Evan's Extraneous Interests: My Personal Best of Stand-Up Comedy Genres (Pt.2)
Evan's Extraneous Interests: My Personal Best of Stand-Up Comedy Genres: Part 2 of 3
Welcome back to the second part of my personal best of stand-up comedy genres. As the title suggests, over 3 articles, I intend to present what I believe to be the best of the best in terms of stand-up comedy videos in a variety of different genres, 9 in all, to recommend for your viewing pleasure. To recap the winners last time: the observational category went to Peter Kay with 'Live at the Bolton Albert Halls', the one liner category went to Tim Vine's 'Joke-amotive' show, and the dark/edgy/political category went to Richard Herring's 'Hitler Moustache' (with honourable mentions given to Jamali Maddix's 'Hate Thy Neighbour' hybrid docuseries, as well as his 'King Crud' tour show, despite not being on video). So with that out of the way, let's get on with announcing the winners for categories 4 through 6.
To start with, how about a bit of blue for the dads? Now blue comedy as an idea is quite an odd-thing, as while in principle it mainly revolves around some good old sex jokes, it often comes packaged with a casual racism or sexism not palatable for modern audiences. Basically dark comedy without the satire or self awareness, thus making this choice again quite difficult, but for slightly different reasons. Now for many people the title of best blue comedian would obviously go to one infamous Mr. Bernard Manning, once the hardest working club comic in Britain, even hailed by Stephen Fry as the best teller of a joke he’d ever seen. And while it is true that many of his simpler smutty jokes are actually quite funny, the morally dubious material that came to define his career and the other half of his act elicit a level of grimace usually reserved for car crashes. And as far as other major candidates go, Roy “Chubby” Brown’s tales of a failing sex life and marriage, as well as his scepticism of asylum seekers aren’t exactly any better. Instead, I’ll pick Cornish born comic Geoff “Jethro” Rowe as my victor in this bracket, my particular video recommendation being 1999’s ‘Ready For Battle.’ Now, while it is still true that his “my bloody horrible wife” comedy hasn’t exactly aged brilliantly, his drunken, frustrated, rambling persona maybe makes perhaps the best case for a character than any of his contemporaries, as well as much of the imagery within his vulgar jokes and anecdotes being so ridiculously silly you can’t help but chuckle. Although, as fellow comedian and article category topper Richard Herring rightfully ascertained: “part of my admiration is that his stuff isn't as horrible as that of some of his contemporaries. Which is a bit of a negative positive”, so altogether not exactly a clear “win.”
Talking of styles that seem outdated by today’s standards, I would like to discuss the type of comedians that I would call “old-style”, that meaning those comedians whose more lighthearted, variety-show-ready style of comedy was largely dictated by the TV formats of the 1970s and 80s. Part of me wants to put Yorkshire born Charlie Williams at the top of this pile, being the first black comedian to achieve major success in the UK, and inadvertently paving the way for many to follow, his loveable personality, infectious laughter, and amusing comic tales making him hugely recognisable. However it is true that while many people may have praised him for his ability to make fun of himself, it did tend to involve him arguably leaning into the racist attitudes of the time, and so makes his placement very difficult. A great show at the Edinburgh Fringe, ‘Eh Up, Me Old Flowers’, dives further into this dichotomy if you’re interested. So, if not him, who represents the best of the elder statesmen? I’ll give you a clue: It’s not Ken Dodd. No, in my opinion, there’s no other choice than the brilliant Victoria Wood. Now I would like to clear up that while Victoria is the only woman in this list, there are of course plenty of brilliant female comedians and comic actresses - Sindhu Vee, Lou Sanders, Aisling Bea, Bridget Christie, Sarah Millican, Jo Brand, Sally Phillips, Jess Knappett, the list goes on. Anyway, what makes Victoria the queen of this particular field is that not only does she have brilliant joke after brilliant joke in her repertoire, but also a distinct sense of style, quick wit, striking personality, and an unrivalled creativity with her writing and performance of comedy songs that put her leagues above her standard-singing, gag machine contemporaries. As for a video, I would highly recommend her 1988 ‘Audience With…’ as a great display of her at her absolute best.
While those comedians’ styles were fairly straight ahead, absurdists and surrealists are obviously anything but, often relying on an outlandish, sometimes awkward persona to put across the strangest of scenarios and situations, all the time remaining utterly hilarious. Historically, you could look back at things like the infamous anti-humour of American comic Andy Kaufman as the definitive take on this style, or more recently the pure, monk-wigged bonkersness of John Kearns is also very strong, but for me, and I suspect for many, Kettering’s own James Acaster comes out on top. James’ stand up, in a phrase, is incredibly clever, entering many people’s radars with his four-part ‘Repertoire’ series in which, using a number of alter egos, James portrays a series of absurd scenarios as a thinly veiled way to explore the problems of his personal life, all the while delivering a flurry of brilliantly offbeat anecdotes with a subtly brash personality. But despite this praise, my ultimate recommendation would be the Vimeo-exclusive double bill ‘Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999/Make A New Tomorrow.’ Both show James in a much more personal context: the latter recounting many amusing stories from his youth, including the night of the Man Utd. treble win and the millennium scouts gang show, showing a yearning for simpler times. The former is, in my opinion, easily his best work, a show about “the worst year of his life”, showing him at not only his most personal and emotional, but also his most unapologetically abrasive, surreal, and thought-provoking, as he divulges tales of his appearance on The Great British Bake Off, a mind-bending recount of an argument with his manager, and a particularly unique take on a British comedy icon. This special will have you doubled over laughing, gasping, possibly crying, sometimes lost for words, but all the while proving why Acaster is undeniably one of the world’s very best.
Recommendations
Jethro - Ready For Battle (1999)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jethro-Ready-Battle-DVD/dp/B00005N6RB
Victoria Wood - An Audience With Victoria Wood (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNkVBwKCQcw
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audience-Victoria-Wood-Special-DVD/dp/B000FPV8DI/ref=asc_df_B000FPV8DI
James Acaster - Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999/Make A New Tomorrow (2019)
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