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Pales in Comparison To 'The Green Room With Paul Provenza...'

posted 13 years ago by LeddyBs
5 replies | jump to latest

It's a testament to the concept, really, but I think Gervais has missed the boat. What makes "In the Green Room..." so successful is the sense of working class comedians trying to out-do one another in their tastelessness and creativity.

"Talking Funny" starts out on the wrong foot by enlisting massive A-listers like Rock and Seinfeld. Nothing against either Chris or Jerry, but they aren't the hungriest comedians in the world anymore. Ricky (who I enjoy more often than not) brings a pretension to the topic that just isn't deserved. The general vibe is of mainstream, family friendly stars taking themselves far too seriously.

Louis CK seems to be the only one capable of relaxing and taking the experience for what it is. The majority of what works here comes because he has the balls to push the envelope. He riffs eagerly and isn't afraid to veer into touchy areas (the use of the word "n!gger", for instance).

"If all scientists were as rigorous as me, we wouldn't have so many witches"

[–] Overmarz87 13 years ago

I think the pretension you're sensing is ricky's britishness.

I agree it could have been a lot funnier, even though i enjoyed hearing the differing philosophies between comedians. But there seemed to be some tension between seinfeld and gervais. I think because Ricky never was vetted in the clubs like C.K. Rock and himself. Plus seinfeld was being a little snooty. That's why i thought it was funny when C.K. called him a *beep* from long island who collects porches.

I would have really preferred Eddie Izzard in place of gervais, and larry david in place of seinfeld.

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[–] LeddyBs 13 years ago

I'm not sure what that implies about British people, but I disagree. I find British people, on the whole, have the least patience for highfalutin ideas.

Again, I like Ricky. I'm not slamming him. I just don't think he was a very good host. Provenza knows when to let the comedians meander.

I would have really preferred Eddie Izzard in place of gervais, and larry david in place of seinfeld.

Well Gervais and David did that hour special together which I thought was pretty good. Seinfeld can definitely go, though. He's too up his own ass to be truly funny anymore.

"If all scientists were as rigorous as me, we wouldn't have so many witches"

[–] catapultrk 13 years ago

Not really supposed to be compared... Green Room is more just comics riffing, Talking Funny was comic legends breaking down the art of comedy. Similarities, sure... but still not as many as you would think.

[–] eastcoastguyz 13 years ago

This show was excellent and it has the perfect match of people on it and the discussions on all levels were smart. The show was a discussion, not about a dueling performance among comics trying to win over an audience.

[–] paguy27 12 years ago

You missed the point. It was to be a special about comedians talking ABOUT comedy, not DOING comedy. The special was great for that simple fact.