Very interesting that there's been hardly any fuss about his Madeleine McCann dinner-party gag ... personally I thought it was a very clever swipe at the McCanns but I expected headlines galore objecting to that part of the show
I thought the so called "racist" episode was his best yet.
I consider myself pretty liberal (I'm always sticking up for Muslims against the BNP/ EDL types but even I can see that Boyle was making a point, I actualy roared with laughter at the "ni**** bombing department" comment.
The 'don't watch it then' response is actually the best response - if nobody watches it Channel Four will soon stop making space for it.
The argument that FB or anyone else is exercising 'free speech' is naive in the extreme. It's not free, he's paid for doing it because Ch 4 think he will attract an audience.
Being 'provocative' is seen as good if it attracts an audience, even if they're coming to critique it they're still watching.
ISTM Ch 4 have massively overestimated the extent to which large numbers of people will want to watch FB for any reason. (I realise he has a solid fan base but I'm not sure that's enough to sustain the series.)
Ch 4 have supported Peep Show although its viewing figures aren't huge, but I read that's because their DVD sales are very good.
I guess they will support FB as long as they think he will bring some form of commercial success from being controversial & provocative. If he doesn't make them any money, their concern for his right to free speech will evaporate as if it never existed.
I'm a fan of his - but I still think his act is a rip-off of the far superior Jerry Sadowitz.
Bloomin good point, when I read this:-
Madeleine McCann, the Haitian earthquake, "our boys" in Afghanistan. Show Jerry Sadowitz a sacred cow, and it'll be mince before you reach the exit. *Sadowitz's recent gigs have been two parts magic to one part comedy. But tonight, as if to shore up his supremacy in no-holds-barred standup, the comedy is unleashed. This is entertainment as a cannonade of misanthropy; a non-stop rant as remarkable for its intensity as for its determination to appal, disgust and amuse in as many ways as possible.
There's no theme to the show beyond the breathtakingly unpleasant outpourings of a misfit's mind. The easily offended won't outlast the first five minutes as Barack Obama, Stephen Fry and even Islam come under fire in his fearless tirades. Elsewhere, there's desperate stuff about middle-aged *masturbation and a broadside against current standup. The only comedy boom of which Sadowitz would approve, one suspects, would be a controlled *explosion on the set of Mock the Week.
It's not always funny, but even when Sadowitz is just ranting, it's cathartic. He's the demon at our shoulder, a blunt poet of impotent rage. The malice of his material is usually trumped by its lurid ridiculousness, as with one sexual *fantasy involving a dwarf, a trapdoor, and 12 naked women spitting on him. Amid the hatred, there are unpalatable truths about the gilded turd of Modern Life that Sadowitz dares us to dismiss as comedy. This bonfire of proprieties casts a little light – and a fierce heat
You'd think AD sompanies would be queing up to advertise around this show, all the morons moaning about it are boosting the ratings no end!
If you don't like it switch off, don't watch it just to complain, who does that make the fool!!
How was that racist? He wasn't calling anyone the n-word, he was making reference to the way things were many years ago, and also in an "It's funny because it's true" way that British lives ARE always put ahead of any others in situations like that.
Still, I saw the Mirror having a hissy fit about it, clearly because they've not got him in their employment(!)
Agree. He was actually being the opposite of racist. What he said is so true it's something that always really annoys me - for example a plane load of 60 people gets killed and the headlines and announcers will say '4 British people killed in plane crash'. THAT is racist.
I was feeling quite neutral about him but I did laugh at a fair bit of his material in the double bill that was shown last night. Some of it wasn't funny though - for example the sketch of shooting a pile of people in the street went on for too long and didn't have a joke or punchline IMO.
I like the viewer warning - "this show WILL offend people" - as opposed to the usual "this show may offend some people".
I think C4, Frankie Boyle, and lord knows even Krusty Price, have benefited from the hysteria surrounding this show and had everyone not made such a fuss, not that many people would be watching and those that do would be saying the same as me, some of it's funny and some of it's really lame.
Just a ? what has Tramadol ? got too do with this, I thought this was some pain tablet/ or am I missing something...
Tramadol is indeed a prescription-only painkiller. It's highly addictive and the withdrawal is horrible. I can only assume FB is referring to the trancey trippy feeling it gives or the nightmares or withdrawal, not sure. Dunno why he didn't use a more obvious choice of drug / medication though, it's not clear to me either.
Very interesting that there's been hardly any fuss about his Madeleine McCann dinner-party gag ... personally I thought it was a very clever swipe at the McCanns but I expected headlines galore objecting to that part of the show
I agree with you and IMO it goes to demonstrate how clearly the hysteria brigade are actually responding to being spoon-fed what is 'wrong'. Krusty Pwice flags up her concerns and all of a sudden everyone else thinks that ONE particular joke is the biggest problem. Had the McCann's been on the front page complaining about the Madeleine joke the brainwashees would have been jumping on that bandwagon too.
See the difference in PR management between the two situations though. The McCann's don't want that joke brought to attention, they know it's cleverer to contain it and let sleeping dogs lie. Krusty immediately identifies something that can gain her a headline and pounces on it.
I'm not generally a fan of this man as every time I see him he seems to have an unpleasant edge to his 'humour'.
However, after all the fuss I thought I'd take a look at his 'Tramadol Nights' shows.
Wow, this guy is ILL.
In the show I watched, he made several crude references to incest and other deviant acts, even intimating that one of the audience was involved with his own father.
It seems Channel 4 were quite relaxed about this, but now he's mentioned the dreaded N-word, he's in deep sh!t.
Strange.
Yeah, I'm not generally a fan of My Family, as every time I see it, it seems incredibly tired and dated. Hmm...
Tramadol is indeed a prescription-only painkiller. It's highly addictive and the withdrawal is horrible. I can only assume FB is referring to the trancey trippy feeling it gives or the nightmares or withdrawal, not sure. Dunno why he didn't use a more obvious choice of drug / medication though, it's not clear to me either.
Very interesting that there's been hardly any fuss about his Madeleine McCann dinner-party gag ... personally I thought it was a very clever swipe at the McCanns but I expected headlines galore objecting to that part of the show
Two things here:--
There was a point to it and it was clever and funny at the same time. This is what he used to be good at. Minus points for lack of timeliness though Frankie.
The, "well don't watch it then" brigade have a point sort of. But the truth is a number of us probably tuned in on the back of MTW expecting to see something good.
What we got was tired easy shock tactics from Frankie and some terrible,terrible sketches. Strangely this weeks show did feel like an improvement but the truth is that he doesn't have enough material for a series and he doesn't have much of a point to make either.
A one off special might have worked. Kept it tighter and feeling less repetitive and old but the lure of the old wonga probably gets to even comedy anarchists like Frankie.
His ratings are shit. But don't let the facts get in the way of your fanboy arse-licking.
Indeed. According to The Guardian "the bad news for Channel 4 was that its Tuesday night lineup of The Family and Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights continues to underperform, with about 800,000 and 900,000 viewers respectively."
But most people wouldn't know what Tramadol is and it may even put them off watching if they'd never heard of it surely as it sounds like maybe the name of a foreign location?
There are far more contentious and notable medications - vicodin, methodone, diazepam etc.
But most people wouldn't know what Tramadol is and it may even put them off watching if they'd never heard of it surely as it sounds like maybe the name of a foreign location?
Who would think of that. Apart from you?
There are far more contentious and notable medications - vicodin, methodone, diazepam etc.
Hence why he's gone for one people don't normally hear about.
Yes, the Mirror, i.e. the paper that don't employ Boyle for a regular column, unlike the Sun.
And so what if one or two companies don't want to advertise their products. Plenty will. It's a ratings hit!
Both the Sun and Scottish Sun have been quite vocal about him and Channel 4, I did not realise that he did a column for them but I would not be surprised if it is dropped.
Large companies don't like being associated with controversy. If, as expected, Channel 4 is penalised by OFCOM because of him then it could bring bad publicity to any companies associated with him also they can get some good PR by announcing that they are going to no longer advertise during his programme. There will also be companies that don't care but they are not likely to be the big spenders on advertising.
Comments
What, inconsistency of thinking?
They brush aside concern about his crude sexual rants but jump on the N-word?
I consider myself pretty liberal (I'm always sticking up for Muslims against the BNP/ EDL types but even I can see that Boyle was making a point, I actualy roared with laughter at the "ni**** bombing department" comment.
The argument that FB or anyone else is exercising 'free speech' is naive in the extreme. It's not free, he's paid for doing it because Ch 4 think he will attract an audience.
Being 'provocative' is seen as good if it attracts an audience, even if they're coming to critique it they're still watching.
ISTM Ch 4 have massively overestimated the extent to which large numbers of people will want to watch FB for any reason. (I realise he has a solid fan base but I'm not sure that's enough to sustain the series.)
Ch 4 have supported Peep Show although its viewing figures aren't huge, but I read that's because their DVD sales are very good.
I guess they will support FB as long as they think he will bring some form of commercial success from being controversial & provocative. If he doesn't make them any money, their concern for his right to free speech will evaporate as if it never existed.
Just a ? what has Tramadol ? got too do with this, I thought this was some pain tablet/ or am I missing something...
Most of his gags have an element of (difficult) truth such as:-
'Jordan and Peter Andre are still fighting each other over custody of Harvey - eventually one of them will lose and have to keep him.'
And how does that have an element of difficult truth?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1341359/Advertisers-axe-support-Frankie-Boyles-Channel-4-N-word-outburst.html
Madeleine McCann, the Haitian earthquake, "our boys" in Afghanistan. Show Jerry Sadowitz a sacred cow, and it'll be mince before you reach the exit. *Sadowitz's recent gigs have been two parts magic to one part comedy. But tonight, as if to shore up his supremacy in no-holds-barred standup, the comedy is unleashed. This is entertainment as a cannonade of misanthropy; a non-stop rant as remarkable for its intensity as for its determination to appal, disgust and amuse in as many ways as possible.
There's no theme to the show beyond the breathtakingly unpleasant outpourings of a misfit's mind. The easily offended won't outlast the first five minutes as Barack Obama, Stephen Fry and even Islam come under fire in his fearless tirades. Elsewhere, there's desperate stuff about middle-aged *masturbation and a broadside against current standup. The only comedy boom of which Sadowitz would approve, one suspects, would be a controlled *explosion on the set of Mock the Week.
It's not always funny, but even when Sadowitz is just ranting, it's cathartic. He's the demon at our shoulder, a blunt poet of impotent rage. The malice of his material is usually trumped by its lurid ridiculousness, as with one sexual *fantasy involving a dwarf, a trapdoor, and 12 naked women spitting on him. Amid the hatred, there are unpalatable truths about the gilded turd of Modern Life that Sadowitz dares us to dismiss as comedy. This bonfire of proprieties casts a little light – and a fierce heat
If you don't like it switch off, don't watch it just to complain, who does that make the fool!!
Agree. He was actually being the opposite of racist. What he said is so true it's something that always really annoys me - for example a plane load of 60 people gets killed and the headlines and announcers will say '4 British people killed in plane crash'. THAT is racist.
I was feeling quite neutral about him but I did laugh at a fair bit of his material in the double bill that was shown last night. Some of it wasn't funny though - for example the sketch of shooting a pile of people in the street went on for too long and didn't have a joke or punchline IMO.
I like the viewer warning - "this show WILL offend people" - as opposed to the usual "this show may offend some people".
I think C4, Frankie Boyle, and lord knows even Krusty Price, have benefited from the hysteria surrounding this show and had everyone not made such a fuss, not that many people would be watching and those that do would be saying the same as me, some of it's funny and some of it's really lame.
Tramadol is indeed a prescription-only painkiller. It's highly addictive and the withdrawal is horrible. I can only assume FB is referring to the trancey trippy feeling it gives or the nightmares or withdrawal, not sure. Dunno why he didn't use a more obvious choice of drug / medication though, it's not clear to me either.
Crystal, if I could applaud you I would!!!! You geddit. Well said, Madam or Sir
I agree with you and IMO it goes to demonstrate how clearly the hysteria brigade are actually responding to being spoon-fed what is 'wrong'. Krusty Pwice flags up her concerns and all of a sudden everyone else thinks that ONE particular joke is the biggest problem. Had the McCann's been on the front page complaining about the Madeleine joke the brainwashees would have been jumping on that bandwagon too.
See the difference in PR management between the two situations though. The McCann's don't want that joke brought to attention, they know it's cleverer to contain it and let sleeping dogs lie. Krusty immediately identifies something that can gain her a headline and pounces on it.
Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?
Yeah, I'm not generally a fan of My Family, as every time I see it, it seems incredibly tired and dated. Hmm...
To get people talking about it, and his show.
Two things here:--
There was a point to it and it was clever and funny at the same time. This is what he used to be good at. Minus points for lack of timeliness though Frankie.
The, "well don't watch it then" brigade have a point sort of. But the truth is a number of us probably tuned in on the back of MTW expecting to see something good.
What we got was tired easy shock tactics from Frankie and some terrible,terrible sketches. Strangely this weeks show did feel like an improvement but the truth is that he doesn't have enough material for a series and he doesn't have much of a point to make either.
A one off special might have worked. Kept it tighter and feeling less repetitive and old but the lure of the old wonga probably gets to even comedy anarchists like Frankie.
Indeed. According to The Guardian "the bad news for Channel 4 was that its Tuesday night lineup of The Family and Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights continues to underperform, with about 800,000 and 900,000 viewers respectively."
But most people wouldn't know what Tramadol is and it may even put them off watching if they'd never heard of it surely as it sounds like maybe the name of a foreign location?
There are far more contentious and notable medications - vicodin, methodone, diazepam etc.
Who would think of that. Apart from you?
Hence why he's gone for one people don't normally hear about.
Both the Sun and Scottish Sun have been quite vocal about him and Channel 4, I did not realise that he did a column for them but I would not be surprised if it is dropped.
Large companies don't like being associated with controversy. If, as expected, Channel 4 is penalised by OFCOM because of him then it could bring bad publicity to any companies associated with him also they can get some good PR by announcing that they are going to no longer advertise during his programme. There will also be companies that don't care but they are not likely to be the big spenders on advertising.