Just not funny.

[si]

Those marvellous people at Dave have ‘deliberated’ over a list of the Top 50 Wittiest People of All-Time. I have never seen such a load of bollocks.

http://dave.uktv.co.uk/library/world-according-dave/50-funniest-wits-all-time/

Topic

[J_Spaced]

Oh Em Gee. And also Double-you, Tee, Eff?

Paul Merton? Wearing a baffled expression while other people say things does not qualify you as a wit. Neither does copying Tony Hancock. Hang on, where is Hancock in the list? Peter Sellers? They’ve got Marcus Brigstocke (he’s on the Dave payroll) but not Ross Noble?

oh but it’s ok, they’re being cultured by including the author of Jeeves and Wooster.

[Seb Patrick]

I love the idea that Michael McIntyre is wittier than PG Wodehouse. Or, for that matter, Paul Merton more than Oscar Wilde. WELL DONE.

… but it’s really not worth even getting *bothered* about these things.

[Blisschick]

Dazed and confused. I don’t know all the people on the list, but of the ones I do, most of them shouldn’t be on it. Joan Rivers, Woody Allen and Jimmy Carr just aren’t that funny to me.

[hummingbird]

But witty isn’t the same as being funny, or the same as creating a great comedy character/persona.
Many of that list fall into the funny/character category.

[Not Ray Cyst]

Looks like Dave is massaging the egos of people who appear in UKTV’s tawdry panel shows and talking heads shows. With a few token deadies and yanks thrown in, just to make it look proper.

[Garry2rs]

Very mixed bunch!

There are some of these actors, writers, presenters and comics I just don’t find funny at all (Russell Brand, Johnathan Ross, Angus Deaton, Clive Anderson, I’m looking at you and pointing fingers). I’m sure no-one really agrees (no Bill Hicks?, Ross Noble?).

I do like the fact that Paul Merton is Number One.
I’ve been a fan ever since Who’s Line Is It Anyway? and have several of his Series sketches posted on You-Tube (look under my user name)

And Yes, its strange how so many appear on Dave and its associate channels.
Hmmm……..

[Ben Paddon]

Paul Merton hasn’t been funny for some time now. Since Angus Deayton left HIGNFY it feels like Paul’s heart isn’t in it anymore.

[pfm]

I always thought Frank Skinner was brilliantly witty, so good with off-the-cuff gags and remarks. His scripted standup never matched it IMO. I used to love Unplanned, two blokes taking the piss out of people for half-an-hour.

[Carlito]

Clive Anderson is very witty. Not super funny, but very witty.

And his performance on Thank God You’re Here was the best of the series.

[NoFro]

Agreed that being funny isn’t quite the same as being witty. I think Jimmy Carr is very witty and does great off-the-cuff gags, like Frank Skinner, but I don’t dig his style of stand-up at all.

[si]

For wit, I think most QI guests would qualify.

[Jonathan Capps]

> For wit, I think most QI guests would qualify.

Apart from most of them.

[Tarka Dal]

Stop slagging off Paul Merton. I agree the last ten years he hasn’t been anything that great, but in the early – mid 90s he was excellent. Besides isn’t the point of lists to be stimulate debate?

Also, I thought Si had finally seen the light about Hyperdrive.

[si]

Meaning?

[Seb Patrick]

Yeah, given that it’s an “of all time” list, not an “in the world today” list, it’s not really fair to say that Paul Merton doesn’t deserve to be included just for not being funny now.

I mean, Oscar Wilde hasn’t said anything funny for about 108 1/2 years, either.

(it’s still a shit list, mind, but still)

[si]

Charlie Chaplin *never* said anything funny.

*waits for some smart-arse to put him right*

[Jonathan Capps]

> Meaning?

Hyperdrive is awful and you’re a terrible person for liking it.

[Pete Part Three]

>Yeah, given that it?s an ?of all time? list, not an ?in the world today? list, it?s not really fair to say that Paul Merton doesn?t deserve to be included just for not being funny now.

Interesting. If he was funny for five years, would that excuse him for being unfunny for ten?

[John Hoare]

I saw Paul Merton’s Improv Chums last year at Edinburgh. He was very funny then.

That is all.

[Pete Part Three]

(I wasn’t picking on Merton directly, I was just using him as a previously cited example)

[Seb Patrick]

>Interesting. If he was funny for five years, would that excuse him for being unfunny for ten?

Yes.

[pfm]

[pfm]

wtf why did my last post get queued when I edited it?

[Ian Symes]

Because you’re a cunt.

[Author]

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