rather immature and puerile, with the same old jokes on politics, religion etc, reworked ad nauseum and all terribly PC. Just look at some of the situation comedies on TV that have gone into the dustbin of ratings history. Not a patch on the Brits as far as humour goes.

    Posted by BJM on 2008 03 13 at 09:43 PM • permalink

  73. Dolt’s sort of Climate Change website - seems a bit of a propagandist ...

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 10:15 PM • permalink

  74. The ‘comedy’ festival sounds so crap, I am boycotting it.

    Posted by Apple77 on 2008 03 13 at 10:17 PM • permalink

  75. The organisers will, of course, be disappointed when attendances are down (again) but they will be proud to have saved the polar bears.

    Posted by BB77 on 2008 03 13 at 10:19 PM • permalink

  76. Is this one of those taxpayer-financed affairs? Wouldn’t it be cheaper just to mail whoopie cushions to all Melbourne residents?

    Posted by paco on 2008 03 13 at 10:23 PM • permalink

  77. What a palaver of pretentious, precious, preening pratts. How the fuck can anything featuring Rod Quontock be regarded as being relevant? He’s about as hip as dysplasia.

    Jesus wept, in between the tedious has-beens (who weren’t that amusing twenty years ago) and the serious young insects who want to save the world, comedy now is beyond the joke. If I want to be lectured and hectored by an ill-informed mong with the dress sense of a pikey, the odour of a tip and the intellect of a goldfish I’ll get it free from the winos in the park opposite, not hand over beer vouchers to the yartz collective of Brackistan.

    how’s this for a new name:- Closed Due To Lack Of Interest.

    And don’t get me started on the tossers who attend these borefests and laugh like drains on cue to reassure their equally vacuous mates about how aware and outraged they are about every halfwit issue ever vented by some hippy dingbat who snorked up one too many lines of dumb dust. Fuckwits.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 13 at 10:30 PM • permalink

  78. More of the Dolt’s AGW stuff ... is the Brackistan Gummint subsidising this ‘Piss-Christ’ kinda (shite)?

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 10:32 PM • permalink

  79. #76

    Is this one of those taxpayer-financed affairs?

    If it ain’t now, it soon will be, with this kind of offering!

    Posted by AlburyShifton on 2008 03 13 at 10:43 PM • permalink

  80. #77: how’s this for a new name:- Closed Due To Lack Of Interest.

    We have a winnah!

    Posted by paco on 2008 03 13 at 10:51 PM • permalink

  81. Hope this off topic won’t be inappropriate. Many thanks to the Canadians that comment here. It seems your govt. has agreed to extend your Afghan deployment.This American appreciates it.

    I realize that the Canadian forces have been involved in some tough fighting and have suffered some terrible losses. For all the pain that Canadian arms have endured they have visited 10 times that pain on the Taliban scum.It’s great to see our friends from the “True North” fighting at our side once again.
    Of course ,the above applies to the Australians, British, Poles,Dutch, and Danes as well.Apologies, to the countries I left out.

    Perhaps even the French Foreign legion will join in soon. They’re not real Frenchmen so they’ll be pretty good in a scrap.

    Posted by greene on 2008 03 13 at 11:03 PM • permalink

  82. #81: That kind of thing is never O/T, Greene. God bless these heroes. I saw a video some time ago of a firefight in which Canadian troops opened a large, economy-size can of whup-ass on a Taliban camp at dawn. Beautiful!

    Now, this really is O/T, but Crikey! Get a load of Client # 6.

    Posted by paco on 2008 03 13 at 11:07 PM • permalink

  83. What’s the betting some twat will do a routine about John Howard’s eyebrows?

    I’ll bet my left nut that Waxboy, Woody Woodpecker and Captain Planet rate nary a mention- so predictable, so bereft of innovation, so mind-numbingly tedious- I’d sooner watch question time from the house of reps, there’s more gags.

    There still are some funny bastards floating around (as linked by the inestable Pickles) but they would never score a gig at these public-fund hoovering borefests as they’re sexist, racist, unapreciative of diversity and multiculturalism, unconcerned about climate change and don’t give a royal rats ringer about the plight of the poor or the war against terrorism- in other words, they’re comedians rather than polemic pillocks.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 13 at 11:09 PM • permalink

  84. #82 - Rotten luck to be caught dressed as a pimp.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 03 13 at 11:10 PM • permalink

  85. #77
    Sounds like a real feral fest - check out the (ultra-low) price(s) of admission - prolly even the ‘roaches would pack their swags and camp out at Deveny’s until it’s over ...

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 11:15 PM • permalink

  86. #82- When I clicked the link and saw it was a wealthy Pom I first thought it must be Anrew Lloyd Webber- with a head like his he’d have to pay for a poke.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 13 at 11:22 PM • permalink

  87. #26
    Their 30yo pommie re-runs on Sun nite seem to be courting the young’uns or summit - dunno if they have access to the more mature (& comedy pinnacle, IMHO) Yes (Prime) Minister ‘n all ...

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 11:29 PM • permalink

  88. #82
    Whilst playing hide-the-sausage with Zana Brazedick, he says he knows where Osama’s bin hiding ...

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 13 at 11:40 PM • permalink

  89. Interestingly, money seems to buy you a better quality whore, but the clientele seems to remain constant.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 03 14 at 12:03 AM • permalink

  90. #45 I saw Billy Connelly when he last toured.  He is one of the best comedians I have ever seen but when he tried to garner laughs regarding Australia’s involvement in Iraq the audience reaction went from a roar to a titter.  He changed subjects seamlessly an went back to what he commentates on best, the human condition and the truly funny things about everyday life.

    Posted by Irobot on 2008 03 14 at 12:57 AM • permalink

  91. Apparently, the world’s top comedians are jetting in

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 14 at 01:05 AM • permalink

  92. #90- Another one who was mildly amusing 20 years ago, now a fatuous hippy bore who bangs on endlessly about every halfwit hippy cause and concern; he certainly deserves no less than marriage to idiot Pamela Stephenson.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 14 at 01:06 AM • permalink

  93. Hm. That’s narrowed my choice of shows this year, that’s for sure.

    Whoever does go the ComFest this year - do not miss Oliver Clarke. Satirises ‘70s TV show variety performers. Great fun.
    Andrea Powell, very funny characters.
    Might post more recommendations as they occur to me, if people want them…

    Perhaps it’s time for TimBlair:the Roadshow, with resident ringmaster Detective Paco!

    Posted by carpefraise on 2008 03 14 at 01:16 AM • permalink

  94. #30 kae, comedy is definitely there - just got to know where to look.

    See my post above. (Assuming we find similar things amusing that is!)

    Posted by carpefraise on 2008 03 14 at 01:20 AM • permalink

  95. Hey! notice how “assuming” turns into “amusing” when you shift the “s” and “m”????

    Just the theme for a comedy show called The Twisted Grammarian.

    Posted by carpefraise on 2008 03 14 at 01:23 AM • permalink

  96. #92 Harsh Habib, but a fair comment nonetheless. The show did not touch on anything trendy left apart from the war on terror so we were spared any preaching.  I would still pay to see him again as I have not laughed that hard since I first saw Flying High.  This is probably more of a comment on my sense of humour than anything else though.

    I saw Sean Hughes last year and would pay to see him again purely as his comedy is not based on trendy issues but on human nature. A truly funny guy and it was a pity that the audience, apart from being so slow that they got the jokes five minutes after the tag, numbered less than 200.

    I can’t think of any Australian comedians that I would pay to see.  I prefer my comedy to be like my religion, funny, irreverent and not political.

    Posted by Irobot on 2008 03 14 at 01:42 AM • permalink

  97. Me Dear Old Dad

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 03 14 at 01:52 AM • permalink

  98. #96- What about this comedy duo? One’s got a routine where he consumes the most disgusting secretions, and the other one’s a one woman Kath & Kim impersonator- they’ve got a three year booking in Canberra, and they’ve got me pissing myself- every foreclosure, job loss and market contraction has me in stiches.

    Going by the photo they think it’s a giggle an’all.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 14 at 01:52 AM • permalink

  99. #98

    Caption: And you’ll never guess - they fukn swallowed it !

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 03 14 at 01:55 AM • permalink

  100. So did Kev- not so sure about Julia though.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 14 at 01:58 AM • permalink

  101. Favourite Aussie gag: Wayne Swan, Treasurer.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 03 14 at 02:06 AM • permalink

  102. #98 Funny you mention the Kath and Kim impersonator.  She changes her twang to suit her audience. What a pro. 

    As for him, I was thinking of having drinking game where you have to have a shot of scotch every time he mentions working families.  The only drawback I can see is alcohol poisoning in an extremely short time.  the positive is that if I drink enough, even the Melbourne Comedy Festival might seem funny.

    Posted by Irobot on 2008 03 14 at 02:08 AM • permalink

  103. #102
    I want a drinking game where you skull every time some idiot says “I’m passionate about...”

    Worn out phrase means nothing.

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 14 at 02:50 AM • permalink

  104. #94
    Despite our cynicism, hope you (Mexicans) enjoy :)

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 14 at 03:35 AM • permalink

  105. I like to take this opportunity to remind the comedy channel here in Oz that having some unfunny humpknuckle shout “COMEDY” every second adbreak doesnt make what im watching funnier.

    The presenter dork they have for the channel is about as funny as a not very funny thing thats just lost its job, found out its wife is cheating on it, with another woman, has had its uninsured house burnt down, backed over his own dog, and has terminal gangrene of the goolies.

    Hes the sort of knob that normaly becomes a DJ to annoy people.

    Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 03 14 at 03:37 AM • permalink

  106. #92 Habib - What have you got against Pamela Anderson anyway?

    She was an absolute goddess in Not the Nine O’Clock News (BBC early 1980’s), she’s relatively smart (some sort of Professor of Psychology.)

    Oh, that’s right.  She’s a Kiwi!

    Sorry Habib.

    Posted by Kaboom on 2008 03 14 at 04:15 AM • permalink

  107. #106- I rest my case.

    NTNON was funny, but once again it was over 20 years ago- whatever happened to retiring gracefully, reputation intact?

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 14 at 04:40 AM • permalink

  108. Most of my humour is Marxist.
    So why not the Grouchy Harpy Chico Festival.

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 03 14 at 04:43 AM • permalink

  109. #105 Cam Knight? Apparently he’s a popular comedian, yet I’d never heard of him until he started being the presenter.

    And what about the woman who does the voice overs for the upcoming shows thing? Is it wrong to want to duct tape her mouth shut?

    Posted by Ash_ on 2008 03 14 at 04:48 AM • permalink

  110. 109, Thats the pill. Retarded howler monkeys would be more amusing ad break presenters than those 2.

    Quantock is still alive? That weird fungus on his chin hasnt eaten his head yet.

    Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 03 14 at 05:15 AM • permalink

  111. #107 Habib:  Dead right, she’s a fucking idiot.

    Case closed.

    Posted by Kaboom on 2008 03 14 at 05:30 AM • permalink

  112. #107Kaboom,

    Pamela “Stephenson”.

    Pamela Anderson.

    Posted by Pogria on 2008 03 14 at 05:41 AM • permalink

  113. #105

    I like to take this opportunity to remind the comedy channel here in Oz that having some unfunny humpknuckle shout “COMEDY” every second adbreak doesnt make what im watching funnier.

    The Comedy Channel’s self-promotional stuff absolutely sucks balls. Virtually every other channel can come up with amusing self-promotional material for their shows, even the Lifestyle ones. Heck, I get a chuckle fromo the ads for Dexter, and that’s about a serial killer - the shows way funnier and smarter than anything Comedy could create on its own.

    Posted by AlburyShifton on 2008 03 14 at 05:47 AM • permalink

  114. Found Quantock amusing the first couple of times I saw him. But he quickly grew tedious and then irritating.

    Quantock is not alone is being an unfunny and annoying comedian, far from it. I mean who can forget John Walker as John Howard on Full Frontal? Just about everybody. And what about Wendy Harmer? Doesn’t anyone have the heart to tell her?

    Posted by Contrail on 2008 03 14 at 05:52 AM • permalink

  115. #112 Pog (didn’t I command that you to turn that into Sha)ria, PS was much more cultured and appreciated than was PA, whose two major claims to fame were evident. As Habib says, she’s an idiot.

    Yes, you can keep your bloody goat, allright?

    Posted by Kaboom on 2008 03 14 at 05:53 AM • permalink

  116. Oh, shit!  Pog, I now see what you were saying.....

    How could I make such an error! Talk about a Freudian slip.

    Remember:  It’s up the arm, not across the wrist…

    Posted by Kaboom on 2008 03 14 at 05:58 AM • permalink

  117. #110 frollicking,

    Quantock is still alive? That weird fungus on his chin hasnt eaten his head yet.

    You know the old saying,

    live in hope, die of despair
    Posted by kae on 2008 03 14 at 06:10 AM • permalink

  118. "The media will be falling all over themselves to promote these snake oil salesmen, of course, so we have that to look forward to.”
    Comedians? Close, but no Groucho Marx cigar. Follow the link to see who the ABC presented today in a quite UNcritical way.
    More Veterans Against The War, or more MacBeths Who Come To Dunce-Inane?

    Posted by blogstrop on 2008 03 14 at 06:26 AM • permalink

  119. #106 - did she marry her thesis?

    Posted by blogstrop on 2008 03 14 at 06:32 AM • permalink

  120. Al Murray is a fucking fucking classic.

    He gives it out to everyone.

    Posted by murph on 2008 03 14 at 08:43 AM • permalink

  121. #120- Ever catch Time Gentlemen Please? It was a real hoot, particularly Phil Daniels as the filthy, flatulent barfly Terry. I particularly enjoyed the Guv’nor’s tirades about the French, and his latent homosexuality.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 14 at 09:08 AM • permalink

  122. #82 Of Client #6, the hooker said she liked her men in flashy capes, and with big tassles.

    Posted by Deborah Leigh on 2008 03 14 at 11:49 AM • permalink

  123. Well this was whatAshley Kristin wanted...rich and famous. She’s going to be richer. She’s got the famous down.

    Posted by Deborah Leigh on 2008 03 14 at 11:54 AM • permalink

  124. In Defense of the People’s
    Titling Committee for the
    Melbourne Comedy Festival:

    What would you title
    A dreary snore-fest
    Where left-wing clichés
    Are duly expressed,
    And boredom is such
    That every guest
    Wears his or her own
    Black suicide vest?

    Titles aren’t easy
    To write on request,
    But Melbourne implies
    That it’s self-impressed;
    Lastly, the ghastly
    Term Comedy Fest
    Warns the poor victim
    That he’ll leave depressed.

    Posted by lyle on 2008 03 14 at 04:48 PM • permalink

  125. The globe was so warm-"How warm was it?!"-Not only did polar bears drown, so did George Bush! HAHAHA! *cheers, whistles, applause* It’ll be a smash.

    Posted by dean martin on 2008 03 14 at 05:54 PM • permalink

  126. Lyle, yes, it’s that old Ministry of Truth thing that the left can’t shake. Comedy Fest is suicidally depressing, while serious entertainment is laughable.

    Posted by Contrail on 2008 03 14 at 05:58 PM • permalink

  127. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m registering “Fisting the Soul” right now for when I get around to starting my band.

    Posted by WingDynasty on 2008 03 14 at 05:58 PM • permalink

  128. Brackistan civil planning?

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 14 at 09:15 PM • permalink

  129. Did someone mention silver unisex bodysuits?!

    NSFW—but it should be!

    Posted by hella on 2008 03 14 at 09:41 PM • permalink

  130. #125
    It were so hot last night ... my pussy were stretched out on the window sill ...

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 14 at 09:49 PM • permalink

  131. #130
    Tracee Hutchison beaver spread

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 03 14 at 10:59 PM • permalink

  132. #131 - Thanks, but not so soon after lunch.

    Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 03 15 at 12:16 AM • permalink

  133. Traceeeee’s an idiot!* Did she get offended by the ad that obviously spawned that one, which targeted males and suggested they should look after their “little fella”?

    *Okay, redundancy noted, once again.

    Posted by AlburyShifton on 2008 03 15 at 12:48 AM • permalink

  134. For the Commie Fest I would, if I could, apply Laura Ingraham’s title for her Dixie Chicks skewering: “Shut Up and Sing"-- with one small alteration:

    "Shut Up"
    Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 03 15 at 01:34 AM • permalink

  135. #131

    Damn, that was a frightening thing to see when I scrolled down to here.

    Does that looneeee woman get paid by the word to ramble on like that?

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 03 15 at 01:34 AM • permalink

  136. Pamela Stephenson has an impressive screen presence.  And considering that she even demonstrated that presence with Sir Les Patterson no less, in Les Patterson Saves the World, that should be good enough for any Aussie…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 03 15 at 07:11 PM • permalink

  137. #136
    Yes an impressive screen presence.

    Pamela Stephenson is in full “bbl bbl bbl” mode...

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 03 16 at 01:32 AM • permalink

  138. Two things strike me about this story: i) the author has no grasp of history - neither world nor comedy, and ii) comedians have become terribly safe, conformist and commercial.

    Just out of interest: does Quantock have a day job, or does he earn a living out of comedy?

    Posted by Hanyu on 2008 03 16 at 05:25 AM • permalink

  139. Wow. Traceeee would have had a meltdown if she’d seen the NSW RTA speeding motorists small penises campaign…

    Posted by TheRealBigAl on 2008 03 16 at 11:26 PM • permalink

  140. Page 1 of 1 pages

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