Who are your favorite sketch comedy teams? Comedians? Sketch shows? Do you watch "Whose Line is It, Anyway?" Do you watch "Tracey Takes On?"

Who would you like to see do a one person show?

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2000

Answers

Comedy Central shows the original British version of "Whose Line", and it's far superior to our version. It seems less repetitive and canned than ABC's show (although that one still has its moments). I highly recommend checking TV listings for it -- hilarious.

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2000

I do like "Whose Line..." having missed a lot of the British ones, I don't have much to compare it to, but to me the ABC ones still seem pretty fresh. I think it's just that they have very talented people on there. Ryan Stiles is my hero.

I really still love Mr. Show, which just inspires me to no end. They really did great work and I'm glad they didn't try to produce more episodes and compromise the quality with a weekly grind.

I haven't seen a lot of Upright Citizen's Brigade, but I hear it's good. Did anybody catch the Kids in the Hall in concert? I've always loved their stuff, even though a lot of it was hit 'n miss. They were here in Austin and the show sold out, so I missed it. (sigh...)

You know, for it's time, The Muppet Show was a pretty damned good sketch comedy program...

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2000

Best comedy team? Kids in the Hall. Been watching them for about 9 years, at least. And the AbFab ladies, whose names escape me at the moment.

Who would I like to see do a one person show? 1. Pamie, of course. Come perform in Chicago, please! 2. Scott Thompson (KITH)

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2000

Patsy and Edina, sweetie darling. Pats and Eddy.

And don't forget about Saffron and Bubbles...

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2000

I'm seeing KITH on Saturday! whooo!

The Ben Stiller Show was great... of course, I could watch him do impressions of Bono all day.

Two Fat Ladies... heh. See, I'm hungry so I can't think of comedians, only chefs at the moment...

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2000

Kids In The Hall.. definetly some funny stuff there... Gavin is one of the funniest characters ever... "There was this kid in school..he smoked...."

The British "Whose Line is It.." is funny.. havent watched much of the new one... but what i've seen is pretty good... Ryan and Colin are a great combo...

Does anybody like Tom Green?? I think he's insane... Some stuff is funny.. but i just dont get some of his stuff.. but i guess thats the point....

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2000

KITH brought down the house on Saturday. That means I liked it!

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2000

There are so many amazing comedy teams/groups out there that don't get the pub so that ABC can keep recycling the same people and games on Who's Line. Such a shame. If you live in New York, you should see the Bert Fershners. Damn funny sketch comedy. They got to be on Comedy Central for about 9 seconds. Got a half hour special, then nothing came of it. Oh well, they're better live. If in L.A., a must see are The Impromptones. 4 guys doing improvised songs. They are amazing! The group includes the guy from the Coors Light beer commercial who talks about the droplet of water named Steve ("...I ask you gentle stranger, do not spill Steve..."), to give you some context. They're so funny, that a CD of them improvising will crack you up. Think about that. Lastly, I don't know if they are still around, but there was a sketch/improv group in Milwaukee called The Dead Alewives. Live comedy accompanied by local bands. It was cool.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

Oh, god, Jeneane Garofalo is good, and Denis Leary's nice too, but my comedy central GODDESS is Laura Kightlinger. "I hate the saying, 'Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.' I like to put it into perspective by saying, "Always a pallbearer, never a corpse." "I don't need to procreate to feel fulfilled, to feel like a woman.
I can wear women's clothing to feel like a woman.
and I HAVE. "I recieved an obscene phone call in the middle of the afternoon. A man's voice said, 'Good afternoon. I'd like to bite you, give you a spanking, and ride you till you beg for more.' I said, "Thanks, but I've already GOT a long distance service." Half the joke is in her delivery, which is excellent. She's not very well known, although she does have a lot of stuff on Comedy Central, Pulp Comics and HBO half hours and such. Ironically, her lack of fame makes her harder to contact than Michael Jackson; I'd really like to write to her, but I can't get an address anywhere... Hell, I'd like to stalk her. She'd achieve bona fide celebrity status then! Oh, and she also cowrote an episode of Daria, This Year's Model, which was superb. Peace OWT

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

One of the finest comedy teams is Cheech and Chong. Rent Up In Smoke and you'll see what I mean.

DO BONGS!!

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

When I coached our highschool improv team, I used to sit with my pad of paper and pencil watching every episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? that I could get my hands on. I would laugh and scribble for hours, trying to pinpoint how they worked as a team, following all the "improv rules" and writing down the games they played so that my team could practice with them. I was originally very pleased that they got it going again, but now it seems that it's all the same old, same old. Colin and Ryan are my favorites... they work together really well, they have a great dynamic.

I rarely watch standup, because I find many of them stereotypically obnoxious... and I hate it when they make fun of people, or try to score off people in the audience. That's not funny, that's mean. "Oh, be a good sport," they'd say. Screw you, I would want to punch you in the face.

I've never heard of Tracey Takes On, unfortunately.

Not to suck up or anything (where's it going to get me anyway?), but I'd like to see Pamie do a one person show... or as part of a sketch show... or whatever. I'd like to read Guacamole Toes... am I allowed, or do I have to pay?

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

I saw Kids in the Hall here in Houston over the weekend. They're still great, but unfortunately, there was no new material. It was all verbatim from old sketches I've seen 100 times. Not that it wasn't still cool. Chicken Lady, "I'm crushing your head," Hecubus, ahhhh....they're the best.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

oh, and has anyone ever heard of the Bert Fershners? They're a big, all-guy troupe that did the "tube top" song on Comedy Central a few years back. They had one special that I know of, and they made me weep with joy they were so funny. Does anybody know whatever happened to them?

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

Leigh Anne - I remember the tube top thing and the name sounds familiar. The Bert Fershners. Huh.

Personally, I think the Brunching Shuttlecocks make a hilarious comedy team. I highly recommend them - http://www.brunching.com (I don't feel like using HTML right now.

Pamie and Eric are pretty funny together, too. Go on the road, you guys!

Cal and Taylor are like the Odd Couple. I want to start a cartoon. Cal and Taylor. Taylor and Cal. It just sounds good. I think I'll go draw a picture.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

SCTV. Eugene Levy. John Candy. Andrea Martin. Joe Flaherty. Rick Moranis. Catherine O'Hara. Dave Thomas. Some of the best impressions I have ever seen.

I'd like to see John Belushi do a one-person show, because he'd have to come back from the dead to do it. While he's in town, he should make some more movies.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

...i gotta agree with all the Kids in the Hall fans --- i used to watch that, AbFab, and the *original* Who's Line is it Anyway on comedy central daily -- i converted many students at occidental college....

...damn, now i really miss not having cable...

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

Laurel & Hardy are still the greatest in my book. I still watch The Music Box at least once every few months. If I ever get the chance to visit the USA, I'll have my picture taken at the bottom of those stairs.

Other than that, George W. Bush and Al Gore are a joy to watch - from afar!

Proud to be a cheesehead,

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

Oh, and about the one person show: care to do a European tour, Pamie? I'm certain you'd knock 'em dead out here!

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2000

Best duo ever concived but rarely seen is Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, or if you can find an old tape with Robin and Jonathan Winters on it, doing stand up, you'll be in for a treat. When Billy and Robin are together Bill does his Phil Razudo (old baseball announcer) and Robin does his own special version of sign language. Tis enough to make a grown man burst forth a testical.

Gotta love Kids in the Hall, gotta agree with Kristen that Scott should have his own show, or do a tour. One cannot get enough of his monologues. But as far as comedy troupes have gone, has no one ever heard of the great MONTY PYTHON??? Where would sketch comedy be with out the "Nudge Nudge" sketch, the "Funny Walks" sketch, the "Cheese Shop" or everybodies favorites "I Wanted to Be A Lumberjack" and "The Dead Parrot"! (This is an EX PARROT!!!) The are, and will always be gods where I come from.

But hell, it's a little tiny place and you've probably never heard of it, so never mind.

One should always give respect to the great ones however, the Marx Brothers. Groucho had some of the witiest and most cerebral humor of all. While we're doing old school, let us mention the Three Stooges as well.

Nooch...

-- Anonymous, February 21, 2000

Bless you, Bryan, for mentioning Monty Python. I know I'm not the only one who recited their lines or sang their songs with the other drama fags in high school.

Ditto on all the stuff 'bout Kids in the Hall. Same with the Bert Fershners- great guys. I'm not sure about the Impromptones, whoever mentioned them. They may be great to see, but I just don't like them as people.

However, if you're in LA and want to see a great troupe that beat out Pamie and the other Monks for the Aspen comedy festival, check out One Hit Wonder. They don't have any regular gigs that I know of, but they are a great group of guys with hilarious sketches, seamless transitions, barbershop quartets singing about affairs with Jesus and some of the best short films you could hope for. Since they just got back from Aspen, they should have a lot of heat going for them right now, so be on the lookout.

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2000