Channel 4's Comedy Gala - tonight at 9pm!

Basq

Could be a good 2 and a half hour's viewing - just don't expect wall-to-wall chuckles.. and it's for "chaarrity"!

Channel 4 assembles 24 of the nation's best-known and most loved comedians (and one delectable Johnny Depp) for this two-hour extravaganza in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. In front of a live audience of 14,000 at London's O2 arena Alan Carr, Andy Parsons, Bill Bailey, Catherine Tate, Christine Bleakley, David Mitchell, The Fonejacker, Jack Whitehall, Jack Dee, James Corden, Jason Manford, Jo Brand, John Bishop, Jonathan Ross, Kevin Bridges, Kevin Eldon, Lee Evans, Mark Watson, Michael McIntyre, Noel Fielding, Patrick Kielty, Rich Hall, Rob Brydon, Ruth Jones, Sean Lock, and Shappi Khorsandi take turns on stage to make it the biggest live stand up show in UK history. Added to this, Stomp perform two major routines with Alan Carr and Bill Bailey. Plus, Robert Webb, Ricky Gervais, Derren Brown, Kevin Bishop, Jimmy Carr, Gok Wan, Stephen Merchant and Mr. Depp provide additional sketches.

phasers

Johnny Depp!?
Sort of a random one isn't he?

And why is Jonathan Ross being billed as a stand up?

The comedians they have are pretty meh but I'll probably give it a look see

amacachi

From the poster;
Yes.
Yes.
Huh?
Yes.
No.
Yes.
Yes.
No.
Meh.
Meh.
Meh.
No.
Meh.
No.
No.
Meh.
Meh.
Yes.
No.
Yes.
Yes.
No Idea.
Huh?
God knows.


I'll be watching, not expecting a lot though.

phasers

Well if that's anything to go by each comedian will have about 8 seconds to perform

Gillington

This any good!? Its clashing with a night of Extra's on BBC2!!

Robin Wren

Gillington wrote: »

This any good!? Its clashing with a night of Extra's on BBC2!!

+1
steady , solid humour with extras

phasers

Stick with Extras lads! This is no great shakes, each comedian only has 3 minutes and it's all far too tame.

Basq

Yep, pretty forgettable so far. But I Sky+'d it so am an hour behind.

Alan Carr is as shíte as always. Jason Manford is usually a decent stand-up but his set just seemed too brief to really engage. Jo Brand wasn't funny 15 years ago, never mind now!

And Sean Lock is a terrible comedian.. he's great on '8 Out Of 10 Cats' but his "comedy" is atrocious.

Kevin Bridges (who did the rant about Dunnes Stores) and Patrick Stewart's video was probably the best so far. Jimmy Carr commentating over the ad-break is decent-ish though.

EDIT: Patrick Kielty.. absolutely woeful!

phasers

I did enjoy Jimmy Carr, especially grabbing the gocompare guy's goolies

Bill Bailey was very good as usual. I'm up to Noel Fielding now, and wow is he a bad stand up.

Creamy Goodness

I presume David Mitchell was as excellent as ever?

phasers

Yep, the peep show sketch was quite good! There's been a couple of decent moments, mostly provided by people who aren't actually at the event...

Basq

phasers wrote: »

I'm up to Noel Fielding now, and wow is he a bad stand up.

Yep, Fielding is a very funny bloke.. but he's NOT a stand-up.

I like Omid Djalili.. although those adverts he does on telly are awful... so I'm hoping he's good.

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

I presume David Mitchell was as excellent as ever?

Haven't seen him yet (but as I mentioned), I am an hour behind. Is he a stand-up? He's very funny.. but like Fielding, I'd imagine he's best as an all-too-regular quiz show panelist. He already seems out of his depth when hosting BBC's 'The Bubble'.

EDIT: Oh.. it's a Peep Show sketch. Well then, that's a whole different story!

EDIT 2: Up to Gervais, Merchant and Pilkington... great as always. Although their show on HBO is simply their podcasts animated, you're dead inside if you don't crack up at least twice in an episode. "D'ya wanna swim with a carrier bag and you can take him home at the end? C'mon Tesco!"

phasers

Ah here comes David Mitchell to do some stand up as well! Good man. Although I'd agree with Basq, he doesn't exactly scream "stand up!"

Busi_Girl08

Noel Fielding did that "whispering magic" thing on Never Mind the Buzzcocks 2 years ago.

Not including the whole "There's a dead gorilla in your ice rink!!" thing...

Creamy Goodness

phasers wrote: »

Ah here comes David Mitchell to do some stand up as well! Good man. Although I'd agree with Basq, he doesn't exactly scream "stand up!"

just switched on to see that, was good for a part that was really just introducing another comedian.

hope to catch the peep show sketch again sometime.

*EDIT* lol at rich hall going to town on america.

phasers

Lee Evans is doing the same routine I've seen on Comedy Central over a million times now...

Busi_Girl08

The fact that the Derren/Darren Brown sketch was funnier than nearly everything else tonight says a lot about the quality of entertainment they had tonight....

Creamy Goodness

phasers wrote: »

Lee Evans is doing the same routine I've seen on Comedy Central over a million times now...

he's the reason why the mute button was invented.

Basq

Only comedian I've fast-forwarded has been Lee Evans... why does he get a 15 minute set? Or at least it seems like it... absolutely atrocious!

And Omid Djalili hasn't been on yet.. and it appears Evans will be the last act. Maybe he didn't make the Channel 4 cut!

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Is this repeated? - didn't realise it was on...

missyfirefly

basquille wrote: »

Only comedian I've fast-forwarded has been Lee Evans... why does he get a 15 minute set? Or at least it seems like it... absolutely atrocious!

I agree!!! That guy is just not funny!!

phasers

Channel 4 for some bizarre reason booked Evans to headline... AND gave him an award!

Basq

CaptainNegative wrote: »

Is this repeated? - didn't realise it was on...

Surprisingly, it doesn't appear to be actually..!

phasers wrote: »

Channel 4 for some bizarre reason booked Evans to headline... AND gave him an award!

When Dee came out with an award... I gave an eye roll that even 1000 of these couldn't come close to comprehending! :rolleyes:

And no Omid Djalili.. I'm pissed!

phasers

It'll be repeated when DVD sales are low!

abouttobebanned

I think evans is pretty funny tbh. Bill Bailey unfortunately, is not. In his eternal quest to be too clever he's forgotten what he was supposed to be doing in the first place, comedy.

abouttobebanned

Ok scrap that I said that
without seeing his routine on this. Did he really do the finding keys bit again? I'm embarrassed.

unreggd

It's on 4OD for anyone like me who missed it

amacachi

basquille wrote: »

Yep, pretty forgettable so far. But I Sky+'d it so am an hour behind.

Alan Carr is as shíte as always. Jason Manford is usually a decent stand-up but his set just seemed too brief to really engage. Jo Brand wasn't funny 15 years ago, never mind now!

Jo Brand was awful, telling jokes older than her.

And Sean Lock is a terrible comedian.. he's great on '8 Out Of 10 Cats' but his "comedy" is atrocious.

I'm now blocking you, how the **** can you not love Sean Lock!? Since I have you on ignore I won't be able to see the bargain alerts you post so could you just e-mail them to me?

Basq

amacachi wrote: »

I'm now blocking you, how the **** can you not love Sean Lock!? Since I have you on ignore I won't be able to see the bargain alerts you post so could you just e-mail them to me?

Don't get me wrong - Sean Lock is absolutely hilarious and very quick-witted.. but suited best as a panelist on TV quiz shows.

He's far from a strong comedian IMO!

amacachi

basquille wrote: »

Don't get me wrong - Sean Lock is absolutely hilarious and very quick-witted.. but suited best as a panelist on TV quiz shows.

He's far from a strong comedian IMO!

What are you basing that on? Went to see him last week and was excellent. Then again you probably don't like his first stand-up DVD he had out. Some people!

phasers

As Krusty the Clown said "I'm not doing my A material for charity!"

That seemed to be true of last night!

Minstrel27

It was a pretty poor show. There was far too many people on there for the length of the show. Everything seemed so rushed and then Lee Evans gets an extended slot. Bull**** I say.

zac8

amacachi wrote: »

What are you basing that on? Went to see him last week and was excellent. Then again you probably don't like his first stand-up DVD he had out. Some people!

+1 saw him in the olympia too. brilliant show.

amacachi

phasers wrote: »

As Krusty the Clown said "I'm not doing my A material for charity!"

That seemed to be true of last night!

To an extent, but it's impossible to do otherwise when ya only have 5/10 minutes I think. Total cluster****.

phasers

amacachi wrote: »

To an extent, but it's impossible to do otherwise when ya only have 5/10 minutes I think. Total cluster****.

Most of them only got 3 minutes :eek:

I agree with you, who could pack a decent routine into 5 minutes? they should have cut some of the dross and given the good comedians at least 12 minutes each.

amacachi

phasers wrote: »

Most of them only got 3 minutes :eek:

I agree with you, who could pack a decent routine into 5 minutes? they should have cut some of the dross and given the good comedians at least 12 minutes each.

Just a pity about the differing opinions about who the dross is. :P
Think I read you posted last night about the ads, and tbh they probably were some of the best bits. EDIT: Just checked, seems the **** is only hitting the North on his current tour.

unreggd

+1, too many sh;te acts [Mighty Boosh sap springs to mind first]

Shappi was good!

Didn't even watch Lee Evans, just don't like him

amacachi

unreggd wrote: »

+1, too many sh;te acts [Mighty Boosh sap springs to mind first]

Shappi was good!

Didn't even watch Lee Evans, just don't like him

Ugh, Mighty Boosh.

Is Shappi the Iranian chick? She's the only female stand-up off the top of my head I can stand, and actually think she's pretty funny.

phasers

I was shocked to see Shappi finally had some new material!