Stand-Up Comedy in Europe Sucks...Discuss

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the last couple of years, stand-up comedy in denmark has sky-rocketed, though it's all in danish so I doubt any foreigners would have any joy of it. Though if you are a dane, it's awesome

there's a lot of good comedians, and they have a stand-up comedy night every week I think. Really popular among the young people here (or those of young mind).

 

Let me begin on Britain alone...

Rowan Atkinson
John Cleese
Billy Connolly
Ronnie Barker
Paul Merton
Paul Whitehouse
Lee Evans
Reeves and Mortimer
Lenny Henry
Rik Mayall
Jasper Carrott
Charlie Higson
John Thomspon
French and Saunders
Steve Coogan
Ricky Gervais
Craig Charles

And THAT is, like, totally no way get OUTTA here, WHATEVER!!!

(canned laughter)

 

Europeans unfunny?

Monty Pythons.
Best. Ever.

(However I admit you have great shows and such as well. Six feet under and Simpsons come in mind)

 

Great! I'm glad to hear there are comedians in Europe. Mr. Izzard must have been exagerating during his act when he spoke about the lack of stand-up over there. The fact he wore a plaid bra with a pokadot thong should have warned me of his erronious judgements.


And the Simpsons rule. Grandpa is my favorite with Mr. Burns in second.

 

Yes I back Lokken completely. We have an ocean of stand up comedians here in denmark that drag audience like a free shotgun with your cheeseburger store would do in America.

Important
Think about it, more than a handfull of people can live of stand up comedy in denmark with 5 million residents. And that is even with the competition from all american "stand up". That kinda put things in perspective. /end-The court is ajourned

 

Free shotgun with your cheeseburger?...dude...McDonald's stopped doing that yeeeeears ago...

 

In Greece the stand up comedy has not existed until a couple of years ago. Since then this kind of entertainment takes small but sure steps towards common acknowledgement and from a couple of acts that i have seen it has a lot of potential but since the Greek language is not so known abroad i guess you won't have seen a greek act.
We have adopted the american style and it is working quite well for us at least.

 

@ Late-Night Thinker

Well, as I understand your point, it's all about you don't know any European comedians, i.e. Swedish, Greek, Swiss, Italian, Spanish, German, Belgian, Danish, Polish and so on. Oh, and of course, Dutchland. Except a few British comedians.

Your conclusion is, because you do not know any comedians from those countries, it's a big comical void and people there haven't any comedians. Ergo, people in those countries have no humour and their comedy sucks. Because if they wouldn't, your local TV channel would have aired them, right ?

In short, I don't know anything about there, so I presume, there is nothing there.

Edit: Ooops, how could I forget. Austrian comedy actually rules. They are dam funny, with their very unique Austrian style.

[ June 12, 2003, 13:27: Message edited by: Yago ]

 

Like Hollywood-style movies, it's an American art form. Let them have it. Canadians who become stand-up comics tend to do so in the US - here in Canada, they tend to do sketch comedy or multi-voiced radio comedy instead. Canadian comedians tend to be team players, and work in troupes - the Kids in the Hall, SCTV, the Frantics, Radio Free Vestibule, This Hour has 22 Minutes, Royal Canadian Air Farce. The kind of sketch humour seen in Saturday Night Live is more popular with audiences in Canada and Europe than stand-up as far as I can tell. Certainly it's more popular with me. If I wanted to watch someone stand around being witty all by themselves, I'd talk to the mirror.

Having said that, I am mad for (American) Emo Philips. He is the only stand-up comic I've ever troubled myself to see live - three times! But again, he tends to do bits of physical acting as well as delivering monologues, he doesn't just drawl contemptuously into a microphone for an hour like virtually all the other stand-up comics I've ever seen.

Edit: In fact I've found an interview in which Emo tackles this very question:
"Q: It seems that England appreciates your humor a lot more than America. You, Bill Hicks, Monty Python... why do you think the British have a lot hipper sense of humor than Americans. Or actually let me rephrase that, why is the comedy in America not as hip as in almost all other civilized countries?

A:Because we allow handguns. when you know someone in the crowd might be packing a rod, it can't help but rush your timing."

 

Heh, funny thing to say. Bill Hicks actually had his leg broken one time and a gun pulled on him another time in America on his "flying saucer tour."

 

I'm not talking about your sitcoms, I'm talking about almost every American that I have met. They just didn't see what is funny about sarcasm and irony, and my country lives for it (honestly)!