Did anyone else watch the Comedy Awards?

[Booldawg]

you can guarantee a cringe-fest every time Jonathan Ross opens his mouth, especially when he asked Madonna how her 'black' baby was getting on! Also Lenny Henry, how predictable was it that he'd start spouting off about 'black issues' as soon as theres a microphone within with 50 paces and more than one person listening. God, that guy has a chip on his shoulder the size of Africa!

[flip-flop]

Yep, agree with the whole Lenny Henry thing - why does he do that? 'tis very annoying. We know you are black Lenny, we don't need to reminded every time you have an audience.

But the thing I really don't understand is why Lenny Henry was anywhere even remotely near an event that celebrates comedy!!! Theo P Wildebeest once raised a half smile in the 80s, but that was over 20 years ago.

[admarlow]

Lenny henry is about as funny as Richard Blackwood, nuff said.

[Booldawg]

and what was that with the snake? really scraping the bottom of the barrel there. Russel Brand - only funny to look at as he just looks ridiculous. About as funny as the clap.

In my opinion the funniest man ever is the Duke of Edinburgh, he puts comedy in where it shouldn't be. Do a wikipedia search and him and scroll to the bottom of the page, its lists ALL his un PC gaffes in their entirety.

[Booldawg]

yes, funny how Lenny Henry made himself famous by creating black stereo-typical charachters that mocked UK black culure. You notice that these days his acting roles are mainly based around the 'powerful black man who's made it in a white mans world' with a pretty blonde trophy wife added on for credence. This is ever since he did the 'Free Nelson Mandela'

[rugeleyboy]

lenny henry is far from funny and in my opinion didnt do chris tarrant any favours and actually made the award to him very dull!!

[Miss Inquiry]

I think Jonathan Ross was not that bad - there was a fantastic moment when Madonna asked him if he was doing something behind her back, he instantly replied replied "No, but do you want me to?".

But I think Chris Tarrants joke/rambling about the pint - "We don't want to give you that do we" was absolutely awful.

[zipadeedodah]

I like to watch it, but actually thought last night's was particularly dull. They obviously hoped the snake would be something that people would remember, otherwise the who show would go by with no real comedy moments. As always Jonathan Ross did provide a few cringe-worthy moments, Madonna being one of them! Charles Kennedy didn't look overly happy either, though what would he expect at a comedy awards?!

[zimzam]

Lenny Henry is boring me with his self made opportunities to give the same old spiel. I used to like Jonathan Ross but I thought last night that he was embarrassing-unfunny-although he made a point of showing us that thought he was funny - and far too disgustingly crude for my taste. As to the snake, that was really cruel and unwarranted and I like snakes. The reason to bring a snake on and ridicule it and cause it distress is lost on me (unless the producers fervently had hoped that it would eat both Ross and Henry, and that would have made darned good viewing) Ross has always been good at the suggestive innuendos but he overdid it last night and ruined a good show that I think he felt was his own and he set out to be the best of all the nominees. It was HIS show - wasn't it? See the audience cringe at times when he said things? After last night I think the directors should give much less air time to Ross and Henry and far more to the zoo who owns that poor snake.

[anotheoldgit]

With a pretty blonde trophy wife added for credence,
DAWN FRENCH?
I thought Madonna brought that egotistical Jonathan Ross down to size, did you see his expression when after he had asked her how did she like her BLACK BABY? she was quick to reply how would he like a BLACK EYE?

[Octavius]

Jeepers, I thought it was just me that thought Lenny Henry was tedious and outdated. Last nights �comedy� tribute to Tarrant was almost as cringe-worthy as Tarrants �hilarious�, yet seemingly predictable pub/pint anecdote. I imagine the dropped snake episode will go into the archives for next years run of top comedy awards moments, and the sweary bits by Russell Bland and Steven Marchant will go into the �moments where people swear at an awards ceremony clip collection�. I only watched it to see what Jonathon Ross could get up to and for that I guess I had my fill. But all in all, very biased towards ITV comedy � Harry Hill? Funny? � and generally this year, a bit run of the mill.

And why was Charlotte Church given a comedy award? Surely not for her uber-sweary chat show that is about as funny as a wet weekend in Barry Island?

[sp1814]

Madonna rocked (as usual), but I think you're missing the point with Lenny Henry. Whilst I agree that nowadays he's as funny as a getting a colooscopy off someone with the shakes, he did</> find fame at the same time as Chris Tarrant on Tiswas. So I reckon it was appropriate that he gave Chris his award.

And the snake was terrifying...but not as scary as Madonna's forearms (enough with the bicep curls woman).

[sp1814]

One other thing re: Lenny's old characters...you have to remember where he came from. He worked the working men's clubs around Birmingham before he appeared on New Faces.

His humour was very much of it's time. Remember Mind Your Language and Love Thy Neighbou were pulling in over 12 million viewers per week.

People change - they grow up and they realise that humour they may have used in the past doesn't work now.

He was a sixteen year old kid when he won New Faces.

He's 48 now!!

(and as funny as a dentist with a 'Marathon Man' fixation.

[carrust]

I think it's ironic that after he won new faces he went on to star in The Black & White Minstrel Show....and you moan about Jonathan Ross !

[NikkiB]

A few of my observations:
1. Ross is an overpaid buffoon. No-one is worth that much. An alien crash landing on this planet tomorrow would think that Wossy actually lived in our tv sets. Overexposed, overpaid and crass.
2. Lenny Henry discovered that he was black sometime in the 90's and built his act around it. This is the same time that he stopped being funny.
3 The BBC commissioned a second series of Chef, despite appalling reviews. Was it because they were so desperate to have a prime time show fronted by a black guy, however p***poor that show was? The Beeb usually have no qualms in pulling the plug on stinkers.
4 Lenny Henry compered the Queen's Jubilee concert along with Ben Elton. Even then he guilelessly mentioned his race, in an embarrassing "Look at me, Ma!" speech. (incidentally he made the same racial quip at a show months later, rather too late to be radical after20 years in the biz) Shortly after the Jubilee, in an interview, Sanjeev Bhaskar, who is considerably more amusing that LH, revealed that the BBC initially approached him to do the compering with Mr Elton...which means that the BBC couldn't get an Asian compere so they settled on a black one. Is this tokenism or pure coincidence that the 99% of white comics/presenters were unapproached.
5. Uttering frequent buzzwords in a Pseudo-American accent is baffling rather than cool.
6. The black talent is out there. Let it grow naturally. Let's not hot-house it in order to meet quotas. And let's not flog a dead comedian.

[joko]

i thought he was just taking the pish out of the blurb that had been written for him to recite, by basically reading it out and showing how stupid the script writers are that they chose that material for him...?

or do you suppose that was scripted too?