Posted October 16, 200717 yr They say that despite the fact he was one of the best comedians ever,he was also one of the most sad people...Anyway,he was great,wasn't he?
October 17, 200717 yr So many funny things that he did.. Closeau of course but also Dr Strangelove and the film where he was the Union Leader, was that All Right Jack? Then there's the Goon Show as well. Genius!
October 17, 200717 yr we was certainly one of our best, but id still put spike milligan above sellars.
October 17, 200717 yr As a ‘creative’ yes, but as an ‘actor’ and when considering the ‘all round package’, Peter is better.
October 17, 200717 yr As a ‘creative’ yes, but as an ‘actor’ and when considering the ‘all round package’, Peter is better. i disagree about the 'all round package', sellars was a better character actor but milligan was the godfather of british comedy. dont under estimate his influence on everything from monty python, fawlty towers, young ones, right upto the league of gentlemen and many of the sketch shows over thelast 40 years. sellars is certainly second placed.
October 17, 200717 yr Who cares who was first or second! Spike as we all know was a brilliant writer and a real trailblazer while Sellers really was one of the best comic actors. They had different talents and pursued their careers very differently after The Goons.
October 17, 200717 yr Who cares who was first or second! Spike as we all know was a brilliant writer and a real trailblazer while Sellers really was one of the best comic actors. They had different talents and pursued their careers very differently after The Goons. the thread starter was claiming sellars is 'the best'...
October 17, 200717 yr Fair point that! I don't think he was the greatest comedian, possibly the greatest comic actor. Plenty of other people could qualify for greatest comedian: Billy Connolly in his prime (gone a bit c**p more recently) Spike of course Ronnie Barker Bill Hicks Eric Morecombe Tommy Cooper
October 18, 200717 yr Author the thread starter was claiming sellars is 'the best'... i consider him as the "best comedian",yes <_<
October 18, 200717 yr i disagree about the 'all round package', sellars was a better character actor but milligan was the godfather of british comedy. dont under estimate his influence on everything from monty python, fawlty towers, young ones, right upto the league of gentlemen and many of the sketch shows over thelast 40 years. sellars is certainly second placed. It is hard to say whether he was actually the ‘Godfather of Alternative Comedy’ or whether this was just a lot of ‘hyperbole’ that fitted nicely into the script of a comedy retrospective. True, for surreal comedy he was an important figure, whilst ‘the Goon Shows’ were iconic scripts, though maybe it was important that all of ‘the Crazy People’ were involved in the production rather than just him. It is also true that his ideas have filtered down though out the year. You can see some of his humour even in the work of a ‘more post-modern’ comedian such as Leigh Francis, who you might think is just deconstructing the ‘notions of celebrity’ (If you have a set of ‘Q Magazine’ back issues from the late 1980s, please see the interview that featured Spike and Van Morrison). The only problem that I can see with prematurely awarding him the honour of ‘Godfather’ is that I am only in my thirties and so it is only ‘the Goons’ that I really know about, as that is the material that has been repeated the most. Since the 1980s ‘alternative comedy’ boom a lot of Spike’s material has been categorised as being politically incorrect and so has been seen as being strictly off-grounds by the ‘taste-police’. Even though, ‘Curry and Chips’ might be a long-lost comedy masterpiece, I think that the notion of ‘blackface’ will be at odds with the ideals behind the 1980s alternative comedy boom, even though now, in a 2000s programme such as ‘Little Britain’, ‘blackface’ would be a valid form of ironic expression. . Do not get me wrong, I am a big fan of Spike’s work and to this day, find humour in all ‘the Goon shows’, though maybe he was just one of a number of ‘Godfathers’ along with people like Lenny Bruce and Peter Cook .
October 18, 200717 yr If you ever see any of the Q shows then you will see what a maverick that Spike was. Plus he wrote all the Goon Shows by himself getting himself his first breakdown in the process.
October 18, 200717 yr spike was actually credited with the term 'godfather of alternative comedy' by the alternative comedians themselves, citing him/his works as a huge inspiration. the pythons themselves cite milligan/the goons (which would include sellars) as their inspiration.
October 19, 200717 yr If you ever see any of the Q shows then you will see what a maverick that Spike was. Plus he wrote all the Goon Shows by himself getting himself his first breakdown in the process. He wrote the majority of them but others were involved as well, especially Eric Sykes, whose contribution to British Comedy is slightly under-rated.
October 19, 200717 yr He wrote the majority of them but others were involved as well, especially Eric Sykes, whose contribution to British Comedy is slightly under-rated. i like sykes, but hes not in the same league as milligan or sellars.
October 19, 200717 yr I would not like to say that one is better than the other, as each has got strengths and weaknesses within each medium that they work, or have worked, in. Definitely in the field of radio comedy, Spike is one of the greatest that ever lived, though maybe like ‘Cuddly Ken’ his genius may not have completely transferred to any of the more visual mediums. On the other hand, I think Sykes adapted very well to television and in particular the situation comedy format. Even though those original shows are now very dated to look at, I think they would be still very funny if remade for television now and, as they are not as iconic, would end up better than remakes of ‘The Blood Donor’ or ‘The Radio Ham’. Also whilst I am on the subject of remakes, I think I would like to see ‘Rik & Ade’ team up for a remake of ‘the Plank’. I think it may be more interesting than having an American version of Frank Spencer.
October 19, 200717 yr He wrote the majority of them but others were involved as well, especially Eric Sykes, whose contribution to British Comedy is slightly under-rated. He wrote or co-wrote all of them except when his depression stopped him writing when other writers wrote five episodes.
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