A lot of this stuff is context-based. Are Laurel and Hardy funny? Not in my opinion, but they were proper rib-ticklers in their day. And likewise with 80s alternative comedy - when I was a kid I thought this stuff was hilarious, but it too has been superseded and made obsolete by what came after.
as has often been pointed out, comedy is very much tied to a specific time and place. tragedy, on the other hand, seems to be more transcendent. i don't know what that says about us as a species.
Yes, it is true that comedy is about context and temporality and personal opinion, but...has Jennifer Saunders EVER been funny? The politics of humour is important here - we were (are being) 'sold' comedy/humour adjudged funny by the conventions of British humour all the time (Bottom wasn't really new just old fashioned slapstick with 'gross' transposed on top - really simple old fashioned stuff). Kids also are a poor judge (temporal difference) because they are unaware of how derivative material is and only judge what they see. If you're a bit older you are able to discriminate a little more on the level of (or lack of) originality etc........
I thought MPFC was hilarious at the time, over 40 years later and in sobriety I am left as cold as a dead Norwegian Blue. Liked B'Stard but not Bottom or the Young Ones, Drop Dead Fred was OK.
Yeah, he wasn't funny was he? Have you seen 'Drop Dead Fred'?
ReplyDeleteIn fact none of that 80s crew were/are funny/ Jennifer Saunders has being not funny (ever) off to a fine art.
ReplyDeleteA lot of this stuff is context-based. Are Laurel and Hardy funny? Not in my opinion, but they were proper rib-ticklers in their day. And likewise with 80s alternative comedy - when I was a kid I thought this stuff was hilarious, but it too has been superseded and made obsolete by what came after.
ReplyDeleteas has often been pointed out, comedy is very much tied to a specific time and place. tragedy, on the other hand, seems to be more transcendent. i don't know what that says about us as a species.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is true that comedy is about context and temporality and personal opinion, but...has Jennifer Saunders EVER been funny? The politics of humour is important here - we were (are being) 'sold' comedy/humour adjudged funny by the conventions of British humour all the time (Bottom wasn't really new just old fashioned slapstick with 'gross' transposed on top - really simple old fashioned stuff). Kids also are a poor judge (temporal difference) because they are unaware of how derivative material is and only judge what they see. If you're a bit older you are able to discriminate a little more on the level of (or lack of) originality etc........
ReplyDelete"Have you seen 'Drop Dead Fred'?"
ReplyDeleteNo but I have seen New Statesman, Blackadder and the young ones.
French and Saunders have indeed never been funny and their continued success is an indictment of Britain and it's values.
I thought MPFC was hilarious at the time, over 40 years later and in sobriety I am left as cold as a dead Norwegian Blue. Liked B'Stard but not Bottom or the Young Ones, Drop Dead Fred was OK.
ReplyDelete"Saunders never funny". Really? Never seen Absolutely Fabulous? If that's not funny you're dead from the neck up.
ReplyDelete