Comedians that are not funny

[chatterji]

Lenny Henry, in a big way.

[spunkie]

Steve Maclaren!!

[hellblazer]

I'm going to have to defend Lenny Henry. While he has been awful for a very long time, he did rule 80s mainstream comedy on the BBC. His sketch show was a decent combination of observational stand-up and funny sketches - his Joshua Yarlog character with its spoof of cheap DIY TV was a decade ahead of its time. It spawned two series of his Delbert Wilkins sitcom which was also pretty good and introduced us to the excellent Gina McKee and he was probably the first British comedian to have a stand-up gig released theatrically.

I thought about Ben Elton - another comedian who has been rubbish for a long time (the Queen musical is bloody awful and most of his novels are weak, toothless satires) but I will always forgive him for The Young Ones

My vote would go to David Baddiel. Loved The Mary Whitehouse Experience ("milky milky", "that's you that is"), Newman and Baddiel In Pieces and Fantasy Football but then saw a couple of his solo efforts - Seinfeld-aping sitcom Baddiel's Syndromes, his Too Much Information tour and he made me completely reassess him. And I concluded he was not only incredibly patronising, talentless and pathetically unfunny but also the jammiest fucker in history - a parasite latching onto infinitely funnier comedians Rob Newman and Frank Skinner on shows that struck a chord with a 90s cool britannia demographic. I would occasionally watch an ep of Unplanned and it was literally a case of Skinner being funny and Baddiel making the odd sarky comment. Rob Newman saved himself and is now a brilliant novelist and political stand-up (if you haven't seen his History Of Oil show, check it out - it's amazing) while Skinner is being dragged down (see his own awful sitcom). An absolute disgrace to UK comedy eeking out the rest of his celeb life as a talking head on nostalgia shows.

[dynatech]

Yeah I'd agree, from his TISWAS days through his early BBC series, Lenny Henry was excellent and his decline started around the same time he became 'Mr Comic Relief' and started taking himself far too seriously. Ben Elton was a victim of his own hype and lost sight of what made his work funny

[Deano!]

You could never begrudge any entertainer's success, but it seems that comedians in particular lose their funny streak once they get rich and comfortable. Billy Connonly used to make me gasp with laughter, but over the past 15 years or so he has been on auto-pilot.

[Robches]

Marcus Brigstocke. Right on, lefty cunt. As funny as cancer.

[Ace]

We've been lenient on these two unfunny two-bob slags for sometime now...........

[stripeysydney]

As I've said often in the past, but I think this particular individual is in a class of his own. Fat, untalented, fat, over-rated, fat, smug, fat, unfunny, fat, self-important, fat C**t, ladies and Gennelmen, I give yooooouuu Ricky Gervais.

[RED]

I was stuck on a table with Frank Skinner and he must be one of the most boring men I've ever bumped into...he certainly made an evening go on and bloody on for all of us! And as for David Baddiel my other half - had to show him how to work a 1950's coffee machine...not hard, undo top - fill with water, fill with coffee and plug in...he couldn't figure how you got the water in! Well thats Oxford Uni for you.

Just give me Ken Dodd...or give Ken Dodd a knighthood!

[Flat_Eric]

Russel Brand

Ricky Gervais (another one carried away by his own hype)

Ben Elton

French & Saunders

Ade Edmonson

Catherine Tate

Cannon & Ball (going back a bit I know - but they were the epitome of shite)


- Eric