Live At The Apollo - Series 6

Chortle have revealed the line-up for the next series.

* Sean Lock introducing John Bishop
* Lee Mack introducing Danny Bhoy and Rich Hall
* Dara O'Briain introducing Stewart Francis and Greg Davies
* Kevin Bridges introducing Shappi Khorsandi and Jack Whitehall
* Stephen K Amos introducing Micky Flanagan and Jon Richardson
* Lenny Henry introducing Tommy Tiernan and Mike Wilmot

There have already been complaints concerning the line-up on Twitter. Some have complained about the fact there is only one woman in the line-up.

Yes that is strange. Seeing as around 1 in 5 comics are women nowerdays. Do acts need to audition for this the same way they do shows like MM'sCR?

I'm just getting a bit bored of the same pool of comedians doing all of the shows. It's very tiresome.

Quote: Nat Wicks @ November 3 2010, 7:25 PM GMT

I'm just getting a bit bored of the same pool of comedians doing all of the shows. It's very tiresome.

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Jack Whitehall is the living, breathing 'Oxford English Dictionary of Clichés' definition of the phrase "it's not what you know, it's who you know". If his Dad wasn't an incredibly powerful agent there's no way he would be getting the exposure he has done in the last couple of years. I'm not saying he might not become a good stand-up in years to come, but he's jumped the queue by virtue of some rather unethical connections, not talent (see Khorsandi, Shappi).

Nepotism may still be rife in showbiz (compared with other modern-day industries, which have been mostly forced by legislation to clean up their act), but when it influences what goes on in front of the camera, to my mind it's unconscionable. An introduction into the industry is one thing, but a tireless campaign to promote your progeny to an exalted status in that industry beyond his/her abilities, is quite another.

Besides...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Whitehall

"In September 2009, Whitehall was accused of stealing one of Stewart Lee's stand-up routines for his critically-acclaimed Nearly Rebellious show.[6][7] Lee had performed the joke, which deals with the subject of life after walking in space, at the Montreal Just for Laughs comedy festival in the 1990s, and was filmed for TV by The Comedy Network.[8] When Whitehall recited his version of the routine at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009, he was described by an otherwise favourable review for Metro as "repeating" Lee's sketch "almost verbatim".[9] When Lee became aware of the situation, he asked his webmaster to post YouTube clips of the two performances in the "Plagiarist's Corner" section of his official website without commentary, letting the audience draw their own conclusions.[10] Shortly after, all available clips of Whitehall's performance were swiftly removed from YouTube by Whitehall's legal representatives at Chambers Management.[11]"

As said, Whitehall's people removed his version of the routine from the internet, but having seen it, it was basically stolen word-for-word.

Quote: Tim Walker @ November 6 2010, 4:37 AM GMT

Jack Whitehall is the living, breathing 'Oxford English Dictionary of Clichés' definition of the phrase "it's not what you know, it's who you know". If his Dad wasn't an incredibly powerful agent there's no way he would be getting the exposure he has done in the last couple of years. I'm not saying he might not become a good stand-up in years to come, but he's jumped the queue by virtue of some rather unethical connections, not talent (see Khorsandi, Shappi).

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I did not know Whitehall's father is an agent. Who does he work for?

Quote: Ian Wolf @ November 6 2010, 8:15 AM GMT

I did not know Whitehall's father is an agent. Who does he work for?

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His dad is theatrical agent Michael Whitehall, who has managed a number of well-known 'serious' actors and, as a result the family are quite wealthy. Maybe his dad has given his son some contacts, but Chambers Management (who look after Carr, Boyle etc) signed him so, just to be clear: it's not his dad getting them these gigs.

Whitehall is most definitely not to everyone's tastes, but he is what a lot of TV producers want for their 'Yoof TV' programmes so I can see why he's risen at the speed he has. Also, to be fair again, when he's on panel shows he does pitch in regularly with gags, and that's what producers are after.

(Disclaimer: I'm not actually that much of a fan!)

Quote: Mark @ November 6 2010, 12:55 PM GMT

it's not his dad getting them these gigs.

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No, it's his Dad's friends and former associates - an entirely different thing...

Anyway...

I don't normally watch these BBC shows. But I will be keeping an eye out for Greg Davis as I haven't seen much of his solo stand up.

John Bishop was awful. He managed to do a whole set with only 3 punchlines! The rest was just bragging about his success and "meteoric rise to fame". Sean Lock was brilliant though.

Couldn't disagree more with above poster. Thought Lock was awful - all his smarky little remarks failed and his routine was pretty lame.

On the other hand, Bishop was brilliant. Yes, he took a while to get to the punchlines, but the build-up was great and kept you in suspense the whole time. He's like chatting to your best mate at the pub.

I thought both were pretty good. Lock is always hit and miss with me- if he does a routine I don't like, it's painful to watch. When he nails it like he did with this, I love it. Lots of good jokes (I laughed my head off at the comparison of trying on glasses to bunging someone out of a wheelchair).

Bishop...I did like that this felt like an original routine. Alot of comedians go on the show and just reuse old stuff (I remember going to a Frankie Boyle one and being beyond disappointed he just gave us not only what he'd already used on Mock The Week but also his previous appearance on Apollo!) so it was nice that he seemingly crafted a specific piece. I didn't find it smug, since really I think this is the best time in his career to work such a routine. It wasn't hilarious but a good ratio of laughs none the less.

Quote: viewfromablue @ November 25 2010, 11:02 PM GMT

He's like chatting to your best mate at the pub.

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I agree with this but seeing as he is paid to make the audience laugh I think he failed. I would have laughed more if a mate told me this story in a normal conversation but because he was a comedian doing a show, I expected a little more than a slightly amusing story. I like stand up comedians to make me laugh more than three times in quarter of an hour.

Watched this episode, Lock was really very funny, loved the line about the fox puking. John Bishop though, dear God, what on earth was that? That wasn't a routine, it was pitiful, what on Earth were the audience laughing at?

Regardless of how they achieved prominence in TV comedy, good comedians deserve to be there and bad ones don't.

Jack Whitehall is a significantly talented comedian, panelist and presenter while Shappi Khorsandi is only a 'so-so' performer who simply stands where she's told to and recites a rehearsed script.

Sean Lock was pretty good. John Bishop just sounded like he was showing off. Only laughed three times through his whole piece, as someone mentioned above.