I wonder if we at the BCG should do our own poll?
If we did, then I think we should do it like we do our awards - vote for the best and the worst.
The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups 2010 Page 2
Well there are many others on there who have done less stand up than Peter Cook.
Another major flaw is the lack of recent material seeminly barring great standups from being higher up. The Great Alexei Sayle has slipped down nearly 50 places!! Eh???!!! While Bob Hope has slipped out altogether.
And yet VERY bizarrely, this lack of recent work has seen one or two rise higher up the list, like Richard Pryor!!! So what's going on there???
A deeply flawed and pretty meaningless list imo. 
Quote: Timbo @ April 11 2010, 11:41 AM BSTThe rankings are so random they might as well have been picked out of a hat. It is also rather biased towards recent memory.
Sadly, that's the very nature of all polls.
As for this one, Peter Cook is not a stand-up, nor is Billy Connolly particularly funny. I think that the list as a whole was fairly inclusive, and the list was - generally - not too bad (i.e. for the most part had people placed within the right area), but the exact placing was quite bizarre. All a bit unsatisfying really.
Quote: Ian Wolf @ April 11 2010, 12:25 PM BSTIf we did, then I think we should do it like we do our awards - vote for the best and the worst.
Announcing, live, the best and worst stand-ups. That could be excrutiatingly embarrassing!
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ April 11 2010, 12:29 PM BSTWhile Bob Hope has slipped out altogether.
Actually, Bob Hope was in the list. He was 47th in this poll, moving up three places from last time (50th).
Quote: Aaron @ April 11 2010, 12:33 PM BSTAnnouncing, live, the best and worst stand-ups. That could be excrutiatingly embarrassing.
Alright, maybe not the worst ones, but still, we could do the best ones, and we could limit it as well like we do with the comedy.co.uk awards so the result would be fairer.
I think the problem is that the list was supposedly voted for by "the public" but then, ultimately, chosen by a panel of "experts", thus it's ended up a mish-mash of populist comics interspersed with an attempt to pick ones who have made important contributions to the genre.
In the end we all know that these list programmes are pointless but, I suppose, anything that brings attention to stand up in general is a good thing.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ April 11 2010, 12:29 PM BSTWell there are many others on there who have done less stand up than Peter Cook.
(unless you don't consider Peter Cook a stand up anyway)
(sorry)
(I'll shut up about it now)
It's truly bizarre, and no one on Earth will convince me that Cook wasn't a stand up for a large chunk of his early career. You could argue he was more a compere maybe, but surely his greatness should be recognised for his part in making the names of Lenny Bruce and Barry Humphries known to us, who are both well up the list; or for being probably the first genuine comedy club owner in Britain - where is the justice in ignoring him from this crazy loony list???
Then there's Ken Dodd relegated to the bottom ten, that's an insult! AND he's still filling out venues to this day! I hope he doesn't view this list, the man will be hurt.
And not even an 'honorable mention' for Tom O'Connor!! Do people actually know enough about who's been great at 'standup' and filled out venues for years, before they're allowed to vote their own private favourites in?
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ April 11 2010, 12:50 PM BSTAnd not even an 'honorable mention' for Tom O'Connor!!
He was very good on Celebrity Come Dine With Me.
Alfred's a bit angry.
Cook may have helped bring us the likes of Humphries, but that doesn't warrant him anything. On that kind of basis there should also be a spot for whoever commissioned The Office, for plucking Ricky Gervais from obscurity to mainstream.
And Cook still was not a stand-up comedian. 
(Was also dismayed to see the likes of Starr, Dodd and Howerd so low on the list. The former still hugely successful today, quite a bit moreso than some of the names near the top 10.)
Quote: Ian Wolf @ April 11 2010, 9:03 AM BSTThe poll last night certainly had its issues. My main problem is the lack of new material that appeared. They just re-used interviews and clips from the last poll for the majority of the show.
Yeah, there were certainly issues with the poll! Particularly, for me, the lack of certain names in the list. It'd be fine to exclude people like Rob Brydon if it wasn't for the fact low-rent comedians like Joe Pasquale were included (incidently, did I remember rightly, they showed Pasquale telling the joke about fireman, and then later in the countdown broadcast Harry Hill telling his joke - the same one?)
Quote: Lindyloop @ April 11 2010, 9:58 AM BSTThey reused the clips to the extent that at one point the voice over said someone was at No. 23 or something when they were actually at 17!
I noticed that! I think the voiceover was all new though - suggesting they may have switched the order quite late? (which, if so, would highlight how loose they were playing with the actual voted order)
What was certainly odd was how they seemed to lack material for certain performers. e.g. we got absolutely loads of 100th place Freddie Starr, but 19th place Sean Lock whizzed past without so much as a voiceover or talking head.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ April 11 2010, 10:26 AM BSTI did wince joyfully at some of the 2007 interview clips tho.
I felt sorry for Ed Byrne - he did look rather young, long-haired and out-of-fashion in those old clips.
Quote: Kevin Murphy @ April 11 2010, 10:38 AM BSTAt least is wasn't as bum-kissy as these things usually are. They actually brought up stuff like Leary stealing material and Khorsandi not being funny.
Yeah, to be fair to the programme, they did add some negatives too didn't they. I thought they let Jim Davidson etc bang on too much about how "women aren't funny" though.
Quote: Kevin Murphy @ April 11 2010, 10:38 AM BSTI can't quite understand how Billy Connolly won. I don't think I've ever laughed at his stuff.
Quote: Richard Wells @ April 11 2010, 11:10 AM BSTI watched it for 4hrs just to find it's bloody Billy Connolly who won again.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ April 11 2010, 12:29 PM BSTVERY bizarrely, this lack of recent work has seen one or two rise higher up the list, like Richard Pryor!!! So what's going on there??? A deeply flawed and pretty meaningless list imo.
Quote: Tony Cowards @ April 11 2010, 12:39 PM BSTI think the problem is that the list was supposedly voted for by "the public" but then, ultimately, chosen by a panel of "experts", thus it's ended up a mish-mash of populist comics interspersed with an attempt to pick ones who have made important contributions to the genre.
I know what you all mean! I'd say there's no way Billy Connolly and Richard Pryor polled anywhere near as many votes as currently 'active' comedians like Peter Kay and Michael McIntyre. Pryor is really not very well known in the UK - so that one would almost certainly have been a judges choice.
If I was to be controversial, I'd say Connolly and Pryor probably only remained near the top as they already had the 20 minutes from last time edited together - which is easier than having to come up with a new 20 minutes for a different 'winner'.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ April 11 2010, 12:29 PM BSTAnother major flaw is the lack of recent material seeminly barring great standups from being higher up. The Great Alexei Sayle has slipped down nearly 50 places!! Eh???!!! While Bob Hope has slipped out altogether.
Bob Hope was actually 49th. If you remember, they slagged him off for not writing his own stuff.
I have to say, I'm actually surprised the lack of recent material didn't 'hinder' more. Les Dawson was a good comic, but I would have expected Jack Dee and Alan Carr to have received more votes than him as they have much more current exposure, particularly to young fans.
Quote: Tony Cowards @ April 11 2010, 12:39 PM BSTIn the end we all know that these list programmes are pointless but, I suppose, anything that brings attention to stand up in general is a good thing.
Yeah, good point! Nice to have some stand-up on the TV, even if the order of it was a little mixed up.
Quote: Ian Wolf @ April 11 2010, 12:25 PM BSTI wonder if we at the BCG should do our own poll?
I think it would have just the same kind of problems as this C4 one has...
We could all post our own personal favourites here though, as a mini straw poll? Here's my current favourites, in alphabetical order because I can't choose a top one:
Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr, Jasper Carrott, Jack Dee, Lee Evans, Sean Lock, Lee Mack, Michael McIntyre, Frank Skinner.
(Yes, I know, all very modern and populist - but, shoot me, I'm a mainstream kind of guy)
Quote: Mark @ April 11 2010, 3:27 PM BST(Yes, I know, all very modern and populist - but, shoot me, I'm a mainstream kind of guy)
Jasper Carrot? Modern?! 
Well I've been giving it much thought this morning and I've come to the conclusion that the genre of 'standup' has now got so broad that it needs urgent subgrouping.
My own basic subgroups would be thus:
Pioneers and originals
Trad social club style joke tellers
Folk style standups with musical instruments
Offensive standups
Physical standups
Standups that sitdown
Standups with long hair and tee shirts (by far the largest group)
Religious, ethnic, ethical and disabled standups (and their helpers)
Peter Cook
"Pioneers and originals" would be impossible to define. Not least because you often wouldn't be able to identify who is one until it become apparent that they're being copied and influential, potentially decades later!
And Peter Cook's still not a stand-up.
Quote: Mark @ April 11 2010, 3:27 PM BSTWe could all post our own personal favourites here though, as a mini straw poll? Here's my current favourites, in alphabetical order because I can't choose a top one:
Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr, Jasper Carrott, Jack Dee, Lee Evans, Sean Lock, Lee Mack, Michael McIntyre, Frank Skinner.
(Yes, I know, all very modern and populist - but, shoot me, I'm a mainstream kind of guy)
Mine:
Alexei Sayle, Eddie Izzard, Frankie Howerd, Harry Hill, Bill Hicks, Mark Steel, Frank Skinner, Joan Rivers, Tom O'Connor, Lee Evans, Jimmy Tarbuck, Peter Kay
Quote: Mark @ April 11 2010, 3:27 PM BSTIf I was to be controversial, I'd say Connolly and Pryor probably only remained near the top as they already had the 20 minutes from last time edited together - which is easier than having to come up with a new 20 minutes for a different 'winner'.
It must have been something like that.
Seriously, who the hell still likes Billy Connolly?
Next show, maybe they can edit out that putrid waste of skin Manning! Seeing as he's shuffled off this mortal coil, it's about time we went about forgetting he existed.