Camp comedians Norton and Carr criticised

Peter Tatchell is angry because he worries about stereotypes of gay comedians.

Speaking to The Stage, Tatchell said: "Gay comedians like Graham Norton and Alan Carr are great, but terribly cliched and stereotypical. They pander to very tired archetypes of gay men and are just a continuation of John Inman and Larry Grayson.

"It shows little imagination and can reinforce prejudices. The problem is not that they are camp comedians, but that they are the only kind of gay comedian that have major TV programmes. Why hasn't any intelligent, non-stereotypical comedian like Scott Capurro got a prime-time slot?"

He added: "Heterosexual audiences like laughing at gay men and so people like Alan Carr and Graham Norton fit that bill, whereas Scott Capurro is much too challenging. He makes straight people the butts of his jokes."

1. I guess it's because nobody has heard of Scott Capurro.
2. Is he funny?
3. Maybe there are other gay comedians who don't make a big thing about being gay and never mention it in their shows.

Well said, Peter Tatchell. Let's have more non-camp gay comedians on TV.

For example, Paul Sinha (Wiki), who once was told by a C4 commissioning editor that he refused to believe that Paul was gay.

He's slightly chubby, brown and likes football and pub quizzes.

(Though Tatchell did obviously forget that fairly non-camp gay Stephen Fry is on TV more than the bloody lot of the camp comedians put together.)

And I would take issue with the assertion that Scott Capurro isn't camp...

I agree with Tatchell's comments (there's a first).

However, people like Jonathan Ross and David Walliams, pretending to be gay every f**king time they have a moment of screen time, annoy the buggery out of me just as much.

Gays like Stephen Fry, Derren Brown and Michael McIntyre are much more tolerable on TV.

Quote: Tim Walker @ November 19 2009, 12:53 AM GMT

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What? I'm serious. Go to iPlayer and watch any Jonathann Ross show. He's always trying to get homoerotic with his guests for cheap laughs. I don't need to explain Walliams. At least Carr and Norton really are gay.

I was laughing at the Michael McIntyre reference.

Quote: Tim Walker @ November 19 2009, 12:57 AM GMT

I was laughing at the Michael McIntyre reference.

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Is he not gay?

Quote: Kevin Murphy @ November 19 2009, 12:52 AM GMT

I agree with Tatchell's comments (there's a first).

However, people like Jonathan Ross and David Walliams, pretending to be gay every f**king time they have a moment of screen time, annoy the buggery out of me just as much.

Gays like Stephen Fry, Derren Brown and Michael McIntyre are much more tolerable on TV.

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What about James Corden?

Not gay myself (got to get that out of the way...just in case this turns out to be a 'coming out thread') but I enjoy the comedy stylings of such fabulous homos as Kenny Everett, Simon Amstell, Graham Chapman Scott Capurro and, yes, Julian Clary. Not all of those play the gay card, for want of a betterer phrase.

Gays can be unfunny too: cf. McIntyre, M.

Not according to his wife, Kev.

(Probably a classic gay front though.)

Yeah, Amstell's a good case-in-point. Methinks that Tatchell doesn't really watch a lot of TV, but hasn't been in the papers for a while, so he had to find something to complain about.

And those gay twins on X-Factor are getting great viewing figures at the moment. So what if they're a bit camp...?

Although I agree with Tatchel, he needs to understand that camp gay comedians are really the only kind of gay comedians most non gay viewers want.

All of my faghag friends think their gay friends dance to shirley bassey in hotpants every night, rather than suck off half a dozen strangers down at the gym.

Quote: Tim Walker @ November 19 2009, 1:01 AM GMT

Not according to his wife, Kev.

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Okay, my mistake.

Yeah, Amstell's a good case-in-point.

True. But Fry's been getting a lot more gay in his ad libs the last few years.

And those gay twins on X-Factor are getting great viewing figures at the moment. So what if they're a bit camp...?

Gay? No.

Those f**kers are identical twins, and yet they appear to have so little chemistry that if one died I doubt the other would know about it until he read about it in the obituaries.

Quote: Godot Taxis @ November 19 2009, 1:11 AM GMT

All of my faghag friends think their gay friends dance to shirley bassey in hotpants every night, rather than suck off half a dozen strangers down at the gym.

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Quote: Kevin Murphy @ November 19 2009, 1:12 AM GMT

Those f**kers are identical twins, and yet they appear to have so little chemistry that if one died I doubt the other would know about it until he read about it in the obituaries.

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Personally I think that something went slightly awry in Louis Walsh's top-secret Twink Cloning Laboratory. (If they both start to mysteriously age rapidly or their limbs fall off, I will be have been proved right.)

Quote: Kevin Murphy @ November 19 2009, 1:12 AM GMT

Okay, my mistake.

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It's still a great line...

Quote: Gregor Shamsa @ November 19 2009, 1:00 AM GMT

What about James Corden?

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Corden can't even act being gay very well. (See Horne, Matthew for further information.)

Graham Norton's gay?

Seriously though, aside from the sparkly suits, he's not that camp.

He's got very gay lips, but apart from that, I concur...

Quote: Tim Walker @ November 19 2009, 2:00 AM GMT

He's got very gay lips, but apart from that, I concur...

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Gaelic gay lips.