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... when his jokes revolve principally around the tenuous interpretation of the non-suspicious grunts of news reporters as orgasm sounds and the compilation of boring cat memes? Is this truly the cutting edge of humour?
He does stand up. So yes, of course it's normal that he's considered a comedian. (Resisting the urge to type 'duh' here).
Just because you don't think he's a good one does not mean that he isn't one.
Oops, sorry! I mixed this guy up with Ron Howard. :/ I am not familiar with this Russell guy.
I like him as a comedian (far from being my favourite!) but I'm not big on his show, seems to be a further dumb down of his humour type, whilst the bbc is trying to make a channel 4 style channel in bbc3, though granted when my brain doesn't want to work I enjoy bbc3!
I think it really depends on what kind of mood you are in. People have different tastes he's making enough people laugh to have his own show.
I have always found him hit and miss.
On Mock The Week, more often hit than miss. Certainly preferable to that irritating Andy Parsons... How the hell did he ever get on there?
On Russell Howard's Good News, just miss. Painful miss. Did you ever see Russell Brand's Ponderland? That's how it should be done, imo. It was predominantly weird archive footage, and Brand offering humorous commentary, but the whole thing worked really well.
During stand-up, miss again. Pulling a stupid face and yelling in an exaggerated Bristolian accent isn't enough to carry a whole performance.
I think a lot of girls fancy him and he's young and a bit dorky which appeals to easily amused and impressionable teenagers.
I almost made this thread about Andy Parsons, but I decided to spare him because he made me laugh for the first time on Mock the Week last week. It was a night to remember, that's for sure. Either he's finally getting above cringe level or I've just cracked after facing years of him battering me :P
Sometimes his jokes are actually good! It's his delivery that's awful!
Frankie Boyle was the real reason to watch MTW for me. And I like Dara.
Dara is absolutely fantastic. He's probably my favourite comedian at the moment. I love his stand-up and he's great on Mock the Week, and I really like the science and maths programmes he does on the BBC and Dave.
I've always felt that Frankie Boyle is what Russell Howard is always trying to be. They have the same sort of jokes (I swear I've heard both of them make the exact same joke about the Queen's vagina before), but Frankie is much cleverer and his delivery is spot on, and he's better at having banter with the rest of panel. It's been a long time since I saw any of his stand-up though.
Weirdly, I was thinking similar things quite recently, although I think I was a bit more generous, in that I do think he does tell jokes. Although the only one I can think of is that accent he puts on when he's doing impressions.
I also noticed that his show seems to revolve around the video clips and stuff. I think balance is important, because loads of comedians tend to make jokes about specific topics. I think he's perhaps lost what I consider a good balance, in that the videos seem to be the main source of laughter (not much to do with Russell Howard), whereas other comedians can talk about one subject a lot, but they turn something which is usually unfunny into a joke!:)
And although he's popular, I don't know if he's considered "cutting edge", whatever that means in terms of comedy. I think he's fairly similar to that RayWilliamJohnson channel on Youtube, as his video also revolve around showing other funny videos. I think that's why both shows are so popular. That said, I haven't seen a lot of Russell Howard's stuff, so I really don't know much about this. I'm fairly sure he does stand up comedy as well (with his own jokes and everything!), so maybe we're being a bit mean here:P. I might go Youtube him. And he's on Mock the Week (or used to be). He seems nice enough.
Maybe I have been a little overly critical. I've seen his stand-up on Dave before and it's fairly good (although a little heavy on the jokes about Thai ladyboys :P). It's his weekly show that bothers me, and that is largely because of the reliance on the video clips. I guess that might be inherent in a weekly comedy show compared to an hour-long stand-up routine, but it seems a little unoriginal. I'm very annoyed by his lack of variety in delivery too; it's not even that all his jokes are the same, but that he tells them all in the same way too.
I think he was *much* better on Mock the Week, because he had to actually tell jokes and not fill the gaps between now and the next video of a cat falling off a bed :P He's also funnier in the Mystery Guest bit on Good News, which is the only bit that ever makes me laugh much on his show.
I dislike RayWilliamJohnson with a much greater passion, by the way, so don't get me started :P At least Russell tells some jokes; RayWilliamJohnson just knits other people's video clips together. Maybe that is the point though, because the trend in comedy at the moment seems to be towards collecting lots of rapid fire, mildly amusing clips all in one place. Either that or I'm an unpleasable cynic who should retire temporarily from society until which time I am more suitable :P
I feel the exact same way. About RWJ too. I dislike that he's one of the biggest Youtubers, yet he's just really not very funny. I can accept difference senses of humour, but he's just crap! It's a shame, because there are so many funny Youtubers, who deserve the credit he gets.
Ah well, at least there are still plenty of great comedians out there!:) You don't have to watch Russell Howard.:P