Best Stand Up

Just wondered who is the best and worst stand up people have gone to see live. Are there any lesser known, upcoming stand ups that people would reccommend going to see before they become big?

I've seen Harry Hill, Ricky Gervais, Russell Brand, Frank Skinner, Dominic Holland, Robin Ince, Paddy McGuiness, Jethro, Chris Addisson.

I think that Skinner is probably the king of stnad up really but Brand was awesome as well. They both did really long sets to, which is something you could never accuse Gervais of.

Gervais and Hill were also great.

Paddy McGuiness was absolutely dire and constantly fell back on repeating Peter Kay jokes to get a laugh. He must have done the garlic bread routine three times!

To be fair, he probably wrote the garlic bread bit.

Anyway. I have seen Jack Dee, Reginald D. Hunter, Lee Evans and Bill Bailey doing proper shows. Also seen the likes of Al Murray, Tim Vine, Shappi Khorsandi, and Omid Djalili at a BBC London comedy benefit for Children In Need a couple of years ago, and many others as warmup acts at TV recordings, including Lucy Porter, Jo Caulfield, Bobby Bragg, Alun Cochrane, Junior Simpson, Rob Deering...

Dee and Hunter are absolutely superb. Porter the best of the females by far.

My favourite stand up shows last year were Michael McIntyre and Carey Marx. Someone I know whose job was reviewing stand ups, said the only one he'd pay money to see again (having had a stand up overdose) was Daniel Kitson. I'm yet to see him.

Oh and Tim Minchin was brilliant as well. But the only person who threatened to break my sides was Carey Marx.

PS Tom - you should consider going to the Latitude festival in Suffolk. The comedy line up is always 'amazing'. And there's some decent bands and other stuff to break it all up.

The most I've laughed in one night was at Lee Evans, back in '99 in York. The guy was on for over two hours and my cheeks hurt so much I wanted him to leave!

Next most was Ricky Gervais' Animals show when he first tried his hand at stand-up. That was awesome at the Bloomsbury.

Over the years, I've seen *loads* of stand-ups. To be fair, they've rarely been bad. The best stand-up, in my opinion, is Stewart Lee. His stuff is just so clever and seems to be pitched directly at me (poncey though that sounds). I'll admit he's not to everybody's taste, but that makes me feel a lot cleverer in myself!

Next lot I'd recommend, in no particular order, are: Andrew Lawrence, Stephen K. Amos, Brendan Burns, Jason Byrne, Simon Munnery, Richard Herring, Lee Mack, Dave Gorman (early stand-up quite good, the 'lecture' stuff very good), Sean Cullen, Eddie Izzard, Pappy's Fun Club (works much better live than TV/radio), Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey, Peter Kay (before he was famous -- he was supporting Simon Munnery's 'Alan Parker: Urban Warrior', Jason Freeman (who seems to have disappeared somewhere)

Anyone else, I either haven't seen or can't remember.

Dan

I haven't seen aaall that many. But possibly the best, who I wasn't even expecting that much from, was Trevor Lock.
I couldn't catch my breath from laughing so much. He was just unbelievably funny. The best delivery style ever.

I haven't seen him since, and there's not much of him on YouTube (unfortunately) so I can't tell if he's always like that or if it was just a style he was trying out at the time.

Quote: Aaron @ March 22 2009, 6:52 PM GMT

Porter the best of the females by far.

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Yeah and we know why.

It's a difficult one, but the best Stand up I've seen has to be Sean Lock.
His stand up CD is great as well.

Quote: zooo @ March 22 2009, 8:12 PM GMT

Yeah and we know why.

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Because she's the funniest of the lot!

Oh yeah, and I've also seen Lenny Henry.

Quote: Aaron @ March 22 2009, 9:27 PM GMT

Oh yeah, and I've also seen Lenny Henry.

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What had you done wrong?

Jeez - that is difficult.

From the relatively well-known acts, I'll gauge it based on my expectations beforehand. And the best has to be Lee Mack. I knew a fair bit about him but wasn't expecting to be blown away, but he was sensational.

Frank Skinner is a master. The most natural stage comedian of all time.

Lee Mack is a fantastic performer. A real all-rounder.

Tim Vine is magic. The very idea of his act might seem dull, but he's got a great knowing charm.

Stewart Lee controls and dictates the crowd like a stand up god.

And, although I've never seen him live and don't actually like him one bit, Lee Evans is a magician.

Oh and Tim Minchin is brilliantly left field and has a phenomenal singing voice.

Quote: Seefacts @ March 22 2009, 10:11 PM GMT

Oh and Tim Minchin is brilliantly left field and has a phenomenal singing voice.

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Good. Cos I've ticks to see him in October. Haven't watched his DVD yet, but it's sitting there waiting by the TV.

Dan

I've seen loads of standups, but there's also a lot that I still need to watch. Based upon who I've seen so far, this would be my top three.

1) Ross Noble: He is utterly brilliant, one of the only standups who can make me consistently laugh. The fact he improvieses 99% of his stuff means every show is very different, and he goes off into the surreal at every turn which I the way I like my comedy to be.
2) Pablo Fransisco: He is vastly underrated in America, and probably unknown over here. His act is very much a mix of observational comedy and impressions (his announcer voice in paticulair is fantastic). He's the best standup in America at the moment in my opinion.
3) Lee Evans: A great physical comedian, which for me is the big reason I enjoy him so much: his jokes are good, but wouldn't be the same without the physicality.

As far as the worst I've seen goes, I'd probably say David Baddiel. I have two of his shows, and it wasn't that his stuff was bad as such, it was just that all of his material was recycled from The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Newman and Baddiel in Pieces.

Quote: Magnus D @ March 22 2009, 11:51 PM GMT

I've seen loads of standups, but there's also a lot that I still need to watch. Based upon who I've seen so far, this would be my top three.

1) Ross Noble: He is utterly brilliant, one of the only standups who can make me consistently laugh. The fact he improvieses 99% of his stuff means every show is very different, and he goes off into the surreal at every turn which I the way I like my comedy to be.
2) Pablo Fransisco: He is vastly underrated in America, and probably unknown over here. His act is very much a mix of observational comedy and impressions (his announcer voice in paticulair is fantastic). He's the best standup in America at the moment in my opinion.
3) Lee Evans: A great physical comedian, which for me is the big reason I enjoy him so much: his jokes are good, but wouldn't be the same without the physicality.

As far as the worst I've seen goes, I'd probably say David Baddiel. I have two of his shows, and it wasn't that his stuff was bad as such, it was just that all of his material was recycled from The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Newman and Baddiel in Pieces.

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Pablo Fransico's film trailer man bit is brilliant (sadly the great man it's based on, Don LaFontaine, passed away recently)

Quote: swerytd @ March 22 2009, 11:12 PM GMT

Good. Cos I've ticks to see him in October. Haven't watched his DVD yet, but it's sitting there waiting by the TV.

Dan

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I'm going to see him again at the end of the year too. He's really great. And, and I don't mind saying this, quite a striking man to look at.

Quote: Nil Putters @ March 22 2009, 9:30 PM GMT

What had you done wrong?

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Oh yeah, I saw Ross Noble too. Very, very good!

Going to see Jimmy Carr tonight as someone offered tickets at my g/f's work. Got them for half-price too, a tenner each!

Dan