Happy Mondays: The Greatest Hits (6)

Continuing our Happy Mondays series, let us spend some time talking about what I consider to be the best talk show, and talk show host, of the moment - Graham Norton and his eponymous The Graham Norton Show. And, both as a way of introducing you to this show, and of supporting my claim, let us briskly go over some of the elements that set this show apart, within a field (or genre) that by now has lost a lot of its glamour and sparkle.

First of all, it is a British talk show; and that matters, both because the rules governing British TV are more lax, allowing for a less straitjacketed and artificial interaction; and also because this means that the guests will usually be a mix of American and British stars (often having a British comedian complementing a lineup of major American stars). This mix also helps in terms of the communication style that the show tries to cultivate - namely, a somewhat loose, entertaining, and as much as possible genuine, tone. And how does having this kind of a mix of guests help? Well, because the Brits, just like the Australians or the Kiwis (New Zealanders), tend to be more direct (one could even say, more genuine) in their public appearances, than their American peers (who, for reasons both cultural and professional, clearly separate their visible and partly artificial “public persona,” from their actual, more genuine, private self; the ones from "the Commonwealth" seem to be more reckless, as it were, in that regard.).   

A good example of this might be found in the following clip, which features two very talented (top-notch, really) American comedians (Steve Carrell and Kristen Wiig) and an Irish one (well, ok - at least he's from the British islands – Chris O’Dowd). Watching this short (and very funny) clip, you will perhaps get a sense of what I am referring to - maybe by observing the American guests’ reactions to O’Dowd’s ridiculous story; and by sensing, perhaps, the inherent difference between the self-deprecating tone and attitude of the Irishman, and the guarded, constructed tone of the typical American public persona.

And this looseness, directness, even genuineness that the show cultivates, all contribute to providing it with a freshness that also sets it apart from its competitors. But this isn't all.

Another aspect that sets Graham Norton’s show apart is its particular format; or, more precisely, how well Graham makes this format work. As you might or might not have guessed, all the guests are brought in at the same time, and all of them share the same couch, throughout the show - and the conversation happens with each of them, and between them, and with all of them. In a way, this is like a prime-time version of a fun and fancy dinner table (by the way, the guests do consume alcoholic drinks during the show). But one has to know how to make this format work – i.e. 'how to be a good dinner party host." Compare, for example, how smoothly this works on The Graham Norton Show, with how clunky this same format feels on James Corden's The Late Late Show (who actually borrowed the format from The Graham Norton Show, just like he borrowed other elements from other successful British shows). But Graham makes this format work, and work well.

Indeed, it seems that for Graham Norton this role of "dinner / talk show host" fits perfectly - both because of natural endowments, and also because he understands what his role actually is, as a host: to facilitate a good, rolling, entertaining conversation, for the delight both of the public, and of the guests themselves (who, at turns, are both protagonists and quasi-members of the public, in the course of that rolling conversation). Keeping the show “entertaining” is also helped by the fact that Graham Norton has, without a doubt, a very keen and quick sense of humor; by which I do not mean a sense for “jokes,” but an ability to sense when humor is "in the air," as it were; a sense for the humorous - for allowing it to happen, for cultivating it, and for bringing it forth, as needed.

A good example of how well Norton performs his role as a host, is the following clip, in which a conversation develops between the guests in such an organic manner, that they almost forget of the host altogether; and Graham Norton allows for this to happen, and for the conversation to flow – and what results is spontaneous, genuine humor, and true entertainment, which delights both the guests, and implicitly the public. This is what it means to do one's job - as a host - exquisitely.

One can be certain that in putting all this together Graham Norton has the support of a crack team – but that would be true of all talk shows, since they all have a sizable team working behind the curtains. What this show’s team does so well, however, and the way in which it manages to support the particular style of this show so well, is by finding and bringing to Norton points of conversation that are also points of shared interest (or common experiences) between the guests - which then allow the host to easily move from one guest to another - involving them each and all in a conversation that engages them all.  

The top notch guests that he manages to book on an almost constant basis also help make the show very successful; but this did not come overnight, but was the result of Graham himself making the show successful, first with lesser-known guests - and then attracting higher profile guests exactly because of demonstrating his abilities as a talk show host.

And one can also assume that the guests actually feel good - that they have a good time - on Graham Norton’s show. And (besides the booze) perhaps the reason for that is that Graham is able to create good relationships, a good communication, with each guest - and with very different kinds of guests – as between very different guests. See him here with a couch that includes a “hard” rapper, Ice Cube (Straight Outta Compton); an “urban” American comedian, Kevin Hart; a British actress whom one might know from The Crown (but also from recently collecting the Oscar), Olivia Colman; and a British (and by now also American) star, Hugh Laurie. Very different personal styles and cultural backgrounds – and yet they all seem to feel at ease, on that couch - and also with each other. Thanks in good measure, I would say, to the skills of the host.

[watch from 20:22 to 28:30; the last part of the segment is especially triumphant]

Of course, there are harder edges to our Graham Norton, as well; for example, what one could call a keen sense for the moment's “hierarchy of fame" (hierarchy that is readily, if gingerly, enforced). For example, although all the guests are brought in right at the beginning, they enter the stage one by one, so that the one with the highest star power always enters last, being thus seated on the couch closest to Graham. And it is indeed funny when one notices how one guest may be “last" to come in (and thus first in the hierarchy) one year, while a couple of years later he is the first to come in (and thus, of course, gets to be seated at the end of the couch).

Similarly, one can also notice a difference in tone and attitude between how Norton interacts with his star guests, and - well, the public, the common Joe. Not that he is rude - but there is clearly a harsher tone, an impatience, a difference in how he relates to them - again, I would say, as a manifestation of his keen sense and respect for the "hierarcy of (star) power." It is also true, of course, that he needs to move the show along, and that non-entertainers always pose the danger of dragging down the tone and dynamic of the show - so a certain briskness..

But the famous “red chair” can be considered quite an apt embodiment of what I was just describing (this red chair is in fact my least favorite aspect of the show; I quite detest it). This is a chair (red, of course) in which (volunteer) members of the public get to sit down, in order to tell what they think is an entertaining story – under the somewhat merciless, often rash and quite arbitrary judgement of Norton and of (some of) his guests. The thing is that, whenever they (Graham & co.) feel that the member of the public (or the story) become uninteresting, they pull a lever - which literally throws the poor member of the public out of the chair, backwards.  

Yes, all is not, nor can it be, fresh and smelling of roses; and yet, for the reasons enumerated above (and others, I’m sure), The Graham Norton Show is without a doubt the most entertaining talk show of the moment (by which I mean that it has been that for many years, already), with a host who, both through natural and through cultivated skills, has managed to elevated his game and his show to the highest levels of the genre. Hats off, therefore, to Graham Norton - and to many more entertaining seasons! 

Other samples from the show:

- a most entertaining episode, featuring Jodie Foster, Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, and British comedian Greg Davies (who tells what might be one of the funniest true stories ever told on TV)

- a shorter bit in which Christ Pratt and British comedian John Bishop discover that they have a weird connection, a weird shared experience

- another famous episode (part 1 thereof), which featured Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Hugh Bonneville etc. 

Happy Mondays: The Greatest Hits (5)

Continuing our discussion about the discography of the British indie band, Happy Mondays, we are now at the point where we need to cover their collaboration with Bob Mortimer - whom you might already know from his collaboration with Chris Rea on the Let's Dance single, which they made together in support and in celebration of Middlesbrough FC's participation in the FA Cup final. in 1997 (both of them being from Middlesbrough, originally).

***

Much of what I just just said - or some of it - is, of course, untrue. But what is true? Well, Bob Mortimer is true and is real - as hard as that might be to fathom, at times. But what is true about him, specifically? Well, therein lies the question, doesn't it; the question that has preoccupied - nay, that has torn - the participants on the Would I Lie to You panel show, on the episodes featuring Bob. (I have described the premise of WILTY, and the genre of British panel shows, here; to synthesize, WILTY's essence is that, given two teams of comedians / entertainers / public figures, somebody from one team will read, from a card that they have never seen before, a story about something that presumably has happened to them; then, the members of the other team will need to figure out whether that story is true, or whether it was a lie; hence, "would I lie to you?". It sounds simple, but it gets hilarious.)

But what is it, that would set Bob Mortimer apart amid the constellation of entertaining, witty, and amusing guests who have populated the previous seasons of the show? Well, I think that it is what I would call the Whimsical and Wondrous World of Bob Mortimer's Life and Times. Let's start from the fact that Bob is a natural-born comedian and entertainer - the "funny bone" is actually his very marrow, and humor seems to alive at the core of his very being. There is also a childlike quality to him, and to his humor; a sense of wonder and amazement, and a pure eagerness to find the funny in everything - in words, situations, people etc. (see the rainbow variety of his quips on WILTY - links below). Finally, he seems to have had - and to continue to live - a quite wondrous and elfin life, populated with peculiar but homely characters, and with somewhat unexpected paths and choices. (Although you will have to figure out which of his stories are actually true...). And there is also a very down to earth, specifically British quality to his life-stories - which are people and place specific, and are rooted in a regular (albeit ever-so-slightly slightly fantastic, like, say, a hobbit) British bloke existence.

Enjoy, then, the samples below - as another installment within our Happy Mondays series, which (as the title maybe, probably, surely implies) is meant to make our Mondays  - just a bit cheerier.


the legendary episode featuring Jerry Dungarees and Gary "Cheesy" Cheeseman




wherein we discover that Bob is the fourth-born of four male siblings - which has certain implications
[note: in this exercise, a person is brought in, and the members of one of the teams need to convince the other team that this unknown person is related to them, that it is part of their story)




this one actually features Chris Rea




seriously, though?



And you can enjoy more Bob-based delight here and here - collections that also includes other famous Bob stories, but also a variety of Mortimerian quips and contributions. And, of course, stay tuned for future editions (seasons) of WILTY (because if those will not feature Bob Mortimer as a guest on some of the episodes, then they will have just lost their wits).

Happy Mondays: The Greatest Hits (4)

Toward the end of the eighties, the well-known British indie band, Happy Mondays, also added a keyboardist / multi-instrumentalist to their line-up, in the person of Bill Bailey. This, however, was not a very successful and long-lasting collaboration - mostly because it never happened.

***

Bill Bailey did, however, happen  (and is still happening); and his keyboard/ guitar/ theremin/ glockenspiel ("Er spielt mit glocken!") skills are very real, as well. The reason why he merits the inclusion in this series of posts is twofold: his narrative comedic style, and his ability to find and to create humor in and through music.

On the first aspect, I would say that in Bailey's case we encounter a combination of attributes not unlike the one that we enjoyed in Dylan Moran's case - wit and intelligence, a fairly well-read and informed mind, and an artistic imagination that is able to roam freely, making connections on the fly, with a special propensity for the surreal and the paradoxical. It is especially this dimension of creativity - not being afraid to go wherever imagination and the feel for the comedic may take you - that sets his narrative comedy apart, and makes it interesting and (let's say) literate. Because, just like in Moran's case, what Bailey is doing is in fact "writing" - but, on the spot, with and for an audience, and through the means of orality. Stand-up comedians are, in fact, writers (most of them) - whether they pick up a pen or a laptop, or not.

The second aspect refers to the way in which Bill Bailey incorporates music as a comedic field, medium and instrument. This means finding the humorous (paradoxical, surprising, incongruous) within music itself, and also being able to express oneself comedically through music. But no, this does not mean some half-baked, three-cord "funny songs;" that would be appalling (unless, of course, it is intentionally stupid). Bill Bailey's musical knowledge and skills are in fact of quite a high level and wide ranging - style-wise, from classical to dub-step; and instrument-wise, from the keyboard to the (aforementioned) theremin (see his special, the Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra, which follows in the very noble and British tradition of Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra) - which is why his "musical comedy" is also intelligent and interesting.

Now, "Bill Bailey" (which, of course, is not his real name, but a stage name inspired by that famous song) at times also brings other parts of his persona to his comedic work - the persona of the aged hippie, of the nature- and animal-lover (perhaps a bit too much so), of a spiritually interested (with the usual Eastern leanings) but now probably agnostic (or a-religious) bloke - all in all, with all the good and the bad (blind spots, prejudices, some cultural clichés) of his time (born in 1965) and of his place (Brit mainstream culture). But this is where a mature consumer of art should be able to make certain differentiations - between a person's high level artistry (in one domain), and the same person's less than impressive show-up in other domains.

As a side note, it is a peculiar - if understandable - weakness to look at famous people (who are famous because of a particular skill, or simply because of the mechanisms of the market) and to try to see them as life models (fame does not translate to wisdom, and more often than not their private lives are miserable).

So I selected Bill Bailey for this series of posts on excellent comedy - because of his superior, intelligent, and creative comedic artistry. And, since nowadays we have all those commands at our disposal - of Play, Rewind, Fast Forward, Pause, Skip - let us press "Play" for the following bits of baileian comedy:














Speaking of Bill Bailey and Dylan Moran, the two of them (whom I consider to be the two top British - and not only - stand-ups of the 2000s) also worked together in a wonderfully creative, bleak, funny, and smart sitcom (written by Moran & co.), Black Books - which featured the bohemian trio of a misanthropic Irish bookstore owner (Moran), his half-gnomic hippie aid (Bailey), and their perpetually lost and searching, caring yet acerbic woman friend (Tamsin Greig).

Happy Mondays: The Greatest Hits (3)

Very few people know about the “French period” of the UK band Happy Mondays, which was the avantgarde phase of their work. Indeed, very few people know about it, because there is no such thing.

The absurdist stylings of Rémi Gaillard

One of the things that I admire about Rémi Gaillard is the courage with which he takes his craft “to the brink.” I am referring to the courage with which he takes what lies at the heart of the comical (namely, the paradox or the clash between what seems to be and what actually is) to its utmost. This is why the absurd is comical (e.g. the absurd theatre of Eugène Ionesco) - because it exposes and it narrates this paradox, or at least one of its dimensions.

I also like how committed, faithful and earnest Rémi Gaillard is in following the central idea of the gag. “What if?”, he asks - and then he does it, with hilarious results. There is an anarchic and riotous quality to his act, that is also very engaging.

But does not the act veer sometime almost into cruelty? Perhaps, and those are not his best moments.

But when it works, when all the right elements line up, the paradox made visible creates laughter. When it all works, then what he does becomes an artistic act – artistic by virtue of this inner consistency with the idea.

Happy Mondays: The Greatest Hits (2)

Continuing thus with our overview of the greatest hits of the famous 80s-and-early-90s band, Happy Mondays (not),

here is Dylan Moran, who for me is the foremost “stand-up comedian” of today. “Stand-up” sounds cheap, and it often is; but Moran (who is Irish) stands out, because he accomplishes this role in a way that is very close to what humor – and humorists - should, in fact, be.

On the one hand, the humorist (or the jester) is the observer that points out that the world is, actually, topsy-turvy. For that, however, he (or she) needs to have the acuity and the courage of perceiving the truth, and of pointing out that what we take for everydayness, for the generally acquiesced normalcy (the king and his clothes) is actually in an absurd and paradoxical conflict with the truth of existence (the king has no clothes). It is this conflict between the reality that we all perceive, of which we are all aware, deep down – and the quotidian compromise and going-along, or downright lie, of the generally accepted, that creates the absurd or the paradox that gives rise to laughter. This ability to see underneath, to look at the deeper layer, is what sets a true humorist apart.

Oh, but how few comedians or humorists are able to do this, and to be this! It takes a certain acuity and existential honesty that, well, not everyone has, or dares to possess.

On the other hand, Moran is also a wordsmith, a literate person, and a literary mind - a writer, in other words. His words, stories, his construction of the “jokes” can be savored as a text that is rich, multifaceted, inventive, witty; this is smart and intellectually enjoyable writing. This is why the term humorist fits him as much as that of (stand-up) comedian; only that he tells these mini-texts in front of an audience.

Here are therefore three excerpts: two from a stand-up routine (or album – Monster), and the other an ultra-short film on (how appropriately) a bitter moment from the life of a writer (regarding the latter, see also Moran's brilliant TV series, Black Books).

Happy Mondays: The Greatest Hits (1)

Of course, the Happy Mondays is the prominent UK indie band of the 80s, early 90s; you might know them from hits such as Step On:

But this post is not about this band - nor will the subsequent posts be about them. Instead, Monday is probably the most appropriate day to share some great hits of comedy, or humor, or satire (these terms not being synonymous) - because, why not? If not now, then when? If not us, then who? If not here, then whence?

***
So, for today, here is a bit from a British panel show. British panel shows, as a genre, are a special beast, and a very Brit-specific one, as well. Whatever the theme, or the gimmick - commenting on the week's news, pop music, or being a simulacrum of a quiz show - they are in fact platforms for comedians, music, film, or TV stars, political figures, and other public persona, to appear in front of the public, on a constant basis, and within a - usually humorous - context. As such, they are an excellent bread-giver to the rich British stand-up scene, whose members would scarcely be able to have such constant national (and international) exposure .

One of the best such panel shows is Would I Lie To You, which is helped both by a strong permanent cast (moderator and "team captains" - Rob Brydon, David Mitchell, and Lee Mack), and by (usually) inspired selections of "team members". Over the years, some of these guests received "legendary" status, whether through specific interventions, or through a consistent high quality participation in the show - which simply means that their contributions are consistently hilarious, refreshing, and surprising (which is important, given the theme of the show).

The gimmick of the show is that there are two teams, and the members of the teams take turns to read out a story about themselves (something that happened to them), while the other team, through questioning, need to figure out whether they are telling a lie, or telling the truth. Of course, the stories (whether true or false) are designed to be outrageous, scarcely credible, or of a dubious nature.

This is one of those legendary interventions, featuring Scottish comedian Kevin Bridges - and is also probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV. Enjoy! and Happy Mondays (the band)!