Talking Funny (Ricky Gervais, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock & Louis CK)

Basq · 05-04-2011 10:41pm #1

One hour special on HBO on April 22nd.

What does it mean to be a successful comedian? How far can the boundaries of taste be pushed to get a laugh? Four top comics – Ricky Gervais, Louis C.K., Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock – discuss and debate their craft on the laugh-filled HBO presentation TALKING FUNNY, debuting FRIDAY, APRIL 22 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT). Ricky Gervais is executive producer of the special.

The quartet reveal the secrets of their success, share hysterical anecdotes and jokes and remind each other of the valuable lessons they’ve learned along the way (including how to shamelessly pilfer each other’s material). Each comic answers questions such as: “Who was the first funny kid you ever met?,” “When is it time to add new material to your act?” and “How do you know when you’ve hit on the proverbial ‘thing’ that sets you apart?,” giving quirky insights into what rocketed them to being the best in the business and at the top of their game.

The comedians also examine their own distinctive styles of comedy and discuss whether or not to use profanity, how one comic can recycle another comic’s material into something new and fresh, and deciding whether a topic is off-limits, no matter how shocking it may be to the audience. When the dust settles and the spotlights are on, it all comes down to giving the audiences what they paid for – the laugh.

TALKING FUNNY was directed by John Moffitt; producers, Pat Tourk Lee, John Moffitt, Matthew Harvey; supervising producer, Benn Fleishman; executive produced by Ricky Gervais.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Ar57R8OvQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N89yqzrNlc

This has the potential be great, but I get the impression it could be a bit of an anti-climax.

Big fan of Ricky Gervais and Louis CK as stand-up's.. but never took to either Jerry Seinfeld (though I adore 'Seinfeld' or Chris Rock as a comedian.

Mr E · 05-04-2011 10:56pm

That actually looks really good...

For HBO - if you could include onscreen cues to warn us when Gervais is going to laugh (to allow for us to hit the mute button), that would be great, thanks.

Basq · 05-04-2011 11:04pm

Mr E wrote: »

For HBO - if you could include onscreen cues to warn us when Gervais is going to laugh (to allow for us to hit the mute button), that would be great, thanks.

Gervais had a laugh that bothered me at first.. but I've been subjected to it so much (podcast / Ricky Gervais show) that I've become quite accustomed to it and now find it amusing. Loud, boisterous but amusing!

Now Jimmy Carr's bizarre laugh on the other hand..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlgkeLjryRU

phasers · 05-04-2011 11:26pm

this looks like it could be great, i can't bear Ricky Gervais though so the fact that's also an EP makes me think he'll be even more overbearing than usual.

the whole year inn · 24-04-2011 10:40pm

I just seen the first episode of this,Thought it was pretty good but god damn ricky laugh sent me nuts.Theres alot of kissing each other ass in it,but overall I liked it.

CK for me came out the best in this,he knew actually what he was talking about without sounding like an ass,gervais on the other hand just seemed to talk out his arse,and seemed to me anyhow that he was sucking up to Jerry.
If theres another episode def check it out.

Cut

Basq · 24-04-2011 10:47pm

gob_smacked wrote: »

I just seen the first episode of this

It's a one-off unfortunately..

.. I'm about to sit down and watch it now.

Will let ye know what I think.

the whole year inn · 24-04-2011 11:53pm

Shame,was thinking about this,they could do it with different people like chat show hosts eg conon,leno, skit show tina fey norm mcdonald 2 or 3 episodes would be good.

Let us know what you think of it anyhow.

Basq · 24-04-2011 11:56pm

gob_smacked wrote: »

CK for me came out the best in this,he knew actually what he was talking about without sounding like an ass,gervais on the other hand just seemed to talk out his arse,and seemed to me anyhow that he was sucking up to Jerry.

What you have to remember here about Ricky Gervais is Ricky Gervais wrote the massive 'The Office' and THEN did stand-up.. Chris Rock, Louis CK and Jerry Seinfeld all got their foundations in stand-up before going on to TV / movies etc.

And Gervais actually came off pretty well considering. He was given the role of mediator here. And to be fair to the guy, he had some great insights on stand-up comedy. For example, Jerry's "Superman" bit that didn't work without "the f-word" - Gervais got it spot on in that bits like that only when the audience see the comedian get physically worked up and show hostility. He was spot on, and I could see both Louis CK and Seinfeld really listening to him.

But other moments, he did come across as being a bit of an ass ("if you come to my show and don't like it, I NEVER want to see you at my show again!"). It's his views but they're not very likeable views.

I thought Seinfeld came off the worst of all of them.. full of his own self-importance and just very dislikable. Louis CK was excellent as per usual - one of the finest stand-up's working today.

Chris Rock really had very little input at all... so it was basically the same Chris Rock we've known for the last 10 years.

the whole year inn · 25-04-2011 12:11am

Basq wrote: »

What you have to remember here about Ricky Gervais is Ricky Gervais wrote the massive 'The Office' and THEN did stand-up.. Chris Rock, Louis CK and Jerry Seinfeld all got their foundations in stand-up before going on to TV / movies etc.

And Gervais actually came off pretty well considering. He was given the role of mediator here. And to be fair to the guy, he had some great insights on stand-up comedy. For example, Jerry's "Superman" bit that didn't work without "the f-word" - Gervais got it spot on in that bits like that only when the audience see the comedian get physically worked up and show hostility. He was spot on, and I could see both Louis CK and Seinfeld really listening to him.

But other moments, he did come across as being a bit of an ass ("if you come to my show and don't like it, I NEVER want to see you at my show again!"). It's his views but they're not very likeable views.

I thought Seinfeld came off the worst of all of them.. full of his own self-importance and just very dislikable. Louis CK was excellent as per usual - one of the finest stand-up's working today.

Chris Rock really had very little input at all... so it was basically the same Chris Rock we've known for the last 10 years.

When he was on about that part and he said I do it for you guys,I cringed.
The thing is I dont really like ricky.I got a good laugh out of the globes this year but bar that anything I see him in I dont really get a laugh.Saying that I have never seen any of Louis CK standup or shows and thought he was excellent.

Your pretty much right about this show,but I havent seen Seinfield in anything in ages(that marrage ref sh!t he was in doesnt count) so nice to see him in this and hear his views even if they are self importance.

All in all it was good and it worked!!

phasers · 25-04-2011 10:17am

Gervais was on The Daily Show the other day and mentioned something about trying to do one with chat show hosts. He mentioned Jon Stewart and Conan as guests.

Haven't caught this yet, I figured there'd be a bit of ego tripping going on.

colinod0806 · 25-04-2011 3:01pm

I really enjoyed this. I would have liked to hear more from chris rock though. he couldn't seem to get a word in edgeways which is a shame as i would be more interested in what he had to say than gervais or seinfeld.

expectationlost · 25-04-2011 7:28pm

bee movie, i rest my case

seadnamac · 25-04-2011 7:47pm

I enjoyed it mostly but Gervais just annoys the hell out of me. I would have definitely liked to hear more from Chris Rock aswell though.

Sittin' on a cock 'cos I'm gay.

jaykhunter · 11-05-2011 3:37am

I quite enjoyed this, although i think it would be better suited to a podcast. I think Gervais came off as quite a troubled comedian, in that he slaves over his work and judges himself very harshly, despising easy gags for a cheap laugh; always challenging himself to do material that no-one else could do. He seemed to have a much different view on comedy than the Americans; viewing jokes and deconstructing why they're funny quite seriously.

He seems to be quite an......em.......what's a nicer word for troubled? Troubled comedian, feeling he hadn't paid his dues for his success because he started off with The Office and so went to do stand up to prove he could do it too. He seemed really upset at comedians who are popular because of cheap gags/swearing.

I imagine if I wasn't really into Gervais I would've found him overbearing but I think having him there was a fantastic contrast, especially to Seinfeld.

Em, are all of Chris Rock's jokes about race? It's funny, but does he have a range or is it all black humour? Black porn/white porn sounded like an amazing bit.

There's some hilarious bits. "Sitting on a cock 'cause I'm gay" was hysterical!!

I was/am a big fan of Seinfeld, is it just me or did he (globally) just fall off the face of the earth? Like after Seinfeld all I've heard from his was B-Movie.

I think I side with Jerry (and Gervais) with never using the N-word. I'm quite impressed with Seinfeld to do comedy without lewd humour or swearing.

Overall, I'd love it if this were a series with different comedians chiming in on their views on comedy but I imagine this kind of sit-down doesn't have mass appeal at all.

Talking Funny (Ricky Gervais, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock & Louis CK)

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