Lenny Bruce

I have to admit and, yes, I’m slightly ashamed of it that, despite being a comedian and being all knowledgeable about comedy and that, I have never seen anything by Lenny Bruce.   I have no idea how I have lived my 36 years without so much as a glimpse/ sound of the combined audio/visual of said Mr Bruce but, until chancing upon a clip on yourtube this very evening I was something of an ignoramus, re Bruce.

I believe, from speaking to other comedy folk, comedy folk who are infinitely cooler and more cleverer than wot I am, that the viewing of Lenny Bruce is something of a rite of passage for comedians.  Something that is extremely important.  Like breathing, almost.  And I have evolved gills.  Big, juicy comedy gills that have allowed me to extract comedy from the air around me, without the need to fill my lungs to bursting point with the refreshing, invigorating vapour of Bruce.

Enough of the bloody breathing analogies, back to pretending I know stuff about Lenny Bruce.  Actually, I know nothing.  But Wikipedia do, bless ’em

Shameless plug for places to buy his stuff – go on then, buy it.  I know I will.

And that’s about it from me.  I’m all worn out.

Zzzzz (snoring, like how they do in comics)

Paul Foot

I’m a knob.   The first time I posted this, I  included the same clip twice at the bottom so the whole point was freakin’ lost

Please find below, the amended version with proper clip and everey ting.

 

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Todays wee clip is of Paul Foot.  For any urine fetishists out there, the word “wee” is a Scottish colloquialism meaning small and has nothing to do with wet play.   And there’s no wet play in this clip.   What there is a rather successful, if slightly niche, British Comedian with very interesting hair.

I first saw Paul Foot at the Glee Club in Birmingham after he’d won the BBC New Comedy Award.   The friday night pissed up Birmingham crowd didn’t quite get him.   He then headlined at my gig in Walsall, back in 2002.  The wednesday night pissed up Walsall Crowd didn’t quite get him.   And now he lives on radio 4 where intelligent, sober people do get him and then talk to their intelligent sober friends about how stupid people in the west midlands are.

Just to show the contrast of reactions I have, for once, included 2 clips.  One of Paul being universally loved at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and another, which I believe is at a VW festival called Run to the Sun.   Look what difference intelligence and sobriety make.  So, if you’re a stupid drunk and want some incentive for giving up booze and getting yourself an education, imagine the joy you could experience from appreciating Paul Foot.

Here you go

The liking him clip

The not quite liking him clip

Simon Amstell

Known for many years as “that rat faced kid who presents Popworld on channel 4 on sunday mornings”, Simon found true fame and recognition when he became host of the long running BBC panel show “Never Mind the Buzzcocks” and, since then has been known as “That rat faced man who used to present never mind the buzzcocks”.       How he’s come on.  I’m so proud of him.

Since leaving ‘buzzcocks he’s had his own sitcom – “Grandma’s House“, has gone back into stand up, which, as it would seem, he’s pretty darn good at and has even released a live DVD entitled “Do nothing” .  Following the advice of the title, I haven’t bothered watching it yet.

 

Simon Amstell folks.  The rat faced comedian

 

 

Henny Youngman

Old school as old can be. Like a school for old people or something.   The marvellous Henny Youngman from, like a million years ago.  I only wish I had a band to play after my punchlines.  Maybe then people would know they’re punchlines

 

Should you wish to purchase stuff, those lovely folk at Amazon have some here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julian Barrett

Commonly known as “the other one from the Mighty Boosh“, Julian is mainly known for his TV stuff, mainly the Mighty Boosh, funnily enough.    He has also starred in the much loved (by comedians and cokeheads who work in the media) Nathan Barley, the frequently praised (by comedians and cokeheads who work in the film industry) Garth Merenghi’s Darkplace and several other things which were less popular than the previously mentioned things – including voiceover work for More than insurance (loved by people who are into voiceovers and insurance I’m guessing)

This clip is from a mid (well late if you’re going to be pedantic about it) 90’s TV stand up show called “Gas”.  And I think that’s Lee Mack compering it, although I could be wrong.

You can certainly see why him and Noel Fielding ended up working together.  Obviously I don’t know the in’s and out’s of the situation but what I’m hinting at here is that they have similar comedy styles.  So I could have just said they have similar comedy styles I guess.  Yeah, I’ll do that next time.

Comin’ at ya like a laser beam…..Julian Barrett

 

 

Wil Hodgson

He has garishly coloured (colored if you’re from the ‘states) hair, a penchant (French for a strong liking/inclination towards)  for Care Bears and My Little Ponies, is a former wrestler and won the Perrier best newcomer award at the 2004 Edinburgh Festival.  No, I’m not referring to Jack Whitehall – he probably wasn’t even born in 2004.   I am referring to the unique and rather great Wil Hodgson.

To quote a review from “The guardian” – “To say that Wil Hodgson is odd is like describing the universe as big”

Following the traditional theme of me being slightly bitter that many comedians who started the same time as me are now doing far better than I am – Wil started around the same time as me and has done bloody well for himself, even sharing a bill with me once or twice, the lucky swine

People of the interweb……Wil Hodgson

 

Zenjiro

Yes, I’m a very very bad person.  The whole title “daily standups” has been something of a joke given that the last post I made was back in april.   I’ve been in a coma, yeah, that’s it, a coma so don’t blame me for my complete laziness.   Whoops, just given the game away.  I was actually being hugely lazy.    Fortunately some of my lovely twitter friends (twiends?) have been pestering me, albeit in a friendly kind of a way so I figured it’d be some kind of public service if I started blogging again.

Now, just to keep it daily, and interesting and we’ll all be bathing in joy.

So,  a lovely special treat for you, and probably someone that none of you have heard of – Zenjiro!

 

I wouldn’t have heard of him myself had I not been fortunate enough to have been on the same bill as him at Leicester Comedy Festival about 6 years ago.  He’d never gigged in the UK before, hardly speaks any English and, it’s fair to say, absolutely rocked the place.

Here’s the only English speaking clip of him I could find – from Dutch TV

Ladies and Gentleman, tis good to be back, I bring you ZENJIRO!