What other comedians/funny people that you once thought were funny aren’t anymore (or at least their trademarks)?
My List:[ul]
[li]Andrew “Dice” Clay - when I finally saw him in concert, everyone knew his lines. He only finished half his jokes, the audience did the rest.[/li][li]Louis Anderson - poor fat guy with bad childhood.[/li][li]Tim Allen - the grunting got old after the first season of his sitcom. Fortunately for him, his show evolved. I don’t think he grunted the whole last season.[/li][li]Father Guido Sarducci - OK, he hasn’t been done for about a decade. But when SNL had him on every other show in the early '80’s, he grew old fast.[/li][/ul]
Some DJ’s here in DC were talking about their worst interviews, after listening to their producer’s botched interview with Faith Hill. One of them mention Martin Short. According to him, if Short’s not doing one of his characters, he’s dull as toast.
*Oh, a general addtion to my list (a little off target): any SNL character that has had a movie based on them. Exceptions: Coneheads - at least they waited over a decade; Wayne’s World (just the first one); and The Blues Brothers.
But all the others: Pat, Stuart Smalley, the Roxbury guys. shudder indeed!*
Gallagher and Robin Williams are the two I can’t stand.
I think Robin Williams is going to be on Whose Line is it Anyway? on ABC. At least it looked like him on the commercial, they don’t give you the name. If it is him, I’m afraid I won’t be able to watch that show anymore, even though Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochery should be enough to offset him.
I also don’t think Adam Sandler is funny anymore. His only good movies were Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore. His act is kind of old now.
Robin Williams is not funny anymore. I can agree with everyone else on here. Who’s that guy that keeps popping up… Carrot Top? What’s his problem? Oh, I know his problem, someone forgot to drop him on his head when he was a kid.
I’d like to give a hand to Bob Hope. He retired after his last TV special, given in his honor. You could tell his age was affecting him. He was still funny, but… it just wasn’t there. Unlike the late unlamented Jerry Lewis, already done in the Pit.
Martin Short used to be hilarious on Letterman but he doesn’t seem to be funny any other time.
Anyone who does commercials for a discount long-distance company immediately goes on my “not funny anymore” list. That includes Dennis Miller and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (David Arquette was NEVER funny and keeps getting worse).
Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson were funny for awhile in the 80’s, but they got stale in a hurry. Remember Right Said Fred (the movie, not the band)? That was Mayall–not even at his worst, he got worse than that. Mayall and Edmonson’s show Bottom was the absolute zero of comedy.
Jo Brand–you hate men. Got any more jokes? Didn’t think so.
Ainsley Herriott–yes, for a very brief moment he was funny, before he went more OTT than Lily Savage.
Richard E. Grant–you made one funny movie. A long time ago. Stop trying to make a career out of it.
Fortunately many comics around here bow out when they start to lose it, but there are a lot more I could mention besides those above.
I think the two that are really living past their prime are George (God, please forgive me) Carlin and Dennis Miller.
Carlin was really, really, REALLY funny, but now he sounds like he’s got prostate trouble and the kids are cuttin’ across his front lawn. However, he did a speech for the National Press Club on language that was outstanding, if not funny.
I used to LOVE Dennis Miller when he was doing SNL and his show on HBO. Then, I paid over $120 for two tickets to see him, Kevin Nealon, Victoria Jackson and Dana Carvey on New Year’s Eve last year. Nealon and Jackson did the same act I’ve seen on Comedy Central a bazillion times for free. Carvey was OK, but Miller went on about half-tanked and wasn’t very funny. Now I can’t take him seriously as a comedian at all.
Dennis Leary used to be hillarious, but he mellowed.
Jay Leno was a scream on Late Night with David Letterman, and he mellowed.
Dan Ackroyd is a real hit-or-miss genius. He’s been a creative force behind two of the great films of our times. He’s also been in good films. But there sure are a lot of turkeys in his collected works.
AWB wrote:
I saw him on Dennis Miller’s show, and he was funny. But I suppose he was, in a sense, in character the whole time.
msrobyn wrote:
Except that he repeated the apocryphal `Indios’ story. In fact, he is usually cited as a source by people who believe the legend.
