Fist Of Fun Page 2

OK.....I'm going to reply to all three of you:-

It was probably one of the best sketch shows of all time
That is like when they do a survey of what is the best pop song ever. Invariably what was number one that year gets in the top 50 and then never to be heard of again.

That's OK I always the Goons were shit.
Can only think you have heard a snatch of it and based your opinion on that. Also there are a lot of jokes and satire in some of the shows that are 1950s based so you perhaps wouldn't understand what people are laughing at.

And their humour only appreciated by a country half starved by rationing.
Bit OTT! We weren't that bad off.

Yeah, I don't like The Goons either, but love Fist of Fun. Must be a generational thing.
Maybe. I cannot find anything funny in Tommy Handley and the ITMA show from the 1940s, BUT you have to remember that there were very, very strict restrictions on what could be made fun of in those days with the BBC's "Green Book", whereas now it seems anything goes. Having said that, Milligan and Sellars managed to get a lot of sexual innuendo into the shows that were missed by the censors and so made it funnier.

I mean the contemporaneous shows like round the horn were much funniet
It was funny but not funnier.

Funnily enough I heard Eric Idle on the radio the other day saying a similar thing.
Well, that's strange because he and the rest of the crew said that Python owed much to The Goons and Spike Milligan in particular.

And to conclude - mull these over.

I've nothing against the guy in the Fist of Fun clip as I thought he was excellent in the recent Harry and Paul series where he and Paul Whitehouse played two 1950s women trying to put each other down.

Even now, I understand, The Goon Show Appreciation Society have new young members enrolling so it cannot be all a generation thing and is STILL appealing to 21st century youth.
ALSO, the BBC are still releasing CDs of The Goon Shows as they come to light in their archives. They wouldn't do that if they didn't sell

Will Fist of Fun or Lee and Heering et al be remembered in 50 years time? Come on, be honest - NO!

When does something become non de rigueur?

There's a lot of "modern" comedy I like, and a lot I don't. For example, comedians of today who are not funny:-

John Bishop. Chris Addison, Russell Howard, Reginald D Hunter, that twat with the baseball cap like a modern Norman Wisdom (?) and some who are unmemorable.

Oh, and Happy Christmas!!

But most importantly of all, Hercules, comedy's subjective. So you're just as wrong as they are.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ December 25 2012, 10:41 AM GMT

OK.....I'm going to reply to all three of you:-

It was probably one of the best sketch shows of all time
That is like when they do a survey of what is the best pop song ever. Invariably what was number one that year gets in the top 50 and then never to be heard of again.

That's OK I always the Goons were shit.
Can only think you have heard a snatch of it and based your opinion on that. Also there are a lot of jokes and satire in some of the shows that are 1950s based so you perhaps wouldn't understand what people are laughing at.

And their humour only appreciated by a country half starved by rationing.
Bit OTT! We weren't that bad off.

Yeah, I don't like The Goons either, but love Fist of Fun. Must be a generational thing.
Maybe. I cannot find anything funny in Tommy Handley and the ITMA show from the 1940s, BUT you have to remember that there were very, very strict restrictions on what could be made fun of in those days with the BBC's "Green Book", whereas now it seems anything goes. Having said that, Milligan and Sellars managed to get a lot of sexual innuendo into the shows that were missed by the censors and so made it funnier.

I mean the contemporaneous shows like round the horn were much funniet
It was funny but not funnier.

Funnily enough I heard Eric Idle on the radio the other day saying a similar thing.
Well, that's strange because he and the rest of the crew said that Python owed much to The Goons and Spike Milligan in particular.

And to conclude - mull these over.

I've nothing against the guy in the Fist of Fun clip as I thought he was excellent in the recent Harry and Paul series where he and Paul Whitehouse played two 1950s women trying to put each other down.

Even now, I understand, The Goon Show Appreciation Society have new young members enrolling so it cannot be all a generation thing and is STILL appealing to 21st century youth.
ALSO, the BBC are still releasing CDs of The Goon Shows as they come to light in their archives. They wouldn't do that if they didn't sell

Will Fist of Fun or Lee and Heering et al be remembered in 50 years time? Come on, be honest - NO!

When does something become non de rigueur?

There's a lot of "modern" comedy I like, and a lot I don't. For example, comedians of today who are not funny:-

John Bishop. Chris Addison, Russell Howard, Reginald D Hunter, that twat with the baseball cap like a modern Norman Wisdom (?) and some who are unmemorable.

Oh, and Happy Christmas!!

View original

Sadly this does nothing but prove why the Goons, are Goon and good riddance.

Prince Charles liked the Goons.

Out of all the ladies in the world he could have landed his chopper in he chose Camilla.
Game set and match,

Quote: sootyj @ December 25 2012, 11:16 AM GMT

Sadly this does nothing but prove why the Goons, are Goon and good riddance.

Prince Charles liked the Goons.

Out of all the ladies in the world he could have landed his chopper in he chose Camilla.
Game set and match,

View original

What a pointless narrow minded retort.......and a Merry Christmas to you!

Quote: Aaron @ December 25 2012, 11:13 AM GMT

But most importantly of all, Hercules, comedy's subjective. So you're just as wrong as they are.

View original

Subjective yes, but clearly you've missed my point, some are instantly forgettable.

Merry Christmas...........

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ December 25 2012, 2:15 PM GMT

Subjective yes, but clearly you've missed my point, some are instantly forgettable.

View original

Fist of Fun, a very small cult concern at the time, is going on twenty years old, and we're talking about it on here still. So I suppose it, and Lee & Herring, have proved their longevity a bit to those that enjoy them. And of course, as separate comedians since, they've continued to push themselves and forge successful, acclaimed careers.

Quote: sootyj @ December 24 2012, 7:07 PM GMT

It was probably one of the best sketch shows of all time.

This sketch shows how amazing it was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1xjcyyuDM0

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Is that one from TMWRNJ? I don't remember it from Fist of Fun, unless it was one of the sketches that got cut.

It's back on the radio!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007zmh6

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 25th December 2012, 2:15 PM GMT

What a pointless narrow minded retort

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I thought it was great!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Despite personal opinions here regarding either shows, it can't be denied that they were both groundbreaking for their eras and relevant generations.

The Goons layed important foundations! That's they're key contribution, not their hilarity I don't think. From that area on, comedy could be viewed like a building that becomes crazier and more innovative the higher it gets; in turn, commissioning decisions increasingly detour from the blueprints.

That's not to say though that every innovative chance is a mark of genius, regardless of their impact on the structure.

For example, I hate Flying Circus and the Pythons have even said they think 30% of it was 'of any good' - not surprising given they were young chaps, with unquestioned freedom and cash to play. Yet it's this freedom that was the innovative, architectural marker for them. Wild chances taken were unheard of in comedy!

Skip to 'Fist of Fun', amist the postmodern 90s, where their marking was the referencing to the media culture around it; other TV shows, films, celebrities etc. They were to TV what Tarantino was to film

I recently got my hands on a copy of the 5 disc set of S1 of Fist of Fun. They bought the rights and sold both series on gofasterstripe.com (they've been sold out though, and are usually expensive to buy second hand). The set has the full studio rushes including between-take stuff and multiple takes and setup and multiple commentary tracks for each episode as well as a large handful of sketches that got cut (some were very dark!), and a feature of Lee and Herring having a chat and looking throgh Rich's binders and boxes full of their old notes and tour stuff and various things. And then a DVD-ROM of scripts, press releases, fan club letters and live audio bootlegs etc.

Over 7 hours of extras not including the 4 and a half hours of commentaries.

It's kind of a master class in how to make a sketch show (albeit in the 90s). Really interesting stuff.

I think TMWRNJ is the funnier show and more groundbreaking show, personally, and I hope that someday they'll be able to release that like they did this (they've said they can't 'because reasons' but maybe they will anyway).

Lee and Herring are both still forces to be reckoned with to this day, and people are definitely still talking about them. I don't think they'll stop particularly soon.

Sidenote: I'm very excited to see Rich at the Fringe. Stew isn't doing a run this year

According to Richard (on his Leicester Square Theatre (RHLSTP) show, he and Stew were so rushed during that series, which due to an evidently ramshackle duo, becomes obvious in a majority of the sketches; yet I ring that as a praise for them! It was a show that benefited from not being given a big budget to work with.

Incidentally, "albeit in the 90s" brings to need, a mind jog of all the, still relevant and noteworthy 90s sketch shows there was: Harry Enfield & Chums, The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Fist of Fun, The Fast Show, The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer, French & Saunders, The Adam & Joe Show, Big Train, Absolutely, Blue Jam, A Bit of Fry & Laurie etc etc etc.

Let us never disparage the 90s and suggest that a different period in time 20-something years ago, was any more or less chuckle chingling, gigglesome or archaic in humour. It's an easy poll beater compared to this decade, wouldn't you say?

P.S. You'll love Rich live. His tangental style is more rewarding live, without edit.

OUCH! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnF3CXE2doY

Quote: WarmWasp @ 6th August 2017, 12:19 AM

For example, I hate Flying Circus and the Pythons have even said they think 30% of it was 'of any good' - not surprising given they were young chaps, with unquestioned freedom and cash to play. Yet it's this freedom that was the innovative, architectural marker for them. Wild chances taken were unheard of in comedy!

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'Hate' is too strong and only for fascists, pedophiles and Matt Cardle for kissing Melanie C, but MPFC is very hit and miss. Cleese himself said they were mucking around and being in a group let you off the hook - when he wrote Fawlty Towers he was much stricter with himself. It would make an awesome anthology, as the first film and recent reunion showed.

What stands out to me about this, as well as the radio version and This Morning With Richard Not Judy, is how good Richard Herring's performances are. He's great in them, so it's not like Stewart Lee was the only talented one and was just carrying the whole thing.

Though I'd speculate that the reason Lee's stand-up took off in a way his didn't is because Lee effectively has a similar dynamic but with the audience, which removes most of the set-up and makes it a lot more direct. It would be hard to imagine Herring doing his bit of the double act as seamlessly in stand-up, though I suppose he's done it to an extent with his podcast.