"Lazy comedian slags, lazy comedian slags/Tedious set-ups, predictable gags...". So sang Alan Davies' ex-girlfriend in May 1999 before dumping him. But despite her valiant efforts, lazy comedians still trawl the media in search of the tedious and predictable to weave into their acts, secure in the knowledge that their audiences are delighted to hear about them. They scream with laughter as yet another bland comedy sketch show features a reference to Reservoir Dogs or The Blair Witch Project, howl with merriment as a comedian spews out a 10-minute routine about the cast of Star Wars visiting a kebab house and split their sides over a Tellytubbies-On-Acid reference. And if the reference is hot enough, who needs jokes? Fuck 'em - they get in the way. But heavens, let's break it down into levels. Descend with us now into the hell of Reference Comedy... LEVEL ONE LEVEL TWO LEVEL THREE LEVEL FOUR LEVEL FIVE * * * A comedian once said that true happiness is 'Seeing someone you've heard of on the South Bank Show'. This is how audiences react to comedy sets these days. Sadly, this produces a knock-on effect around the comedy world and everyone tries the same thing. For the comedy connoisseur, this is nothing short of depressing as you see otherwise fine comedians baiting the audience with cheap refs in return for quick laughs. Almost a comedy prostitution. Very few comedians will fight against the tide. There are good ones who simply refuse to participate. But, at the end of the day, all comedy acts, no matter how post-modern, original or boundaries-breaking they think they are, like to hear a delighted audience. Even Big Train had a reference to the Tellytubbies. Anything written by Richard Curtis for instance is liberally strewn with embarrassing half-thought-out little references to media icons every few minutes, each one just that little bit too late, each one receiving a lapdog round of applause from the audience. Perhaps Curtis believes that the audience crave this allusion to topicality but it emerges as little more than an alternative to genuine wit. Curtis is otherwise a likeable enough comedy writer so it seems a shame he needs to litter his work with such needless pandering. So, in conclusion, take a closer look at a comedian's set. Mentally check the time distance between the emergence of a media thing and how long it reverberates around the comedy world. Look at the gushing laziness of the perpetrators. Don't allow yourself to be taken for a jolly icon-reference ride by lazy bastards in a big painted charabanc full of people who are delighted to recognise a reference to some thing. Download the following design. Make it into leaflets, posters or T-shirts. Distribute, plaster or wear them at the next comedy gig. Let's get things moving here. |
© 2000 - 2001 some of the corpses are amusing
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