Quote: sardines @ July 3 2009, 12:09 AM BST"
...but you can be clever and show someone up while being an arse, it just means that it'll prove difficult to win other people over.
But how did he show him up? By being difficult? What did he prove by doing that? If you think it made him look like a bad interviewer, then, well, he's not really Parkinson, is he? It just seems like a terrible shame he had to act that way.
I thought it was a great interview, and rather than fawning all over Gervais, Shandling actually asked him some awkward questions, i.e., what was he trying to do with his comedy.
Incidentally, I'm a fan of both men.
Quote: chipolata @ July 3 2009, 9:49 AM BSTI thought it was a great interview, and rather than fawning all over Gervais,
Yeah, but there's a difference between not fawning and being a bit of a cock.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ July 3 2009, 9:51 AM BSTYeah, but there's a difference between not fawning and being a bit of a cock.
I don't think he was a cock. I just don't think he was as overawed by gervais as so many other people who talk to him are. Such as Christopher Guest.
Quote: chipolata @ July 3 2009, 9:56 AM BSTI don't think he was a cock. I just don't think he was as overawed by gervais as so many other people who talk to him are.
Come on, he was prickly and sour in the extreme, it just came as across as odd, if enjoyable to actually watch. In most interviews people aren't overawed by the interviewer, but they're at least civil.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ July 3 2009, 10:02 AM BSTCome on, he was prickly and sour in the extreme, it just came as across as odd, if enjoyable to actually watch. In most interviews people aren't overawed by the interviewer, but they're at least civil.
I think it was a fascinating encounter, and the only interview Gervais has been involved in that lingers in my mind. Perhaps if Shandling had been less awkward it wouldn't have been as revealing.
Quote: sardines @ July 3 2009, 12:09 AM BST"You're great Larry"
"You're even better Ricky"
"Oh nonsense, you're amazing..."...but you can be clever and show someone up while being an arse, it just means that it'll prove difficult to win other people over.
What's wrong with Ricky and Larry admiring each other and their respective works. Nothing that I can see. I will never understand people who have a problem with this type of thing. Is it jealousy, I don't know, but I have no idea why people can't stand to watch successful people admiring and complimenting each other.
It's like the TV critics who complain that Ricky is too friendly with Jonathan Ross on his show. What difference does it make?! The critics are blatantly just bitter that they are not part of the friendship.
I think we will have to agree to disagree on Shandling.
Quote: Jacob Loves Comedy @ July 3 2009, 10:42 AM BSTI think we will have to agree to disagree on Shandling.
No we don't.
Quote: chipolata @ July 3 2009, 10:45 AM BSTNo we don't.
Well I can disagree, but you're more than welcome to argue with yourself if you want.
Quote: Yellows 586 @ July 2 2009, 1:01 PM BSTPersonally I think John Cleese is right when he says he don't think writers work as hard as they used to.
What is the evidence for this claim?
Maybe it's a reference to the X-Factor style competitions? I don't know though.
I was disappointed in Mr Cleese, when in a recent interview he said he didn't watch much comedy any more, unless it was 'really good'. That sort of attitude will not allow him to discover anything new. Now that's OK if he's very busy, but he is unwise to then condemn a comedy scene which he's already implied that he knows nothing about.
Yes, is a silly way to go about things.
The problem with comedians and comedy writers is that eventually their inspiration runs out (almost without exception) and/or they go out of fashion. Bitterness and sniping becomes the last refuge of the once-great. Fair play to someone like Barry Cryer, who never seems to tire of new possibilities and personalities in comedy.
Barry Cryer - the man who has apparently worked with everyone, ever.