Watching TV earlier I was having some thoughts on the affect panel shows have on the comedy in the UK and US.

From reading this thread it seems there aren't really that many well known comics in the US, every other post is referring to one of the huge names - Louis, Hannibal, Burr, etc. I know getting big and breaking in the US is much tougher due to the size and touring is a pita but I also think it's the lack of panel shows you have.

Here in the UK we have tons of them! and a lot on major channels at prime times. There are probably at least 20-30 small(er) time comics I could name off the top of my head that would be reasonably well know, even household names, just from appearing on them.

It seems a shame as I'm a big nerd and know the US has a ton of good comics, I guess they just find it harder to get a platform. ramble over.

After having that little spew I thought I'd google it and found this article, which probably explains it better than me.

Panel Shows Are the U.K. Rage But Here's Why They'd Never Work in the U.S.

i personally cant stand comedy that can be conveyed thru a panel show.
i love long form comedy like burr, ck, jefferies, oswalt, birbiglia (patrice tho he's gone now).

hilarious story telling and really working thru an idea to its fullest extension is what i love.
i can't stand 99% of the acts that can be done in 5mins.

Well the panel shows aren't really 'acts', they more give a glimpse of the comedian's style/personality/soh, but I get what you mean.

Those guys you mentioned are still awesome on panels, I think this was my first exposure to Jim Jefferies.

haha thats great.

i have a hard time imagining a format where i wouldn't love burr or jim.
but i mean thats the absolute top tier the rest of the panel were w/e.

if you take a genius comedic talent he's gonna be funny regardless, but those guys are the ones that "make it" in america.

there are TONS of comics that get 30min comedy central specials that are just awful.
plenty of hour long ones on netflix that are awful as well.

I love Amy. In a few ways

As for Russel Peters? Not a fan. If ethnic/accent-centric jokes are up your alley, then check out Kumail Nanjiani. One of the best of the new guys. Probably the best, actually.

amy schumer is HILARIOUS.
her show on comedy central is pretty great too.

Talking of Jim Jefferies, do you still listen to Talking Siht rbk?

I used to love it, but quit when Jim left, and had completely forgot about until now. I might have to give it another go to see what it's like.

I don't want to put Eddie Ifft down, as I've not seen his stand-up and it might be great, but I just didn't find him at all 'naturally' funny on the show, especially compared to Jim. They were perfect with lots of Jim , small bit of Eddie, and a bit of Jason's life imo.

Yeah, I don't know if she's taken Sarah Silverman's title yet as the hot girl comic who is actually funny, but she is on her way. There are other hot funny girl comics, but very few who have more then 20-30 minutes of original material.

Maria Bamford is excluded from that because as cute as she was before, and kind of still is, she was never at any point hot. But she is the funniest/best female comic of all-time.

I saw Birbiglias "thank god for jokes" last week in Brooklyn. Not surprising but it's fantastic. Obviously lighter than my girlfriends boyfriend, and more focused on his stories as a comic and stories of how jokes of his have changed, etc.

Definitely worth seeing whenever it turns into a special, presumably when the tour is over

no haven't listened.
I basically listen to the MMP (burr) religiously.
the joe rogan experience pretty dedicatedly (tho I skip a lot of eps tnat are just his buddies, like ari and tony etc and pick out the interesting guests, or someone im a big fan of).

the JRE episode with Jim was one of the best podcasts I've ever heard. must listen for any fan of Jim.

other than that I don't have any podcasts that I listen to regularly.

I did the same and I wholeheartedly agree with you.

While I like Bamford, I think Tig (also not winning looks competitions obv) is much better (and naturally funny), though she hasn't put out as many albums/specials.

tig's special where she just found out she has cancer is one of the best pieces you can ever listen to imo

There has definitely been a surge of panel comedy shows in the US lately. @Midnight is a hugely popular show that I believe even got nominated for an Emmy recently.

There's the Jeselnik Offensive (might not have been renewed tho, but not sure) and a handful of late night panel shows, although those shows are definitely "rehearsed" much like a late night talk show interview, where the host essentially brings up topics for the different comics to riff on, even though it's very obvious that they're just doing pre-planned routines, albeit in a more conversational delivery, so that it appears as if it's a panel discussion, just like on a talk show where whenever a stand-up is a guest, he's obviously doing one of his routines that is mildly re-formatted to seem like a convo between him and the host.

And of course, most things on @Midnight and Jeselnik are also pre-written, but there is plenty of in the moment banter for you to get a feel for the comedians and their personalities.

Or do the panel shows in the UK do something different?

I could probably rattle off 100 or so pretty quickly and easily, mostly due to the proliferation of podcasts, but like you suggest, outside of comedy nerds most people will have no idea who I'm talking about.

Also like you said, I think breaking is much tougher since the road is hard to beat for airfare/food/hotel/manager's fees unless you're big enough to be headlining "A" rooms or theaters and you're not booking those until you're already kind of big.

I would think another barrier is that our censorship laws are probably more strict, or at least the major networks here censor content enough that it makes comedy within its rules significantly worse, especially during primetime hours when "children could be watching" or whatever. You're never going to see a Jim Jeffries type talking about scoring coke/cock in a south african gay bar 8PM on fox/abc/nbc. So maybe it's that the American sensibility isn't conducive, but I think it's also because it's not going to be as great as it could be.

@midnight as was mentioned is probably the closest thing we have currently, introducing people to more comics, as well as shows like Meltdown, but the audience is relatively small compared to big networks and the time slot doesn't help much (it's probably good for the demographic to watch, but maybe not for attracting people who have dispensable income to come out to shows). Podcasts and niche audiences, however, are making it more and more a possibility for these guys to come on the road and may help a lot more people breaking in the future as people bring friends, or randoms come to the shows full of people fully on board with the comic.

And speaking of podcasts, two standup style podcasts I regularly listen to for those that might be interested are: Put Your Hands Together and Kill Tony.

PYHT features Cameron Esposito as the host (usually), she's been middling for Jeselnik recently. They have a lot of LA comics and people temporarily in LA doing spots, occasionally people (especially those running tv or special's sets) don't want their sets released and they do a short interview instead.

Kill Tony is where open mic'ers get a minute to do standup for Tony Hinchcliffe (opens/writes for Jeff Ross and now Joe Rogan a bunch) and he and usually 1 or 2 other more notable guests give feedback. As you'd expect from an open mic, some of the people are brutal, others are decent (or as decent as you can be in a minute).

That is part of why I put Maria at the top. She's got 4 albums, the videos she's done, amongst other things. I actually think she's funnier then any other woman comic, but I totally get why others would have someone else. Especially when it's Tig.

I can't listen to that one just yet. But I don't doubt it in the least. BUT her "Taylor Dane" bit is outstanding

I'm stoked. Jimmy Carr is coming to Finland in November, and I've got a ticket.

Oddball was an incredible experience. I got to see so many comedians I hadnt had the chance to see before and pretty much everyone on the lineup was exceptional. Felt elated that a lot of jokes I'm trying to do both in style and structure I saw comics there do. The huge crowd festival scene worked shockingly well and it seemed like everyone else there agreed strongly.

any tips for optimal experience?
going tomorrow.
what's deal with main stage vs side stage?
do u have to miss some sets to see other ones?

it says doors open at 1pm show starts at 5pm....what time does main stage get kicking?

cheers.

Unless your venue is different there shouldn't be a difference between Main and side stage everything started on the one stage around 5 PM. So there's no conflicting lineups they just open w the side stage acts plus a main or two, have an intermission, a terrible DJ trauma set, then main acts. From friends I talked to who went at other locations same deal. I'd get there early if you don't have seats, the lawn will be absolutely packed by 6.

I love British panel shows, hard to find them anywhere but youtube here though. I probably know more British comedians than American ones for exactly the reasons you state. Give me some Jimmy Carr, Josh Widicombe, Sarah Milican, Mitchell and Webb, Noel Fielding, Frankie Boyle any day

thx bud, have seats.
very excited!

ahahaha, dj trauma was supporting dave chappelle at the small indoor venue i went to earlier this year. good god.

^Live at the Apollo (uk) is a pretty good show.

Edit...hmm cant see the comment i replied to.

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