Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Modern Lolz

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  • giovanni tiso,

    Moden Lolz? Mike King? There's something here that doesn't compute.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Tom Semmens,

    You want some comedy?

    How about Christine Rankin being appointed as a Families Commissioner?

    How I laughed! How I wept!

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • Paul Campbell,

    I'm kind of enjoying this one today, even though it does glorify terrorism:

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Lyndon Hood,

    I was pottering around on the Theatrereview site (waiting for this review) and there was a discussion of a Simon Sweetman blog post which has a certain all-NZ-comedy-is-shit flavour that I'm kind of bored of.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • philipmatthews,

    What a dreary, humourless post from Sweetman. It reads like he's terminally bored, and he never met a generalisation he didn't like, eg this classic:

    "TVNZ makes generally terrible television."

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report

  • David Cormack,

    and there was a discussion of a Simon Sweetman blog post which has a certain all-NZ-comedy-is-shit flavour that I'm kind of bored of.

    Simon Sweetman is an embarrassment to proper reviewers.

    He bad mouths NZ comedy (and music) sometimes with a personal slant.

    The blog post in question was a review of the second season of the Conchords which was fair, but then he criticised mrs.peacock (an award winning comedy duo) and female comedians in NZ (that's right...all of them). These attacks weren't relevant to the DVD review, it was just Sweetman being Sweetman and putting himself into the review.

    Personally speaking, I'm glad Sweetman isn't going to any shows, I know if I were doing a show this year I wouldn't let him in. The guy comes in with his pre-conceived ideas of how poor NZ comedy is and doesn't budge. He just comes across as a bitter fool.

    sigh rant over

    Suburbia, Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 218 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    I'm kind of enjoying this one today, even though it does glorify terrorism:

    I wish people who made movies could spell the plural of video though.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    which has a certain all-NZ-comedy-is-shit flavour that I'm kind of bored of

    Even if everything else was shit (and it isn't) a country that produced John Clarke, Billy T James and Flight of the Conchords must be doing something right. That trio of acts to my foreign comedy-loving ears constitutes punchlining above one's weight all by itself.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Simon Sweetman is an embarrassment to proper reviewers.

    That has tended to be my view.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Lyndon Hood,

    punchlining above one's weight

    Actual LOL.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I was pottering around on the Theatrereview site (waiting for this review) and there was a discussion of a Simon Sweetman blog post which has a certain all-NZ-comedy-is-shit flavour that I'm kind of bored of.

    Yes... it wasn't a good review, but I'm also a wee bit bored with the inverted cultural cringe where everything not only had to be grossly over-praised, but reviewers are expected to be unpaid PR flacks. (And if you don't play nice, Oliver Driver gets very very pissy.)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    You want some comedy?

    How about Christine Rankin being appointed as a Families Commissioner?

    How about moving out the back staff onto the front line dole queue?

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • David Cormack,

    I'm also a wee bit bored with the inverted cultural cringe where everything not only had to be grossly over-praised, but reviewers are expected to be unpaid PR flacks

    Nah, don't buy it. What I'm saying in my point isn't that he shouldn't be negative but that he shouldn't be a negative douche.

    The slight on mrs.peacock wasn't relevant to his review and neither was the comment about all (**ALL!**) female comedians in this country being interchangeable and only talking about their genitalia.

    That displays a massive level of pig-ignorance. I'm a frequent attendee at the San Francisco Bath House comedy nights and I don't think I've seen Sweetman there once other than at festival time. Quite how he knows about all the women comedians in this country beyond me.

    Suburbia, Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 218 posts Report

  • FletcherB,

    a country that produced John Clarke, Billy T James and Flight of the Conchords must be doing something right.

    Billy T and the Conchords are very funny and I enjoy them...

    But John Clarke is on another level.... he is comedy genius.

    It's a shame we here in NZ dont actually get exposed to his regular work on Aussie TV...

    But I rate him up with Billy Connolly, Peter Cook, and only a very few others.... I dont know who the winner is, but they are candidates for "best comedian ever".

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Nah, don't buy it. What I'm saying in my point isn't that he shouldn't be negative but that he shouldn't be a negative douche.

    We're not actually disagreeing here. But come on... you seriously trying to tell me that kind of cultural nationalism is a thing of the past? If so, I'm glad.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Tom Semmens,

    New Zealand comedy is uneven, and the comedians can often lack match practice. The fact is we are a small society isolated from the centres of comedy culture. Expectations should be set accordingly, and when we do through up real comic genius we need to celebrate them.

    I went and saw Dylan moran on Saturday night. He is on the cutting edge of comedy, and a very funny man. I thought whilst fresh and funny he wasn't properly prepared for a New Zealand audience and several of his jokes - easily modified for local consumption if he had done his homework - fell flat. Which only goes to show even the very best can struggle to get it right for the full show.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • Lyndon Hood,

    It might be clearest to assess the comedy scene by volume. If it keeps going up, that suggests it's improving for a combination of quasi-statistical reasons (most of anything is crap, but some is awesome) and because more people are supporting it.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • philipmatthews,

    Craig, I'd say that the cultural nationalism, or inverted cultural cringe, you talk about is a thing of the past, if it ever existed at all. Apart from the example of Oliver Driver terrorising theatre reviewers when he was at the ATC, or an apocryphal story about Stephen Stratford saying that debut NZ novels shouldn't be scrutinised too closely by reviewers (my paraphrase), examples would be hard to find. In the years I spent as an arts page editor and film reviewer I never heard anyone -- either at an institutional level or a reviewer -- say that we should tread softly around NZ stuff.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report

  • Gareth Ward,

    Kylie has done a great job in the last few years of building and then continually lifting the Comedy Festival.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report

  • Jake Pollock,

    Philip: O RLY?

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report

  • Jackie Clark,

    And may I mention the Topp Twins here? And recommend their fillum?

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • FletcherB,

    on Cultural Nationalism or revearse cultural cringe?

    I recall lots of fantastic reviews of 'Scarfies' which was a movie I enjoyed, but felt didnt quite match up to the hype... Maybe the reviewers were overjoyed just because it didnt totally suck?

    I recall lots of pre-publicity and build-up before the release of 'Snakeskin', but there was a distinct lack of reviews after release? A case of "if you cant say something nice, say nothing" maybe?


    Or, I could just have poor judgement?

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • FletcherB,

    On the Topp Twins movie.... is it actually new and fresh, or a greatest hits compilation? The advertising doesnt make it clear...

    Oh, I've just googled... its a Doco!

    Um? Advertising failure, but I think I'd like to see that.

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    I've heard good things. From Jackie, just ten minutes ago.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Geoff Lealand,

    On the Topp Twins movie

    It has just cracked the $1 million mark at the NZ box office. which is great for a doco. I have never seen the point of the Topp Twins myself (and yodelling, in my opinion, is a good argument for genocide), but they are much loved by many.

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report

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