Philosophy Now Forum

Terrapin Station wrote:

Philosophy Explorer wrote:The only two notable British comedians I'm aware of are Bob Hope (Robert Hope) and Benny Hill. I'm aware of many American comedians, many of whom are Jewish.

Man, talk about not being a fan of comedy.

That would be like saying, "The only two notable musicians from the UK that I'm aware of are David Byrne and Acker Bilk. I'm aware of many American musicians, many of whom are African American."

Bob Hope's name wasn't Robert, by the way. His given name at birth was Leslie Townes Hope, although sometimes legal documents showed it as Lester Townes Hope.

I'll give you that Bob wasn't Robert, but again the only two comedians I knew were British (at least to start off with since Bob was mostly American for most of his life and only the first four years of his life, he lived in London and he began show business in the early 1920's so on second thought, that only leaves Benny Hill).

I know many comedians who are from the US and of those, many were Jewish (I related to their brand and style of comedy until they died off). This ran into dozens, possibly over a hundred comedians. On the whole, British comedians didn't impress me if they ever showed up on my TV screen.

PhilX

Yeah, Bob Hope was primarily raised in Cleveland. That's where I'm from originally, too, although I was raised half there and half in South Florida, where I also lived throughout my 20s.

The stereotype of "British" to be 'serious' is how and why such accents are used to convey 'serious' things in North America. The stereotype of Americans to be non-serious, lends weight to 'us' as also being more humorous too. [less serious](And so you don't shoot me for being 'improper' in my spelling to your own high brow ways, that can be spel[t], "humous" too! )

I tend to favor the comedy of standup comedians. Certainly Nigel Bruce who played Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes movies was no standup comedian. But he filled the role well as being the ordinary man in the street to which Sherlock Holmes could show off his brilliance in solving crimes. So Nigel Bruce, with his mannerisms, stood out well as being humorous.

PhilX

Are you opposed to being called Kim now?

Never was. The thing is I'm British rather than American about such things so using my first name is something one generally does with those one considers ones friends or respected acquaintances not with strangers and upon the whole I'd be the one sharing it. So in the past and every now and then I used to sign off a post with my name but given the nature of this media you're free to do as you wish with such information.

Philosophy Explorer wrote:

Terrapin Station wrote:

Philosophy Explorer wrote:The only two notable British comedians I'm aware of are Bob Hope (Robert Hope) and Benny Hill. I'm aware of many American comedians, many of whom are Jewish.

Man, talk about not being a fan of comedy.

That would be like saying, "The only two notable musicians from the UK that I'm aware of are David Byrne and Acker Bilk. I'm aware of many American musicians, many of whom are African American."

Bob Hope's name wasn't Robert, by the way. His given name at birth was Leslie Townes Hope, although sometimes legal documents showed it as Lester Townes Hope.

I'll give you that Bob wasn't Robert, but again the only two comedians I knew were British (at least to start off with since Bob was mostly American for most of his life and only the first four years of his life, he lived in London and he began show business in the early 1920's so on second thought, that only leaves Benny Hill).

I know many comedians who are from the US and of those, many were Jewish (I related to their brand and style of comedy until they died off). This ran into dozens, possibly over a hundred comedians. On the whole, British comedians didn't impress me if they ever showed up on my TV screen.

PhilX

I wasn't talking about stand-up comedians anyway. I meant natural humour in everyday life. There are plenty of very funny American stand-ups. They are particularly good at humour that requires a sledgehammer--eg. roasts. Their natural nastiness comes in useful (although Jimmy Carr on Ann Coulter was pretty darn good).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXPiFwdcs0g

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:

Philosophy Explorer wrote:

Terrapin Station wrote:Man, talk about not being a fan of comedy.

That would be like saying, "The only two notable musicians from the UK that I'm aware of are David Byrne and Acker Bilk. I'm aware of many American musicians, many of whom are African American."

Bob Hope's name wasn't Robert, by the way. His given name at birth was Leslie Townes Hope, although sometimes legal documents showed it as Lester Townes Hope.

I'll give you that Bob wasn't Robert, but again the only two comedians I knew were British (at least to start off with since Bob was mostly American for most of his life and only the first four years of his life, he lived in London and he began show business in the early 1920's so on second thought, that only leaves Benny Hill).

I know many comedians who are from the US and of those, many were Jewish (I related to their brand and style of comedy until they died off). This ran into dozens, possibly over a hundred comedians. On the whole, British comedians didn't impress me if they ever showed up on my TV screen.

PhilX

I wasn't talking about stand-up comedians anyway. I meant natural humour in everyday life. There are plenty of very funny American stand-ups. They are particularly good at humour that requires a sledgehammer--eg. roasts. Their natural nastiness comes in useful (although Jimmy Carr on Ann Coulter was pretty darn good).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXPiFwdcs0g

Did you watch the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts?

PhilX

Philosophy Explorer wrote:
PhilX

Very subtle and refined compared to what they have now--like the general population.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm_VJkgZ_zI

I can't browse it without each page crashing. And each page seems to have zero replies and zero views.