Oh, and shameless self-promotion: I'm on at the San Francisco Bathhouse next Thursday. I have 30 minutes…

All us Jeremys start to run together after a while...

I wish! I have actually never done a TV voice over in my life. Be interesting to know who sounds like me though....

Really? That's not you doing... one of the insurance companies TV adverts?

Man, a Jeremy Elwood sound-alike. You should sue.

I for one will try and keep it fresh for y'all.

That's all we ask for.

Well, actually we ask for it to be funny most of the time too.

Demanding bunch aren't we :)

Thanks Jeremy. Stick around, there's heaps here to talk about.

Jeremy Elwood on the other hand, does voices for half the adverts on TV.

I wish! I have actually never done a TV voice over in my life. Be interesting to know who sounds like me though....

Anyway, my real point is this. The festival is now over, and I'd…

Apparently the comedy fest isn't the only place he did it. Critic, in its review of M2 magazine, commented on his orientation show being the same as last year (and said some other things about him as well):

Mr Lovegrove (at least I presume it's him, Critic certainly thought so),…

Well, I myself find it useful as photoshop source material...

as you do, excellent, more mash ups of michael cullen spliced with a schoolmaster (or a woodpecker) please

altho dropping the ! and (well the Ak Comedy Mafia do anyway)... off "nz comedey does suck" is selective distortion of a possibly tongue in cheek comment, words on a screen hard to see context eh.

To quote the sage…

NZ comedy does suck

NZ comics don't think you owe us anything just because we're from here, check out the ticket sales for the Festival, look at the number of local shows getting great reviews, take your head out from your own ass and actually go…

there is a reason Brendon L, Cal Wilson, Carley B, Bic R etc need to get day jobs... it's cos they just are as good as other things on offer...

It's…

Re the Scoop budget coverage, with the pics of the politicans, does anyone, ever, "Click for bigger version" ?

Well, I myself find it useful as photoshop source material...

And it can't be ALL about the element of surprise – or why would people buy comedy CDs and DVDs?

Mothers Day, Fathers Day, X-Mas ...

I got much more idea of the Budget and who was flanneling listening to Mary Wilson on RNZ dissecting the usual suspects…

Better than the story on the kids who didn't get hit by lightening though. That gets my vote for stupid story of the month

Oh, and anyone else surprised and disgusted that TVNZ would see fit to devote a solid minute of their news hour to an investigation of the "golden street" of Tinwald on Budget Day? The moment when they were…

When Jeremy mentioned having to make the publicity before the show

You see the exact same phenomenon at academic conferences, where you must submit your abstract months in advance (often before you have the results, sometimes before you've even collected the data, or even before you've finalised the study design).…

Long ago memories of comedy out the back of Ruby in the Dust

Hello!

Anyway...

It strikes me that the more nut-and-blots-ey this discussion gets the more it does seems to apply generally to at least the performing arts. I know my theatre experience means I really do looks for different…

Long ago memories of comedy out the back of Ruby in the Dust, and the efforts he and others must have gone to to keep it fresh.

And the adult discourse continues, with a brief foray into technical assistance.....
Thanks for remembering the above gigs, James! They were a good…

finding a way to appreciate a gag a second time around

Michele, I think there's a lot of value what you've explained about the re-crafting of good material, but I think it's just something that doesn't need to be analysed by the audience. A comedian/craftsman may watch a show and…

I went to the gym after work. There's a nice young girl who works behind the counter. She's friendly and pretty, and kind of like the stripper who looks…

I agree with David. It might be well rehearsed, but as an audience, you don't want to see that bit of it. It's the magic of hearing something said that you hadn't heard said, or thought of, in that way before.

That's kinda what I meant a wee while back…

one of my all time favorite shows was a double bill Michele shared with mike king at downstage back in the early years of the comedy festival.

The instructions are to the left of the posting box – see "quote".

Got it. Cheers. For that and the other bit.

but without the spaces between the pointy brackets

Plus, I don't know how you do the cute thing where you quote someone else's post in pale grey...?

Ah now Michele. We could tell you but then where would the magic be?

Plus, I don't know how you do the cute thing where you quote someone else's post in pale grey...?

The instructions are to the left of the posting box – see "quote".

I like hearing the same routine twice, and I do admire the art. Maybe it's because I'm a…

absolutely.
and you too brendhan.
haere mai to you all – welcome.

Good points Jeremy, and nice to see a well reasoned response – certainly better than the comedian whose winning line in the argument the other night was to call me a "journalist c**t"...

That's so unfair. You're no journalist. Ka-boom-cha.

Hmm, not so hard after all.

But straying back on…

anyone who suggested otherwise is a liar or wished they had been on the show.

very funnny

but also in part for the skill of the delivery (or how it says it)

Isn't it a bit like magic? You like the fact that they pulled off the illusion, but you don't want to look too close. Knowing how they got the rabbit in there might take the…

hell no, stick around!

You can't explain a joke, and all that.

I agree completely. Not to mention that if you've heard the joke only once or twice before, chances are you'll remember the fact you heard it, but not the nuances of its delivery. That's real trainspotter stuff.

I was having a discussion…

That's what we do this for.

because if you'd wanted to get laid you'd have joined a band (ba-dumph!)

why did you marry Ellwood? because he made you laugh? (ba-dumph!)

a man walks into a bar ... "Ow!" (ba-dumph!)

F#ck, this comedy stuff is easier than I thought, better give…

And, possibly not surprisingly, I agree with Jeremy about solo Festival shows needing to be largely new material (unless they're billed as a "greatest…

I've just seen the poster for Brendan Lovegrove's new show. It's called The Emperors New Show so presumably its new material?!

Or maybe he's telling is it's new, but really it's old, but we believe it's new because he says so.

So we need a boy to say, "But I…

I can't help wondering if we've all been sucked into some reverse viral marketing campaign for it. And why he would then still use old material for the Welly…

And Damian, regarding the use of new material in Festival…

Some aren't overly funny, but as soon as the mic is on…

can we have some can we have some can we have some can we have some can we have some can we have some can we have some can we have some can we have some?

There are obviously lots of reasons why one would want to use older, 'guaranteed' material, and I…

Yeah but RB, didn't you use to do that Friday morning slot on B..."Good morning mediafiles... and all the way to...Righto! basically without a script?

Hell no!

It was always scripted – I'd get up at 5.45am, write the bugger, hare in and deliver it, and then proceed to work.…

I'm no comedian – I can't even remember a joke, let alone tell one – but I found myself re-writing (in my head) material for Ed Byrne whilst watching him at SkyCity the other night. He was great, but I kept thinking he could be…

Russell, can we have some of paul, bill and bill's Dad's Tips recordings on ourtube, just for old times?

i still can't pass through Rangiriri without insisting to nobody in…

Not really, we're more than happy to wade in....
This whole discussion has been fascinating, and in my opinion, worth having. The issue of new material, or the lack therof, is one that we comics doubtlessly discuss…

And I think these sort of experiences have put me off going to stand-up.

I appreciate new material is…

And if you look at it in behavioural terms (laughter reinforces, lack of it punishes) you could train…

I have incorporated this anecdote into my stand-up comedy routine.

It's a shame he didn't too, could've been 1% less new material to find...

There are few who claim this, one artform is another is another, HOWEVER, the difficulty with comedy…

I was thinking about the Stone's productivity actually when I was writing that, and the Beatles too, who produced more than an album each year of their 8 or so years together.…

http://www.critic.co.nz/online/view_article.php?issue=Critic2007_10&article=article57

I does seem tragic and dangerous to be doing…

Every time he uses the same material, he does lose the audience that has seen it before. I…

worth a look

Or if you're a fan of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I'll recite it to you for a modest fee. :)

am I the only person who thinks some of the stock characters who've been around since the radio show (Emily and Vicki and Daffyd The Most Annoying Gay In The Whole Boody Universe) are showing signs of serious wear-and-tear?

No, I thought they were getting a bit old, too. Especially…

even if the material isn't new, it will be for me

one of the joys of those of us whose memory sticks are full, up.

Hey. I'm all for sharing the blame around — but am I the only person who thinks some of the stock characters who've been around since the radio…

Dylan Moran last time he was here worked some piercingly good local stuff into his act virtually straight off the plane.

Although I'm told he used the same off-the-cuff insights again this time... Still, brilliant standup.

I've seen Ed Byrne almost every time he's been here, and while there a…

I thought the last series of Little Britain – entirely written by Matt Lucas and David Walliams – showed signs of *ahem* creative fatigue.

The most recent series was co-written with Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil, so maybe it was *their* stuff which wasn't so flash.

(You don't know how…

Apparently he spent some time in his show that night discussing the wisdom of…

Up to a point, Lord Copper. Since Damien brought up the Rolling Stones, they're released (by my count) six 'official' compilations and eight live albums. I own a…

Maybe Ewan Gilmore had it right when he went into semi retirement, likewise and Radar morphing into Te Radar.

yeaaaahhh..... buuuuuttt... i saw lovegrove back in 1997 in auckland. funny as all hell.

but. then i saw him last year at the well.com.fest.

and he ran some of the same material.

who says pot decreases memory? or maybe only short-term memory? which is…

especially the good stuff.
probably because there is nothing worse for a comic than the sound of nobody laughing. Also, word gets round super fast that a comedian is having a bad run, so it becomes a…

I guess I am just observing that this has largely been absent vis-a-vis the creatives in NZ, and now a lot of people (as fellow producers and consumers) suddenly seem willing to speak up critically against…

Is this Denouncing NZ's Creative Industries week?

Hardly, I read it as a recommendation to see the guy, with some reservations if you've seen him before.

Is this Denouncing NZ's Creative Industries week?

Should we make this a regular event, along with NZ Music Month and the festivals?

In the spirit of the week should we get in overseas experts to savage the nation's artists, musicians, and so on, far better…

a gift beyond your comprehension"

A useful gift for someone with an audience, no?

Maybe "a gift not quite at your comprehension"