Quote: zooo @ August 18 2009, 10:53 PM BSTJack Dee and Alan Carr did this for a minute or so on this week's Chatty Man.
You actually watch that? Wow.
Stand up Comedy Documentary Page 2
Yep!
Alan Carr is quite entertaining. 
I've tried watching it, but Carr's voice resonates on a frequency I'm allergic to.
I do like Alan Carr - on a certain level. But I keep forgetting this.
Maybe if it was called "The chappy man....."
I think it's one of those ideas which sound alright for a moment but don't really bear closer examination.
It's one of those things that happens occasionally at open mike nights when they decide to be wacky for one reason or another.
what you're talking about is something which would only really appeal to die hard comedy fans, people who know the styles and jokes of said comics off by heart which is a very small number of people.
to other people it would just be watching a comic they don't really know doing material they don't know. The novelty would be completely lost.
I think there are lots of scope for job swap type formats, but this maybe isn't one.
Ah what do I know. I'm generally wrong.
Most stand-ups have enough difficulty being funny doing their own style of comedy, let alone anyone else's.
I'd pay good money to watch Patrick Kielty perform Chris Rock's most famous routine (you know the one I mean) in the style of Chris Rock.
Quote: Kevin Murphy @ August 19 2009, 11:12 AM BSTI'd pay good money to watch Patrick Kielty perform Chris Rock's most famous routine (you know the one I mean) in the style of Chris Rock.
I really know nothing about Chris Rock. He's American, right?
He's very funny.
This swapping of acts was done in the Channel 4 reality show 'Kings of Comedy' a few years ago, which featured modern acts such as Andrew Maxwell mixing it up with older comics like Mick Miller.
And that show was rubbish. Though I did like Boothby Grafoe filthing up to the young female newbie stand-up, not getting anywhere, getting drunk instead and walking off the show in the middle of the night.
Quote: zooo @ August 18 2009, 10:53 PM BSTJack Dee and Alan Carr did this for a minute or so on this week's Chatty Man. It didn't really work.
Yeah, I saw that too. Dee was funny, but I think Carr didn't actually like being impersonated... which is part of the reason why I don't think this idea would ever work.
The idea would also be relying on the idea that most stand-ups like each other. Some may affect to like each other, some may respect each other, very few genuinely like each enough to want to pay homage to them. When stand-ups/impressionists ape other comics it's usually (at best) low-level mockery.
Well what about styles of stand-up...
Trying ... observational, shocking, surreal, documentary, one liners, musical etc.
With a group of 6 random (mid level?) comics and each week they each try to create a set in that style and get into the mind of a shock comic or surrealist etc.
That was basically how the King Of Comedy programme worked (or didn't). The whole idea is a gimmick which neither says anything particularly new or interesting about stand-up comedy, nor does it seem to have any benefit for getting laughs.