I’m a youngin’, and I only know about Gallagher from the constant references to him smashing watermelons, sprinkled throughout pop culture.
I looked up a little about him on Wikipedia and it seems that really is his only claim to fame.
Yet, he seems to be one of the most well known comedians, at least by name.
So my question is simple… does Gallagher deserve to be considered a comedic genius, or was he simply a menace to unsuspecting fruit?
Was smashing watermelons really all that funny in and of itself, or was it the way he smashed them… or the punchline to a joke of some sort that made it so memorable?
His act was a lot of prop comedy leading up the watermelon (and lots of other stuff) smashing. I rented a bunch of his comedy concerts when I was ten-ish and thought they were great. I can’t imagine it holding up well in my thirties, though.
Other than maybe Gallagher himself I don’t think anybody ever argued the guy was a genius or a brilliant comedian. He did one memorable gag people really liked because everybody loves stuff getting smashed, and he made a career out of it.
I don’t think anyone’s ever suggested he was a “comedic genius,” even back in the 80’s when he was at the peak of his success and had specials on Showtime. If you want a good idea of where his head is at now, listen to his (aborted) podcast interview with Marc Maron.
I don’t know about ‘comedic genius’ but he was a pretty good stand up and prop comic. The ‘Sledge-O-Matic’ never really came out until the last 10 to 15 minutes of the show.
So it really was just smashing fruit that got him famous. He wasn’t an otherwise great comedian who just added the smashing as a signature finale of sorts. The smashing itself is what made him so great.
So can anyone explain to me what’s so hillarious about him smashing things? I can’t imagine in what context that is funny. Is it the way he presents it? Is the smashing of the stuff a punchline to his jokes?
Or is it just, ‘HEY FOLKS! WANNA GET SPLATTERED WITH WATERMELON BITS??? YAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!’ splat
I’m just trying to reconcile how famous/well-known he is, or, what a pop-icon he became, with how much innate talent or how good his act objectively was.
And, I really wanted other people’s opinions, not my own, so I don’t really care to watch any of his shows. I’m learning enough as it is.
I remember, vaguely, a comedy special he did with a giant couch for a prop, which also doubled as a trampoline.
His theme that night was about childhood, and the funny things you did and thought as a kid.
But yeah, his sledge-o-matic is his best known schtick.
Some comics have remarked about how people can latch on to one particular joke (or impression), and fans you meet on the street want to hear that one bit over, and over, and over, and over…
Gallagher was very well known in the (early to mid) 80’s. He was featured a lot on ShowTime back when cable TV didn’t have nearly as many channels and the web had yet to be invented. He didn’t just bust fruit. He did lots of prop comedy plus talk comedy that was about mundane stuff kind of like Seinfeld but earlier (and not as good but still funny sometimes). Standup comedy was huge in the 80’s especially on cable and Gallagher stood out because he was different from the people that just told dirty jokes and sweared a lot.
He was entertaining and talented IMHO. A lot of his stuff seems cliche today but that is only because it was so popular that almost everyone is familiar with it now.
Have you ever actually seen Gallagher’s smashing act? You may not think it funny, but it definitely was a high-energy crowd pleaser.
Notice that Gallagher said he’d been on stage for an hour and a half before the hammer came out. Some parts of his act weren’t a whole lot different in substancethan what George Carlin was doing at the same time.
This 3 disc set has 11 concerts. Total running time of 10 hours.
So 3-5 people chime in that he wasn’t that great and you’re “learning enough”? I hope you don’t learn about politics that way.
I was going to point some of his funnier stuff but since you don’t want to actually learn about the object of your inquiry and would rather just hear others opinions there’s no point in posting any.
Here’s another opinion: he is the most beloved comedy genius of all time.
That makes absolutely no sense. You admit I want to hear other’s opinions… and this is a reason you won’t share yours?
If you think he’s great or does some good stuff, I’d like to know.
I’m not interested in judging for myself, that’s not the point of this thread I created. I wanted to hear from others why he is so well known. And I’m learning…
Why are you being so passive aggressive towards me about this?
If I remember correctly, there are 4 or 5 (if not more) different Dopers who have met or gotten to somewhat know Gallagher, and each one of them say he is far & away the biggest asshole they have ever met in their entire lives, a truly nasty piece of shitt.
(The only other celebrity who gets mentioned as often in the various “Celebrities who are egotistical pricks” threads that pop up here from time to time is Deepak Chopra, who has apparently acted like a dick to several different SDMB members over the years)
I saw Gallagher live twice. The first time he was very funny, lots of, well, Carlin-like observations. He seemed to be enjoying himself on stage and there were a couple of times during the show when he just talked to the audience in a very friendly way.
Before that show he came out and worked the crowd and was fun and funny then.
I saw him maybe five years later and he was different. No pre-show schmoozing, seemed angry and just going through the motions.
Something changed, and it wasn’t too much longer til you didn’t hear much about him anymore.
The idea of Gallagher doing about a dozen one-hour TV specials. That’s a guy who is known for one bit, and a simple bit at that. I’ve actually seen one of them (I don’t remember the details anymore, but it was OK), but still, 10 hours of Gallagher.