Saturday, July 14, 2007

Back When They Weren't Funny


Ladies! Gentlemen!

I have stumbled upon a new area of exploration and research in my never ending quest to understand the Universe and it's secrets (and subsequently forget them in a drunken stupour and lose all my notes). It is the study of the phenomenon whereby TV comedy programmes and comedians that made you crawl across the floor, convulsing with laughter as a 5-10 year old are beamed back at you as an adult, via satellite tv and countdown shows, only to make you silently cringe with embarrassment and die a little inside. For the purposes of shorthand, I shall call it 'Carrott Syndrome', after the brain puree-ingly tedious Brummie comedian whose show I rarely missed as a nine year old. You may well have your own personal favourite, but I believe Jasper works as a universal 'Why The Fuck Did I Find That Tit Funny?' moment for many of my generation.

A familiar cry of many a colleague seems to be 'I remember that show! Was it funny or was I imagining things......? My assertion is that no, you probably weren't imagining anything, but please don't buy the DVD in an attempt to find out.

I have discovered one thing in all this research. Rab C Nesbitt was no mirage. I bought the first series dirt cheap on DVD recently and to be honest I would have payed twice what I coughed up for it. Ian Pattison is a fucking genius.

I realise I'm sending out mixed messages here, but would you seriously buy an 'Up The Elephant & Round The Castle' DVD on the off chance it was a fraction as amusing as you half remembered it might have been?

You would? Shit, we're in trouble...............

Let Tom Waits Sooth yr soul. This is my anthem, it should be yours too...............





Mediocre Top Trumps

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rab C Nesbitt.
Ill man you are aware that one of Rabs sons was done for paedophilia.

Still a great show.

iLL Man said...

The Eric Cullen story is lost in the mists of time to a degree, but here is the PCC case made in his favour after he died.
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.com/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmcumeds/458/458w126.htm

Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Cullen

I'll leave you to make up your mind.

Oblong said...

It's like Bobby Davro. I used to think he was really unfunny.

alan said...

best tom waits video ever!

Old Knudsen said...

Were the Young ones actually funny or just trendy? Comic Book and Father Ted were genius. As I get older I look at Jackass and I think what dickheads.

alan said...

old knudsen, the young ones were quite funny i think.

anarchist - let's go and blow up a panda!
rick mayall (would be anarchist) - yeah, zoos. who needs them?

(or words to that effect)

iLL Man said...

Matt - Davro was never Unfunny. It was worse than that........

Alan - He's made some crackers as well. It is a damn fine clip.

Knudsen - I quite liked The Young Ones, but that's probably to do with my age. It looks a bit dated now and certainly isn't in the same league as Father Ted. Nothing is mind you.........

Alan - Indeed. A bit of slapstick, a bit of light satire. It did ok....