Every few years I seem to get hooked on a new comedian or comedy show. When I first saw Lee Evans I figured, “this guy is good, really good”, then he went on to make several DVD’s, more stand-up shows and appear in movies. I remember watching Peter Kay when he did “Live At The Top Of The Tower” way back in 2000. He also made me laugh out loud and I figured he’d be successful – the Phoenix Nights series proved it and I was glued to both series.
Both of these comedians, Lee Evans in his stand-up shows and Peter Kay in “Phoenix Nights”, have a rapid-fire comic quality about them. The jokes just keep hitting you and, if you didn’t like one, you know another will be along within seconds.
In 2001 ITV were trying desperately to put some “comedy” into their miniscule comedy output. A show called “The Sketch Show” appeared starring Lee Mack, Tim Vine and other comedians. Ronni Ancona went on to star in other comedy shows on BBC 1 but somehow I knew that Lee Mack would be the most successful out of the group. His delivery was spot on and I remember saying at the time that he was probably the funniest one.
Now, I didn’t actually realise he was doing a comedy show on BBC1 called “Not Going Out” and somehow I appear to have completely missed the first series, so the whole thing was new to me when I saw the first episode of the second series last week. Result? Fantastic. I knew the minute I saw it that he’d helped to write the show and indeed, when the credits came up he had. Coupled with Tim Vine, who almost plays a straight-man in the comedy double-act, the show had me laughing out-loud all the way through. Top stuff. He’s actually on tour too, so I’ll have to try and catch one of his shows.