Stephen Merchant "Hello Ladies"

[Section_31]

They aren't full time comedy clubs like you have in Manc though, they're just 'comedy nights' with a headliner and decent understudy types. Most of them seem to only open of a weekend too where people are paying a decent amount of money and so want someone who's reasonably polished. There's not much scope for open mic, learning the trade and doesn't seem to be much of a 'comedy scene' in the city. I was in an amateur group a few years ago which was designed to get people started and most of the act had to try and bag nights at the Frog And Bucket in Manchester, which was a difficult place to start at best if you had a scouse accent. The Liverpool scene was dominated almost exclusively by a chap called Chris Cairns.

[Total Longo]

Somebody re-animate the corpse of Bernard Manning.

[Flying Pig]

Stewart Lee is the daddy of all clever,funny modern comedy for me.

 

I found it hard to believe that he writes/wrote or even invented the Al Murray pub landlord character.

Im not sure he does any more but he did do at its inception.

 

I'm not really a John Bishop fan but one of my kids said his new DVD is piss poor compared to his first one.

It seems the writing is very difficult for most comedians too.

 

I saw Lee Mack on telly a couple of weeks ago in concert and thought he was surprisingly good. Hes never been funny when i saw him on comedy shows or quizzes but his stand up routine was very good.

 

I loved the Lee Mack live DVD. Very underrated.

[Guest davelfc]

I loved the Lee Mack live DVD. Very underrated.

 

Have you seen 'not going out' with Lee Mack and Tim Vine? Unlike many vehicles for stand ups, this is actually very funny and doesn't just exist to feed him lines from his stand up act.

[Flying Pig]

Have you seen 'not going out' with Lee Mack and Tim Vine? Unlike many vehicles for stand ups, this is actually very funny and doesn't just exist to feed him lines from his stand up act.

 

I have mate and its decent.

[chauncey]

They aren't full time comedy clubs like you have in Manc though, they're just 'comedy nights' with a headliner and decent understudy types. Most of them seem to only open of a weekend too where people are paying a decent amount of money and so want someone who's reasonably polished. There's not much scope for open mic, learning the trade and doesn't seem to be much of a 'comedy scene' in the city. I was in an amateur group a few years ago which was designed to get people started and most of the act had to try and bag nights at the Frog And Bucket in Manchester, which was a difficult place to start at best if you had a scouse accent. The Liverpool scene was dominated almost exclusively by a chap called Chris Cairns.

 

Though not a dedicated comedy club, Mello Mello used to be a great place to catch raw stand-up, I haven't been in well over a year so that's probably changed. Baa Bar on Hardman Street have Rawhide open mic on Tuesday nights but I get what you're saying about the dearth of comedy clubs.

 

Most reasonably successful (in a local sense) Liverpool stand-ups have had to start out doing the Frog and Bucket - unfair perhaps but it's just one of those things.

 

I also agree with what you imply about the ubiquitous Chris Cairns.

[Section_31]

Though not a dedicated comedy club, Mello Mello used to be a great place to catch raw stand-up, I haven't been in well over a year so that's probably changed. Baa Bar on Hardman Street have Rawhide open mic on Tuesday nights but I get what you're saying about the dearth of comedy clubs.

 

Most reasonably successful (in a local sense) Liverpool stand-ups have had to start out doing the Frog and Bucket - unfair perhaps but it's just one of those things.

 

I also agree with what you imply about the ubiquitous Chris Cairns.

 

He's quite funny Chris Cairns to be fair, but at that time he 'was' the Liverpool comedy scene. There's another chap too called Sam Avery who was pretty much everywhere.

 

It's a weird setup the stand-up circuit at the lower levels, very bitchy, a lot of one upmanship and people doing the same old shit for years and years, I found it tiresome but you've got to admire anyone who breaks through because there is no tougher form of performance IMO.

 

I worked at an arts charity in the runup to Capital of Culture though and it was fairly obvious none of the grass roots stuff was getting any money. The likes of FACT and the Maritime Museum (which was already financially supported) were getting large amounts of money from the Culture Company (which was administered by non arts background people in the main) and there was also your Melbourne Flamenco dancers being paid top dollar to come over and perform, but you'd have been hard pressed to find any grassroots comedy or writing going on in the city, I don't imagine much has changed.

 

The arts in Liverpool has been pretty badly run for a long time IMO. The place is about as Bohemian as Simon Cowell.

[VladimirIlyich]

Have you seen 'not going out' with Lee Mack and Tim Vine? Unlike many vehicles for stand ups, this is actually very funny and doesn't just exist to feed him lines from his stand up act.

 

The lines are good but the timing is poor,the acting is not great and anything with that Miranda woman in is a bit of a turn off.

[RedBrian84]

I have never seen the appeal of Merchant, although I wouldn't say I disliked him. Gervais is a cunt however.

 

Flanagan was mentioned earlier in this thread and I thought he was hilarious when I saw him at the Empire this year. Very, very funny. Bill Bailey was outstanding at the Echo as well. I'm quite happy with the standard of stand-ups at the moment to be honest, although there are some that need to just stop, like Andy Parsons and Chris Addison. Both great satirists, but they are no stand ups. The best I've seen live was either the aforementioned Bailey at the Echo, or the always brilliant Dara O'Briein at Apollo in London last year. But they have been around a few years, there isn't really a new one that I could say was outstanding. Kevin Bridges was very good though at the Lowry earlier this year.

[skend04]

I'll probably get negged for it but i think Alan Carr is one of the funniest around at the minute. There's nothing pretentious about his routine, its just very funny.

[Furmedge]

Alan Carr is the millenium's Julian Clary.